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Zechariah 3 answers Satan's accusation by replacing Joshua's filthy clothes with clean ones. The Apocalypse of Abraham reshapes this exchange as Abraham receives Azazel's heavenly garment, while his former mortal condition passes to his accuser.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Zechariah 3:4
Hebrew Bible
1 Next I saw Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “May the Lord rebuke you, Satan! May the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Isn’t this man like a burning stick snatched from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood there before the angel. 4 The angel spoke up to those standing all around, “Remove his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “I have freely forgiven your iniquity and will dress you in fine clothing.” 5 Then I spoke up, “Let a clean turban be put on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood nearby.
Apocalypse of Abraham 13:14
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
9 and through you every evil spirit of lies, and through you wrath and trials for the generations of ungodly men; 10 for God, the Eternal, Mighty One, has not permitted that the bodies of the righteous should be in your hand, in order that by this the life of the righteous and the destruction of the unclean may be assured. 11 Hear, friend, be gone with shame from me. For it has not been given to you to play the tempter in regard to all the righteous. 12 Depart from this man! 13 You cannot lead him astray, because he is an enemy to you, and of those who follow you and love what you will. 14 For, behold, the vesture which in heaven was formerly yours has been set aside for him, and the mortality which was his has been transferred to you."
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Notes and References
“... In Zechariah the soiled garment of the priestly
figure is simply exchanged for a pure one. In the Apocalypse of Abraham the
transformational pattern is radicalized. The priestly initiate’s “soiled” gar-
ments are not simply exchanged for pure ones; they are transferred to
Azazel, recalling the Yom Kippur ritual, in which the sin of humanity is
transferred to the scapegoat. ...”
Orlov, Andrei
Heavenly Priesthood in the Apocalypse of Abraham
(p. 140) Cambridge University Press, 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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