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ABRAHAM, APOCALYPSE OF

A 1st- to mid-2nd century c.e. Jewish apocalypse, probably composed in a Semitic language, but extant only in Slavonic. Although the work may not be composite, most scholars identify two major parts and several possible interpolations.

1. Chs.1–8 are a late, humorous story about the conversion of Abraham from idolatry after he reflects on the nature of idols and prays that he might know the Creator, who then appears in a theophany.

2. Chs. 9–32, the original apocalypse, are a midrash on Gen. 15:9-17. God instructs the angel Iaoel (YHWH ʾl) to help Abraham offer sacrifices on Horeb, where Abraham encounters the fallen angel Azazel. Iaoel then takes Abraham on an otherworldly journey and shows him a vision of God, God’s throne and attendants (cf. Ezek. 1, 10), the various heavens, the earth and the abyss, and a picture depicting all of human history (cf. 1 En. 1–36).

Bibliography. R. Rubinkiewicz, “Apocalypse of Abraham,” OTP 1 (Garden City, 1983): 681-705; G. Vermes, “Jewish Literature Composed in Hebrew or Aramaic,” in E. Schürer, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.–A.D. 135), rev. ed., 3/1 (Edinburgh, 1986): 288-92.

R. Glenn Wooden

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ABRAHAM, APOCALYPSE OF

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)