Hekhalot Zutarti in the Four Who Entered Paradise and a Hidden Parallel in the Zohar

"And these are they who entered paradise (פרדס): Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Elisha ben Avuyah, and Rabbi Akiva.

"Ben Azzai peered and died. Concerning him the Scripture says, 'Worthy in the eyes of YHVH is the death of His pious ones' (Psalms 116:15).

"Ben Zoma peered and was struck down. Concerning him the Scripture says, 'Have you found honey? Eat only your fill, lest you become sated and vomit it up' (Proverbs 25:16).

"Elisha ben Avuyah peered and cut the plants. Concerning him the Scripture says, 'Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin' (Ecclesiastes 5:5).

"Rabbi Akiva entered safely and went forth safely. Concerning him the Scripture says, 'Draw me after you, let us run. The King has brought me into His chambers' (Song of Songs 1:4)."

-- Hekhalot Zutarti, §339, 345


BEN AZZAI : The one who teaches the Pshat (פשט), the literal meaning.
BEN ZOMA : The one who teaches the Remez (רמז), the allusions in scripture.
ELISHA BEN AVUYAH : The one who teaches the Derash (דרש), the homiletical discourse.
RABBI AKIVAH : The one who teaches the Sod (סוד), the secret wisdom.


"Come and see: The blessed Holy One formed the human being corresponding to the pattern above, all according to wisdom, for you cannot find a single human limb not founded upon supernal wisdom. Look! When the whole body is arrayed in its limbs fittingly, the blessed Holy One joins with it, inserting a holy soul - to teach the human how to walk in the ways of Torah and observe His commandments, so that he will perfect himself."

-- Sefer haZohar, 1:186b (Pritzker ed. 3.137)


THE PATTERN ABOVE : This is the soul of Ben Azzai.
ARRAYED IN ITS LIMBS FITTINGLY : This is the soul of Ben Zoma.
JOINS WITH IT : This is the soul of Elisha ben Avuyah.
A HOLY SOUL : This is the soul of Rabbi Akiva.


"And God said, 'Let us make...'" -- Genesis 1:26 

Talmud Bavli Menachot on The Tagin (Crownlets) of the Hebrew Letters

"Rav Yehudah said in the name of Rav: When Moses ascended to the Heavenly Heights, he found the Holy One, Blessed be He, as He was sitting and attaching crowns to some of the letters of the Torah.  Moses said before Him, 'Master of the Universe, who is holding You back from giving the Torah as it is?'  God said to him, 'There is one man who is destined to exist at the end of many generations, Akiva ben Yosef is his name, and it is he who will expound upon each and ever point heaps and heaps of halachot (oral laws)'."

-- Talmud Bavli, Menachot 29b

Sefer haZohar on Shir haShirim (Song of Songs)

"This song is a song encompassing the whole Torah, a song aroused by those above and those below, a song resembling the world that is entirely Sabbath, a song by which the supernal Holy Name is adorned. So it is Holy of Holies."

-- Sefer haZohar, 2:143b (transl. D. Matt, Pritzker ed. vol. 5, p. 310)

This "song" is the Shir haShirim, the Song of Songs in the Ketuvim.

Compare with:

"The whole world is not worth the day on which the Shir haShirim (Song of Songs) was given to Israel; for all the Ketuvim (Writings) are holy, but the Shir haShirim is the Qodesh Qadoshim (Holy of Holies)." -- attributed to Rabbi Akiva in Mishnah, Yadayim 3:5