Forgeries of Talmudic era works, created in the Medieval era - Pt. 1 - Shi'ur Qomah
Pt. 1 - Shi'ur Qomah. Part of a series on literary forgeries of Jewish works
Part of a series on literary forgeries of Jewish works: Seforim Chitzonim / Biblical Pseudepigrapha / Apocrypha (4 parts, see the final part here: “Notes on the Seforim Chitzonim - pt.4” - August 18, 2023) ; Modern period: “Notes on some Literary forgeries of Jewish works in the the Late Modern Period (1756-1965)” (July 20, 2023). The next installments will be about HaBahir; Zohar; Pseudo-Zoharic works; R’ Moses Botarel’s forgeries of Geonic works ; and other medieval forgeries of Geonic works. See full bibliography at my Academia.edu page: “Notes on literary forgeries of Jewish works, from all historical periods” (requires registration)
Shi'ur Qomah is a work that is recorded in the form of sayings or teachings that the angel Metatron revealed to the tanna Rabbi Ishmael, who transmitted it to his students and his contemporary Rabbi Akiva.
Shi’ur Qomah (Hebrew: שיעור קומה, lit. Dimensions of the Body) is a midrashic text that is part of the Hekhalot literature. It purports to record, in anthropomorphic terms, the secret names and precise measurements of God's corporeal limbs and parts. [...]
It is also an exegetical analysis of Song of Songs 5:11-16, and proclaims that anyone who studies it is guaranteed a portion in the World to Come.
The Controversy Around the Book
Based on: שיעור קומה (ספר) – ויקיפדיה - my translation, with adjustments (see there for full references)
Due to the perception that the Shi'ur Qomah book has an anthropomorphic nature, the Karaites used it in their dispute with Rav Saadia Gaon. They quoted from it an attempt to prove that Rabbinic Judaism deviates from rationalism. In response, Rav Saadia Gaon doubted the book's attribution to Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Ishmael. However, he argued that even if it turns out that the book was written by them, and is not a forgery, one can interpret its words as follows: It is referring to the created light (האור הנברא) that is revealed to the prophets in visions, and not to God Himself.
Ibn Ezra accepts the authority of the book, but argues that it should not be understood literally. Rather, the descriptions of the body in it should be seen as a symbolic representation of the cosmos's parts.
Maimonides initially (in his Commentary to Mishnah - הקדמה לפירוש המשנה על פרק חלק) accepted the book as allegorical. However, he later vehemently rejected it. in his responsa, he even claimed that the composition is
אינו אלא חיבור אחד הדרשנים בערי אדום [...]
השמדת אותו הספר והכרתת זכר ענינו מצווה רבה
"nothing but one of the interpretations of the cities of Edom [=Roman / Christian] [...]
The destruction of this book and the obliteration of its memory is a great mitzvah."
R’ Yosef Shlomo Delmedigo (יש"ר מקנדיא) (1591 – 1655) in his book Novelot Hochma ( נובלות חוכמה) attributed this book to Rabbi Elazar of Worms. However, this identification cannot be correct, as the composition is already mentioned by Rav Hai Gaon.