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Rabbinic tradition in Pirkei Avot and Jubilees refer to a tradition where Abraham is given ten tests that highlight his faithfulness. This tradition, absent from the Hebrew Bible, interprets Abraham’s life as a distinct sequence of divine trials.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Jubilees 19:8
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
7 And all the days of the life of Sarah were one hundred and twenty-seven years, that is, two jubilees and four weeks and one year: these are the days of the years of the life of Sarah. 8 This is the tenth test through which Abraham was tested, and he was found faithful, patient in spirit. 9 And he did not say a single word regarding the report in the land that God had said that He would give it to him and to his descendants after him, and he begged a place there to bury his dead; for he was found faithful, and was recorded on the heavenly tablets as the friend of God.
Date: 170–125 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Pirkei Avot 5:3
Mishnah
Rabbinic
2 There were ten generations from Adam to Noah, in order to make known how patient He is, for all those generations kept on provoking Him, until He brought upon them the waters of the flood. There were ten generations from Noah to Abraham, in order to make known how patient He is, for all those generations kept on provoking Him, until Abraham came and received the reward of all of them. 3 With ten trials was Abraham, our father, may he rest in peace, tried, and he withstood them all; to make known how great was the love of Abraham, our father, peace be upon him. 4 Ten miracles were performed for our ancestors in Egypt, and ten at the sea. Ten plagues did the Holy One, blessed be He, bring upon the Egyptians in Egypt, and ten at the sea. With ten trials did our ancestors try God, blessed be He, as it is said, "and they have tried Me these ten times and they have not listened to my voice" (Numbers 14:22).
Date: 190–230 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... And so, for ancient interpreters, Abraham's "image" was primarily that of 'Abraham the Tested,' the one who had been tried repeatedly by God ... The list in Jubilees above mentions seven tests specifically, but elsewhere it is asserted that Abraham underwent no fewer than ten such trials ..."
James L. Kugel, The Bible as It Was (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998), 168–169.
* 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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