Texts in Conversation
Jubilees and 1 Enoch present Abraham’s tests as part of a larger interpretive tradition of suffering found in Jewish wisdom and apocalyptic texts. Both emphasize that endurance through difficulty serves as a test of faithfulness.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Enoch 108:9
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
8 They loved God and loved neither gold nor silver nor any of the good things in the world, but gave over their bodies to torture. 9 Since they came into being, they did not long after earthly food, but regarded everything as a passing breath, and lived accordingly, and the Lord tested them greatly, and their spirits were found pure, so that they should bless His name. 10 All the blessings destined for them I have recounted in the books. And He has assigned them their reward, because they were found to be such as loved heaven more than their life in the world, and though they were trampled underfoot by wicked men, and experienced abuse and reviling from them and were put to shame, yet they blessed Me.
Date: 300 BCE – 100 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Jubilees 17:17
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
16 And the prince Mastema came and said before God, 'Look, Abraham loves Isaac his son, and he delights in him above all things else; tell him to offer him as a burnt-offering on the altar, and You will see if he will do this command, and You will know if he is faithful in everything in which You test him. 17 And the Lord knew that Abraham was faithful in all his afflictions; for He had tested him through his country and with famine, and had tested him with the wealth of kings, and had tested him again through his wife, when she was torn (from him), and with circumcision; and had tested him through Ishmael and Hagar, his female servant, when he sent them away. 18 And in everything in which He had tested him, he was found faithful, and his soul was not impatient, and he was not slow to act; for he was faithful and a lover of the Lord.
Date: 170–125 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The third view [of suffering] considers suffering as God-sent to his innocent, righteous servant in atonement for the sins of individuals and/or the nation. The Book of Wisdom says that the Lord tests the upright through suffering in order that they might be found worthy. Jubilees (17:17) recalls the testing of Abraham in Genesis 22 and the Psalms of Solomon state that, “in the process of God’s testing, the righteous are required to endure so that they may be shown mercy (Psalms of Solomon 16:14-15). 2 and 4 Maccabees provide detailed accounts of the martyrdom of Eleazer, the mother and her seven sons, and others. The example par excellence of an innocent sufferer for others in the Old Testament is, of course, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 52:13–53:12 ..."
Philip B. Mortell, A Socio-rhetorical Interpretation of Paul’s Theology of Christian Suffering in 1 Corinthians (University of Limerick, 2020), 25–26.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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