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Genesis 15 gives Abraham the animals for a covenant sacrifice and a promise about his descendants. The Apocalypse of Abraham reshapes this sacrifice into preparation for a journey to heaven, where Abraham will see their future history.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 15:9
Hebrew Bible
9 The Lord said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 10 So Abram took all these for him and then cut them in two and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half. 11 When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, and great terror overwhelmed him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years. 14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions.
Apocalypse of Abraham 9:5
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
2 And I said: "Here I am!" 3 And He said: "Behold, it is I; do not fear, for I am before the worlds, and a mighty God who has created the light of the world. 4 I am a shield over you, and I am your helper. 5 Go, take me a young heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove and a pigeon, and bring me a pure sacrifice. And in this sacrifice I will lay before you the ages (to come), 6 and make known to you what is reserved, and you shall see great things which you have not seen (until now); because you have loved to search me out, and I have named you my Friend.
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Notes and References
“... Abraham is ordered to bring a sacrifice (according to Gen. 15:9), which will enable him to
“know secrets” and see “great things.” The whole vision develops as a midrashic interpretation
of Gen. 15. ...”
Kulik, Alexander
"Apocalypse of Abraham" in Louis H. Feldman, James L. Kugel, and Lawrence H. Schiffman (eds.) Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture
(p. 1462) The Jewish Publication Society, 2013
* 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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