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Apocalypse of Abraham

Introduction

Like both 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch, the Apocalypse of Abraham is a Jewish apocalyptic written after the destruction of the temple in 70 CE. Unlike those other works, however, and more like the book of Daniel, this text consists of a first-person narrative of the patriarch’s youth and pilgrimage from the idolatry of his fathers (Apoc. Ab. 1–8) and an apocalypse proper in which God makes revelations to him (chaps. 9–32). It is preserved only in the Slavonic translation and is the earliest writing of what evolves into mystical writings in the medieval hekhalot traditions.1

Language and Manuscripts

The Apocalypse of Abraham is preserved in Old Slavonic, which, when its six constituent manuscripts are collated,2 provides a full text of the document. It was translated directly from a Semitic original (Hebrew or Palestinian Aramaic)3 early in the twelfth century and preserved in manuscripts from the fourteenth century or later.

Provenance

The preservation of the Apocalypse of Abraham in a Slavonic context, its expression of dualistic views, and Christian interpolations complicate clear identification of its provenance. Some have found in its dualism affinities with the Dead Sea Scrolls and posit an Essene provenance,4 while others suggest such dualism could be attributed to its preservation in Slavonic contexts.5 Most scholars agree, however, that linguistic evidence and subject matter point to a Jewish original, likely from Palestine. However, its outlook, particularly with regard to the temple, is distinct from that of 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra.

Date

The Apocalypse of Abraham is typically dated from shortly after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 CE, which is the event of central importance to the work (esp. Apoc. Ab. 27:1–5).6 Some suggest that the centrality of the temple (e.g., 1:2–3; 25:4; 27:1–5; 29:18; cf. 9:9), as well as a possible reference to events circa 38 CE (1:9), may point to composition prior to the temple’s destruction.7 Regardless of its origin, since the Apocalypse of Abraham is likely first cited in the second century CE, it must have been written prior to that date.8

Contents

Narrative (Apoc. Ab. 1–8)

The book begins with Abraham’s narration of his observing the gods of his father and brother to see which was strongest (Apoc. Ab. 1:1). In the course of his story Abraham encounters a stone god, Marumath, fallen to the ground (1:2–4). Abraham, with the help of his father, Terah, lifts it to its place only for its head to fall off in Abraham’s hands (1:5–6). Thereupon Terah fashions a new god Marumath without a head from another stone and smashes the remains of the first one (1:7–9). Terah then makes five other gods and instructs Abraham to sell them (2:1–3). Along the way three of them break (2:4) and are thrown into a river (2:9). The remaining two are sold at a price suitable for all five (2:5–8). While returning to his father, Abraham ponders the legitimacy of man-made idols being gods (3:1–8).

Upon his return to his father (4:1–2), Abraham explains to Terah that he, Terah, is in fact god to the idols that he himself fashioned (4:3–5). Terah responds in anger (4:6) and instructs Abraham to gather woodchips lying about from his fashioning of gods from fir (5:1–3). Among the remains Abraham finds a small god called Barisat (5:4–5), whom Abraham instructs to tend a fire set to prepare Terah’s food in his absence (5:6–8). Later, to his amusement, Abraham finds Barisat ablaze and consumed by the fire (5:9–11). Abraham himself prepares Terah’s meal on the fire and encourages his father to praise Barisat, who threw himself on the fire to cook the food (5:12–15). Presumably missing the humor and irony, Terah indeed praises Barisat and vows to create another to make his food the next day (5:16–17). Perplexed with a mixture of laughter, bitterness, and anger (6:1), Abraham questions his father’s sensibility (6:2–7:10). Abraham then appeals to the one true Creator God to make himself known (7:11–12). God answers that prayer, makes himself known to Abraham (8:1–2; cf. Gen. 12:1) as the Creator, and instructs Abraham to leave his father’s house, which subsequently burns to the ground (8:3–6).

Apocalypse (Apoc. Ab. 9–32)

Then God himself calls to Abraham, in a scene set in Genesis 15, and identifies himself as the one true Creator God (Apoc. Ab. 9:1–4). He instructs Abraham to offer a sacrifice, at which time God will make known to him great and guarded things (9:5–10). Abraham, hearing the voice but seeing no one, is terrified (10:1–3a). God instructs an angel, Iaoel, to strengthen Abraham and show him the land of his inheritance (10:3b–12). He appears to Abraham and accompanies him to offer the prescribed sacrifices, after which the angel will be invisible forever (10:13–11:6). Abraham and his companion travel to Mount Horeb for forty days and nights, neither eating nor drinking (12:1–3). Abraham is then instructed to prepare the sacrifices with the animals that had been following him without his knowledge (12:4–10). Abraham is doing this (13:1–3) when an unclean bird of prey comes down on the carcasses and speaks, exhorting Abraham to flee (13:4–5). Abraham learns from the angel that the bird is Azazel (cf. 1 En. 6–16), whom the angel rebukes and sends away (Apoc. Ab. 13:6–14). The angel then teaches Abraham how to rebuke Azazel himself (14:1–8) and instructs him not to answer Azazel when he speaks to him (14:9–14).

As the sun is setting, Abraham sees smoke from which the angel comes to him (15:1). The two of them ascend to the edge of the flames, where Abraham sees a strong light (15:2–5) in which a fiery gehenna is kindled and a crowd in the likeness of men is changing forms, running about, prostrating, and crying out (15:6–7). Abraham is told that the Eternal One is approaching him and the angel will strengthen him in his weakness (16:1–3). God’s fiery presence approaches them as an ethereal voice (17:1) as the angel and Abraham bow in reverence (17:2–3). Abraham recites a song of praise taught to him by the angel (17:4–19), which turns into a prayer for God to accept and instruct him (17:20–21).

Abraham sees the fire rising and underneath it a throne with angelic figures singing the song of praise (18:1–7). When they finish their song, they exchange threatening looks with one another, which is abated when the angel who is with Abraham intercedes and teaches them the Eternal One’s song of peace (18:8–11). Then Abraham sees a chariot with fiery wheels covered with eyes that bears the fiery throne (18:12–13). From the throne Abraham hears the voice of God (18:12–14; 19:1–2; cf. Ezek. 1), who reveals himself as the only god who commands the heavens and heavenly beings (Apoc. Ab. 19:3–9).

Then the Mighty One tells Abraham that like the number of the stars and their power, God will grant to Abraham’s seed the nations and men set apart with Azazel (20:1–5; cf. Gen. 15:5–6). When Abraham objects to Azazel’s involvement (20:6–7), the Eternal One commands him to look beneath his feet, where he sees the heavens, the earth, and the things therein (21:1–7) that God had created good (22:1–2). There he also sees people divided into two groups, which, he learns, are those prepared for judgment on one side and those set apart with Azazel on the other (22:3–5a). It is the latter, God says, that have been prepared to be born of Abraham and called to be God’s people (22:5b).

Then God instructs Abraham to gaze into the garden of Eden, where he sees a man great in height, breadth, and aspect entwined around a woman (23:1–5). They are standing beneath the tree of Eden, which has fruit that looks like bunches of grapes (23:6). Behind the tree stands a figure like a dragon, with hands, feet, and wings, feeding the grapes to the entwined couple (23:7–8). God identifies the couple as Adam and Eve, and the dragon-like figure as Azazel (23:9–11). In astonishment, Abraham asks why God gave Azazel such dominion on earth (23:12). God explains that Azazel is given dominion (only) over those who desire evil (23:13). In response Abraham asks why God should even allow such evil to come about (23:14), which God answers by showing Abraham what will be in the last days (24:1–3). Abraham witnesses the extent of perdition brought about by the lawless one—murder, fornication, theft—leading to destruction (24:4–9). Then he sees the idolatrous practices of Israel, led by a man slaughtering in the temple who makes the Lord angry (25:1–6). Then Abraham sees that heathens will come and kill the people of Jerusalem and destroy its temple (26:1–27:5). He learns that it is his own seed that has provoked God to such judgment (27:6–12) and that his wayward seed will live under God’s judgment until the end of time (28:1–29:2).

Next Abraham sees a man from among the heathens worshiped by a crowd of heathens, joined by Azazel but abused by others (29:5–7). The man is identified as the descendant of Abraham who will be the liberation from the heathen (29:8–10). God explains that the worshiping means that many heathens will trust in him, while those abusing him are offended by him (29:11–12). He is the one who will test Abraham’s seed from which God will bring forth a select number of righteous ones (29:13–20).

Abraham returns to earth, and God explains to him the ten plagues he has prepared against the heathen (29:21–30:8; cf. 2 Bar. 27). God will sound a trumpet and send his “chosen one,” empowered to summon God’s people who were humiliated by the heathen (Apoc. Ab. 31:1). These God will burn in his fiery wrath, and those who favored a foreign god will burn in the fires of Azazel’s tongue (31:2–8). Finally, God informs Abraham that his offspring will be enslaved in a foreign land, but God will be judge of that nation (32:1–6; cf. Gen. 15:14).

Critical Issues

The fact that the apocalypse (Apoc. Ab. 9–32) refers back to the previous narrative (chaps. 1–8) suggests the unity of the work. There are, however, some instances of later insertions (chap. 7) or Christian interpolations (29:3–13).9 In places there are gnostic-like inferences suggesting the God of the Old Testament is evil (20:5, 7; 22:5); these are later and unique to the Slavonic tradition.10

Contribution and Contexts

With Abraham as its central figure, the Apocalypse of Abraham naturally has affinities with the book of Genesis, where the account of Abraham (Abram) runs from his call at Genesis 11:26 to his death at Genesis 25:8. The apocalypse in particular is “woven around the story of Abraham’s sacrifice in Genesis 15.”11 So it is natural that there are biblical quotations (Apoc. Ab. 8:4 = Gen. 12:1; Apoc. Ab. 9:1–4 = Gen. 15:1; Apoc. Ab. 9:5 = Gen. 15:9; Apoc. Ab. 15:1 = Gen. 15:17; Apoc. Ab. 21:1–4 = Gen. 15:13–14; Apoc. Ab. 32:1–4 = Gen. 15:13–14) and allusions (Apoc. Ab. 20:4 = Gen. 18:27; Apoc. Ab. 20:6 = Gen. 18:30). In his vision Abraham sees things drawn from the book of Ezekiel, such as the four living creatures (Apoc. Ab. 18:5–11 = Ezek. 1:10; 10:14), the wheels full of eyes (Apoc. Ab. 18:3, 12 = Ezek. 1:18; 10:12), the throne (Apoc. Ab. 18:3 = Ezek. 1:26), and the divine chariot (Apoc. Ab. 18:12 = Ezek. 10:6). Some adjustments are made to the Old Testament source, such as the promise to Abraham that his fourth generation will go with him into the land (Gen. 15:13–14), which becomes in the Apocalypse of Abraham the seventh (perfected) generation (Apoc. Ab. 32:1–4).12

The Apocalypse of Abraham shares a number of features with other Second Temple texts, such as the conversion of Abraham (Jub. 11:16–12:31; LAB 6; Josephus, Ant. 1.7.1 §154; Philo, Abraham 15) and his ascent into heaven (4 Ezra 3:13–14; 2 Bar. 4:5; LAB 18:5). Like both 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch, the Apocalypse of Abraham belongs to an apocalyptic tradition established in the wake of the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 CE and shares their concern for theodicy, though to a lesser extent.13 The figure Azazel (Apoc. Ab. 13:6–7; 14:5; 20:5, 7; 22:5; 23:11; 29:6–7; 31:5) is known as the chief of the fallen angels from the Book of Watchers (1 En. 1–36; cf. Gen. 6:1–4). He reveals heavenly secrets and is banished to the desert. Here the Apocalypse of Abraham draws on the Book of Watchers.14 Abraham, like Enoch, rebukes Azazel (Apoc. Ab. 13:6–14; 14:1–14), who is given dominion over people with evil desires (23:12–13) and becomes an agent of God’s judgment (31:2–8).15

The Apocalypse of Abraham is unique in its cultic focus, which is missing from 4 Ezra and scant in 2 Baruch (cf. 2 Bar. 1–8; 64–66).16 As the center of the Apocalypse’s concern, the temple, with its defilement and anticipated restoration to righteous sacrifices, is of critical importance. This may indicate an implicit critique of the priesthood, with the author belonging to a priestly group alienated from the mainstream.17 But the Apocalypse of Abraham is unique in its indictment of the cult itself, resembling the tradition blaming Jerusalem’s fall in 587/586 BCE on the sin of Manasseh (2 Kings 21:10–15) but cast within a context of its own setting. For this author, the impropriety of cultic activity in his own day—which he construes as idolatry—was the cause of the tragic events of 70 CE, and the distinction between right and wrong in cultic practices lies at the heart of the author’s conception of Abraham’s election, heavenly ascent, and eschatological hope.18

In the text’s apocalyptic setting, Abraham is given a view of the garden of Eden and questions why Azazel was given dominion over the earth. God responds by showing him what will happen in the last days (Apoc. Ab. 24:1–3). This triggers an eschatological outworking for the book, in which Abraham sees gentiles come to Jerusalem, kill its people, and destroy its temple (26:1–27:5). Yet it was his own people who incited God’s judgment (27:6–12), and the wayward among them will live under God’s judgment until the end of time (28:1–29:2). Abraham’s seed will be tested, and from them God will bring forth a select number of righteous (29:13–20). But his wrath will nonetheless fall on those who abuse God’s people (29:21–30:8; 32:1–6; cf. 2 Bar. 27), and those who favored a foreign god will burn in the fires of Azazel’s tongue (Apoc. Ab. 31:2–8). This eschatological outlook can be seen in terms of an age of ungodliness that endures twelve periods (29:2).19 After this comes judgment in the form of ten plagues (29:15; 30:2–8), through which the righteous will endure and then be gathered by God’s “chosen one” (31:1). The righteous will participate in God’s punishment of the wicked (cf. 31:2, 6), and the temple and its sacrifices will be restored (29:17–18).

Integral to the eschatology of the Apocalypse of Abraham is its depiction of God’s ordering of history and human affairs. The division of history into twelve hours reflects God’s ordering of events, while the periodizing of gentile oppression as four hours, each a hundred years in length, reflects the four kingdoms of Daniel (Dan. 7:17; cf. 2 Bar. 6:4; 64:3; 4 Ezra 11:38), likely culminating in the destruction of the temple. In this respect, the Apocalypse of Abraham shows that “the course of events is predetermined and that the end is near.”20 God’s ordering extends to humanity, which is depicted as half on the right as God’s chosen people, the descendants of Abraham, and half on the left, the gentiles. The role of the descendants of Abraham is explained only in eschatological terms, in which it can be inferred that the destruction of the temple leaves a purified remnant in Israel. Yet this remnant, the “righteous,” will be gathered. The Apocalypse envisions a man coming from the left, worshiped by the heathens but beaten by the readers’ own seed (Apoc. Ab. 29:11–13). The “chosen one” will be sent by God to gather his people and bring judgment on their oppressors (31:1–7). That their acceptance is tied to sacrifices (29:18) suggests a return to a restored Jerusalem cult.

The message or messages of the work are enigmatic. Its attention to the destruction of the temple lays blame on Jewish idolatry, with an interest in cultic activity absent in both 2 Baruch and 4 Ezra. It lacks, however, those works’ attention to Torah observance in general. The concern for idolatry “may reflect the proliferation of idols in Judea because of an increasing Gentile population after the destruction of Jerusalem.”21 There may be two main themes in the Apocalypse of Abraham: first, the tension between Israel’s status as God’s covenant people and its fate at the hands of the gentiles; and second, the practice of idolatry22 and the special role of Abraham and his descendants in rejecting it.23 Abraham is the patriarch of Israel with whom God made the covenant, and Israel is identified as Abraham’s descendants (Gen. 15). The distinction between Israel and the gentiles “is fundamental to the book, as is evident from the graphic division of the picture of the world into a left side and a right side.”24 The gentiles are the antagonists of Israel, and the Apocalypse of Abraham, like 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch, traces the problem of God’s permission of this state of affairs back to the fall. Also like those works, the author here, according to George W. E. Nickelsburg, finds his solution in the future—judgment that fits the respective sins, a restored temple and sacrificial system, and eschatological bliss for Israel.25

Purpose

The purpose of the Apocalypse of Abraham can be found in two unifying themes.26 First, the author stresses the fundamental distinction between the gentiles and Israel, who are inextricably identified as descendants of Abraham. Second, the book stresses the rejection of idolatry and presents its ancient readers’ idolatry, particularly within the temple cult, as an abandonment of Abraham’s calling in favor of the idolatrous practices of Terah.

Reception History

The reception of the Apocalypse of Abraham is obscure. It was virtually unknown for ten centuries. It first surfaced in Bulgaria, then circulated in Russia, with little influence on other writings. Its preservation in Slavonic means that whatever can be discerned about the reception of the Apocalypse of Abraham must be drawn from that context. This can be attributed to the literary productivity under the reign of Simeon of Bulgaria (893–927), whose efforts to elevate his kingdom included translating Greek writings into Old Church Slavonic. It is from this context that the six extant manuscripts, the earliest of which dates from the early fourteenth century, originate.27

 

1. Kulik, Retroverting Slavonic Pseudepigrapha.

2. These manuscripts date from the fourteenth to seventeenth century. Rubinkiewicz, “Apocalypse of Abraham,” 1:681–83.

3. The Semitic origin of the work is seen in its inclusion of numerous Hebrew words and phrases. See Rubenstein, “Hebraisms in the Slavonic ‘Apocalypse of Abraham’”; Rubenstein, “Hebraisms in the ‘Apocalypse of Abraham’”; Rubenstein, “Problematic Passage.”

4. Box, Apocalypse of Abraham, xxi–xxiv.

5. Rubinkiewicz, “Apocalypse of Abraham,” 1:683.

6. J. Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 279.

7. Kulik, “Apocalypse of Abraham.”

8. Pseudo-Clementine, Recognitions 32–33. Rubinkiewicz, “Apocalypse of Abraham,” 1:663.

9. Rubinkiewicz, “Apocalypse of Abraham,” 1:684.

10. This may originate in the tenth-century Slavonic tradition of the Bogomils. Rubinkiewicz, “Apocalypse of Abraham,” 1:684.

11. J. Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 280.

12. Rubinkiewicz, “Apocalypse of Abraham,” 1:684.

13. J. Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 279, 288.

14. Rubinkiewicz, “Apocalypse of Abraham,” 1:684.

15. J. Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 284.

16. J. Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 279; Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature, 288.

17. J. Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 288.

18. Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature, 288.

19. Rubinkiewicz, “Apocalypse of Abraham,” 1:684.

20. J. Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 285.

21. J. Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 287.

22. Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature, 287–88.

23. J. Collins, Apocalyptic Imagination, 282.

24. Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature, 287.

25. Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature, 288.

26. Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature, 287–88.

27. Rubinkiewicz, “Apocalypse of Abraham,” 1:686–88.