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In Yesodei HaTorah 2:7, The Rambam lists the 10 types of malachim (angels) in order of power. Many people have told me that this halacha proves that the Rambam knew Kabalah, since this knowledge is nowhere found in Chazal and the Zohar has the same order.

  1. Are there any Talmudic sources where the Rambam could have learned this from?
  2. Do any of his predecessors talk about this order?
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    Or the Zohar got it from the Rambam. (My point is just the proof is faulty, not that one way or the other must be true.) See also hebrewbooks.org/rambam.aspx?mfid=18606&rid=19 apparently the order is not exactly the same.
    – Double AA ♦
    Commented Sep 4, 2014 at 4:44
  • The pirush on the side of the Rambam seems to be trying to give non-kabbalistic sources based on psukim & logic for the order. Rabbi Reuven Margolis has a chapter in his work Peninim Umargoliyos bringing proofs of the cross pollination of ideas in Rambam and Zohar. In this entry he actually brings a contradiction in the Zohar from Tikunei Zohar. In general this idea about bringing proof of the ancient origin of the Zohar from similarities between the two works seems weak, as per DoubleAA's post. I'm still not sure which one Rabbi Margolis was trying to prove came first.
    – user6591
    Commented Sep 4, 2014 at 13:25
  • @user6591 could you paraphrase the Zohar vs Tikunei Zohar contradiction? Or a link to that sefer?
    – warz3
    Commented Jan 7, 2015 at 5:32

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