Texts in Conversation
The Apocalypse of Abraham describes Abraham rising above the stars, following ancient Near Eastern and Hebrew Bible cosmology found in texts like Isaiah, which similarly describes figures rising above the stars which are attached to the solid firmament.
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Isaiah 14:13
Hebrew Bible
12 “Look how you have fallen from the sky, O shining one, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O conqueror of the nations! 13 You said to yourself, ‘I will climb up to the sky. Above the stars of El I will set up my throne. I will rule on the mountain of assembly on the remote slopes of Zaphon. 14 I will climb up to the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High!’
Apocalypse of Abraham 20:3
Pseudepigrapha
1 And the Eternal Mighty One said to me, “Abraham, Abraham!” 2 And I said, “Here am I!” 3 And he said, “Look from on high at the stars which are beneath you and count them for me and tell me their number!” 4 And I said, “Would I be able? For I am [but] a man.” 5 And he said to me, “As the number of the stars and their host, so shall I make your seed into a company of nations, set apart for me in my lot with Azazel.
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Notes and References
"... Furthermore, the Apocalypse of Abraham 20:1-5 is a retelling of Genesis 15:5 ... In this retelling, Abraham has already ascended to heaven and is looking down upon the stars. This parallels rabbinic midrashim that argue that the Hebrew word for “look” here is only used when one is looking down on something, not up. Genesis Rabbah 44:12 reads, “R. Judah b. R. Simon in the name of R. Yohanan: ‘He brought him above the vault of heaven. That is in line with the statement, “Look toward heaven and number the stars,” and the meaning of the word ‘look’ is only ‘from above to below’ (Hence he looked downward from above the vault of heaven].” The Apocalypse of Abraham is not the only ancient work apart from midrash to speculate on what heavenly secrets God revealed to Abraham during this theophany ..."
Paulsen-Reed, Amy Elizabeth
The Origins of the Apocalypse of Abraham
(pp. 111-112) Harvard Divinity School, 2016
* 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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