Kabbalah Library
Zohar for All, Volume 7
The Construction of Man’s Body
238. The construction of man’s body is as follows: His spirit is extended from the holy spirit, Malchut. His soul is extended from the tree of life. Since the holy spirit, Malchut, gives its strength, his Merkavot [chariots/structures] promptly give their strength, and their strength is the bones and the organs, all of which are from the Merkavot of Malchut. Their correction is a bone over a bone, an organ over an organ.
The Sitra Achra gives flesh, and from its side comes only flesh. The Merkavot of the Sitra Achra give tendons and arteries to extend blood to the flesh. After these give their strength, the skies, ZA, give their strength, which is the skin that is stretched over everything, like the sky that surrounds everything.
239. Afterwards, heaven and earth connect, ZA and Malchut, and give these four elements—fire, water, air, and dust—to protect those and cover everything. Then, when he dies, each takes the part that it gave to the body and it is canceled.
The holy spirit and its Merkavot, the part that they gave to the person, persist. The holy spirit, its spirit persists; and the soul goes up. The bones of the Merkavot of the holy spirit persist; hence, the importance of the body is the bones. This is why it is written, “And [the Creator will] strengthen your bones,” which is not written about the flesh.
240. As long as the flesh from the Sitra Achra persists in its existence, Satan stands to slander. When the flesh is lost, he has no permission to slander since it has nothing to rely on, for he no longer has a part in him. This is why it is written, “His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen, and his bones that were not seen stick out.” “Cannot be seen” means from the sight of Satan, who is about to slander, and he cannot because his flesh had been wasted away. His bones, which were not seen, were not seen to Satan to approach him, since he has no part in it. Since each one is detached, each bone from its place, it does not accuse them and does not stand to slander them.
once the flesh has been consumed, he will no longer demand judgment and is not poised to slander, since he has nothing to rely on, and he does not mention the person in anything in the world. This is why it is written, “And Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.” It is certainly good for him to slander as long as he did not remove the filthy clothes.
