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Genesis 15 has Abraham drive birds of prey from his sacrifice. The Apocalypse of Abraham reshapes this interruption into an encounter with Azazel, who appears as an unclean bird and tries to frighten Abraham out of ascending to heaven.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 15:11
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 13:3
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
3 And there flew an unclean bird down upon the carcasses, and I drove it away. 4 And the unclean bird spoke to me, and said: "What are you doing, Abraham, upon the holy Heights, where no man eats or drinks, neither is there upon them (any) food of man, but these consume everything with fire, and (will) burn you up. 5 Forsake the man, who is with you, and flee; for if you ascend to the Heights they will make an end of you. 6 And it came to pass, when I saw the bird speak, I said to the angel: "What is this, my lord?" And he said: "This is ungodliness, this is Azazel." 7 And he said to it: "Disgrace upon you, Azazel! For Abraham's lot is in heaven, but yours upon the earth.
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Notes and References
“... “A bird of prey” in Gen. 15:11 is interpreted in Apocalypse as Azazel, imperson-
alized Evil. Azazel plays an important role in Apocalypse: his origin is in heaven (14:4; cf. Isa.
14:12–15; 4Q180 1); he rules evil on earth (Apoc. Ab. 14) and tortures sinners in She’ol (31); his
portion is the heathen (20; 22:5); he is a serpent who seduced the first humans (23:1–11); he
greets an anti-messiah (29). ...”
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. 1465) 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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