Jewish cosmology refers to the cosmological views articulated in Judaism through modern and premodern times. Jewish cosmology adopted, but also built on, biblical cosmology, blending it with other influences, from observation, ancient Near Eastern cosmology, Ancient Greek astronomy, and more. There is no definitive cosmological model that mechanically explains how the world works according to Judaism, with massive collections of writings like the Talmud presenting differing and competing views and models across the range of sages and rabbinic authorities.
Jewish cosmology can be found in biblical literature, noncanonical literature from the period of Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE), rabbinic literature, para-rabbinic literature (notably including Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer), and more.
By text
Book of Enoch
Early Jewish apocalyptic literature appeared around the same time as the earliest systematic thinking about the origins and structure of the cosmos. The earliest examples of this can be found in two texts compiled later into the Book of Enoch: the Astronomical Book (1 Enoch 72–82) and the Book of the Watchers (1 Enoch 1–36). These two books were both later compiled into a single document, the Book of Enoch. In chapter 72, the Astronomical Book discusses the path of the sun. Chapters 73 and 74 discuss the path of the moon, and 75 with that of the stars. In its 77th chapter, the Earth is divided into four parts: north, south, east, and west. A second, three-fold division of the Earth based on the function of the Earth areas is also given: first, the region inhabited by humans, second, the region inhabited by other creatures (the sea, forests, and so on), and third, the "garden of righteousness" (gannata ṣedq). Finally, at the edge of the earth there are seven great mountains, rivers, and islands, all of which are bigger than any of their counterparts within Earth's circumscribed area.
The Book of Watchers focuses on the aspects of the cosmos that are experienced by humans in cycles, particularly the paths of the sun, moon, stars, the seasons, the motions of seas and rivers, etc. However, man has corrupted the world by turning its elements into weapons and performing divination on the astral bodies. In order to respond to this, humans can make pleas to the archangels who sit at the gates of heaven, who in turn, will petition God to carry out punishments and purifications.
The heavenly gates, which offer passageways for the sun and moon to pass through the heavenly firmament, are largely described in the Astronomical Book. In total, there are twelve sun-moon gates: six in the east for rising every morning and six in the west for setting. These gates form six pairs between east and west: each of the six eastern gates have a directly opposite gate in the west, and if the sun rises from a specific eastern gate, it will set in its corresponding western gate. The sun consecutively passes through each of the six gate-pairs 30 or 31 times in a row (corresponding to a month), and it does this for each pair of gates twice per year, with the total Enochic calendar adding up to 364 days. The need for all these gates may have arisen because human observers saw that the sun does not always rise and set from the exact same eastern and western points in the sky every day. The celestial journey of the sun was assisted by a chariot carrying it and a push from favorable winds (which, in 1 Enoch, also explains the movements of the stars). The daily journey of the sun is complete when it enters the corresponding western gate as it sets. The moon uses the same gates as the sun, and it also uses the sun's light. 1 Enoch also has gates for where the major winds come from, divided into favorable winds and unfavorable winds for humans. To explain where the elements and luminaries go when they exit through gates, 1 Enoch has large storehouses. There are four types: storehouses for winds, for thunder and lightning, for water and rain, and for the luminaries.
The Book of Watchers helps narrate the geography of the heavens as it describes the ascent into the heavens by Enoch, a process that takes him to the three-tiered heavenly palace (which resembles the Temple in Jerusalem), and where he receives assistance from clouds, shooting stars, and other natural forces. During his ascent, Enoch finds the 'storehouses of all the winds': these windows are forces which support the earth and firmament, move the astral bodies in their paths, and expand the skies. He also reaches the largest (and throne-shaped) of the seven mountains where God himself is said to take seat. Later in the tour, he finds a mountain at the 'center of the earth' (26:1).
3 Baruch
3 Baruch has a bipartite involving heaven and earth without mention of an underworld. Aside from Jerusalemite topography and a list of rivers, no geographic description of earth is offered. The water circle that integrates the heavenly and earthly waters is, however, an important concern for this text. An uncrossable river, Oceanus, separates heaven and earth and is filled by the earths rivers from one side while bring drunk from by beasts on the others. Terrestrial rivers, in turn, are supplied by heavenly waterfall (like rain and dew). The "foundation of heaven", the firmament, is heavens lowermost support. The lowermost bounds also makes contact with the uppermost ends of the earth, similar to 1 Enoch's reference that Enoch saw "the ends of earth whereon heaven rests, and the portals of the heaven open" (31:1-2). In later rabbinic literature, this is described as heaven and earth coming to "kiss each other". In 3 Baruch, they meet at the Oceanus, due to the vaulted or hemispherical nature of the firmament: the lower ends of heaven meet the earth. There are 365 gates or celestial windows at the firmament through which the sun passes when it rises and sets. According to later rabbinic cosmography, there were 182 gates in the east, 182 in the west, and one in the center through which the sun passed right after the creation period. The need for one gate for the sun to pass through per day emerges from the revolution of heaven in relation to earth. Such gates may be contextualized into those mentioned in the writings of Homer and other texts from early Greek cosmology and ancient near eastern cosmology. Unique to the uranology of 3 Baruch is that the final stage of the ascent to heaven terminates at the fifth heaven, with no others mentioned as existing beyond.
Rabbinic literature
Rabbinic cosmology represents a synthesis of ancient near eastern cosmology, early Greek cosmology, and biblical cosmology, framed into the sensibilities of contemporary Jewish thought and morality. These include statements describing Oceanus encircling the earth, statements of the earth being like a plate with the heaven (firmament) as a cover, and that the earth sits upon a cosmic body of water. The firmament is held up by pillars, and furthermore, the sky represents a series of layered firmaments. Distances between each of the heavens, measured by the number of years that could be traversed during human journey, were speculated.
In rabbinic literature, the idea of seven heavens constituting the cosmos became the norm, although occasionally even greater numbers are found, such as in the ten heavens of 2 Enoch.
Peter Schafer has called b. Hagiga 12b–13a the locus classicus of rabbinic cosmology; this passage offers law on what constitutes prohibited sexual relationships, the works of creation (maʿase bereshit), and discusses the "chariot" of Ezekiel 1. It is in the maʿase bereshit where cosmological commentary becomes important. The passage outlines what constitutes acceptable inquiry regarding cosmology, discusses the size of the first man, describes ten things created on the first day (heaven and earth, tohu and bohu, light and darkness, wind and water, and the measure of day and of night). In part, this lists responds to the notion that some of these elements (like darkness) were uncreated and primordial already when God began creating. Then, ten of God's attributes during creation are listed (one being rebuke, because God would for example expand the cosmos until he "rebuked" or "shouted" at it). Discussion moves onto the Earth with the exposition of Genesis 1:2, where the detail about pillars of the Earth is assimilated from Job 9:6. The seven heavens are discussed and their names are stated ("(1) Welon, (2) Raqia‘, (3) Shehaqim, (4) Zevul, (5) Ma‘on, (6) Makhon, (7) ‘Aravot") and each is described. For example, the second heaven contains the stars and constellation, along with the sun and the moon. The sixth heaven, Makhon, contains only unpleasant things like rain and storms. The seventh and highest heaven contains only that which is good. The description of the heavens is mid-way interrupted by dicta from two rabbis about the rewards of studying the Torah. The closest parallel to the structure of the cosmos outlined in this passage is found later, in the Seder Rabba di-Bereshit and in Re’uyot Yehezqel.
A place where the wicked are punished is assumed, without being explicitly mentioned, in the Talmud. An elaborate geographic description of this type of place is found in the Seder Rabba di-Bereshit.
The Talmud Talmudic cosmology, as preserved in rabbinic discussions from late antiquity, presents a view of cosmology reflecting a variety of individual sages, instead of a single definitive model. The Earth is generally conceived as flat and stationary, resting upon pillars, and ultimately, on the sustaining power of God, with variant opinions ranging from there being one to twelve pillars. Above the Earth lies the rakia (firmament): an opaque, solid structure that separates the terrestrial realm from the heavens and is itself composed, according to some sages, of seven distinct layers. The sun is believed to travel beneath the rakia during the day and either above it or beneath the Earth at night, an event that has practical legal consequences for ritual observance. The rabbis recognized the sun, moon, and the five planets as distinct celestial bodies, under the umbrella of terms like kohavim and mazzalot. Talmudic cosmology was distinct from Ptolemaic astronomy. It depended on a combination of biblical exegesis, observation, inherited imagery from ancient Near Eastern cosmology, and limited Greco-Roman scientific influence.
Seder Rabbah di-Bereshit The Seder Rabbah di-Bereshit is a Late Antique or Early Geonic Jewish text which has a uniquely, highly developed cosmological system consisting of seven heavens and seven earths, arranged in a symmetrical, concentric structure. Each heaven corresponds to a specific earth, forming a mirrored cosmic architecture in which the upper and lower realms reflect one another. This model departs sharply from earlier Jewish cosmologies, which tended to multiply heavens but rarely extended such speculation to the earth or netherworld.
At the highest heaven (ʿAravot) and the lowest earth (Eretz ha-taḥtonah), the distinction between heaven and earth collapses entirely. Both realms contain the Throne of Glory, the angelic hosts (including the Ḥayyot and Ofannim), and manifestations of the divine presence. The text explicitly states that just as the Shekhinah (the dwelling of the divine presence of God) is present above, so too it is present below, articulating a radical vision of divine immanence throughout the cosmos.
Maimonides