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• "The mystery, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men" — the Zohar's own self-understanding: it claims to reveal what was hidden since creation, the inner meaning of Torah that was sealed until the generation of Rabbi Shimon. Paul makes an identical claim — the mystery was always there but concealed (Zohar I:11b). Both Paul and the Zohar are unveilers of the same ancient secret.
• "That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body" — the Zohar's controversial but present teaching that in the messianic era, the distinction between Israel and the nations will be transcended as all souls return to their root in Adam Kadmon. The Zohar hints that many Gentile souls are actually "lost sparks" of Israel scattered among the nations (Zohar II:95b). Paul's revelation fulfills this trajectory.
• "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given" — the Zohar teaches that the vessel for the deepest revelation is always the most humble. Moses was the humblest man; Rabbi Shimon was humbled by exile; Paul was humbled by his past persecution of believers. The Zohar says God's light seeks the lowest point, as water flows downhill (Zohar II:170b).
• "To know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge" — the Zohar's da'at (knowledge) that transcends da'at — a paradoxical knowing that is experienced beyond the rational mind. The Zohar calls this yediyah she-lo be-yediyah (knowing through not-knowing), the state where the soul rests in direct divine communion above all categories (Zohar III:288b). Love that surpasses knowledge is love that reaches Keter.
• "Unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" — the Zohar teaches that God's generosity infinitely exceeds human imagination, because the Ein Sof (Infinite) cannot be contained by finite thought. The Zohar compares human prayer to a thimble trying to measure the ocean — the ocean gives, but the thimble limits what is received (Zohar II:215a). The limitation is always in the vessel, never in the Source.
• Chagigah 13a warns that the hidden secrets of the divine are not to be expounded except to those properly prepared — Paul's declaration of the mystery "not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit" is the culmination of the Talmudic graduated disclosure: the preparation of the human vessels through centuries of Torah-formation was the prerequisite for the mystery's full revelation.
• Avot 3:14 teaches that the Torah is the instrument through which the world was created — Paul's declaration that through the Chevraya "the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places" is the apostolic application of this principle: the Chevraya's existence as a community of diverse peoples united in the Tzaddik is itself the proclamation of the divine wisdom to the angelic hosts.
• Sanhedrin 98a records various traditions about the Messiah's coming, including that he is waiting in Rome among the poor — Paul's "the unsearchable riches of Christ" and "the unfathomable love of Christ" reach into the same inexhaustible divine abundance that the Talmudic tradition locates at the heart of the messianic promise.
• Berakhot 32b teaches that prayer before the divine throne is not merely asking but a form of intimate access that requires proper relationship — Paul's "I bow my knees before the Father" and his prayer for the Ephesians to be "filled with all the fullness of God" is the Tzaddik's intercession in the highest form: not petition from below but co-operation from within.
• Avot 4:2 teaches "one mitzvah draws another" — Paul's doxology "to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us" is the Talmudic principle of divine abundance applied to the apostolic mission: the Sitra Achra's strategy is always to make the divine task appear larger than the available divine resource, and the Tzaddik's counter is this doxological declaration of inexhaustible supply.