Texts in Conversation
Exodus 19 describes God bringing Israel to himself on eagles’ wings at Sinai. The Apocalypse of Abraham echoes this journey on birds’ wings in Abraham’s ascent, making the dove and pigeon of his sacrifice carry him toward the heavenly presence.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 19:4
Hebrew Bible
2 After they journeyed from Rephidim, they came to the desert of Sinai, and they camped in the desert; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. 3 Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, “Thus you will tell the house of Jacob, and declare to the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 And now, if you will diligently listen to me and keep my covenant, then you will be my special possession out of all the nations, for all the earth is mine, 6 and you will be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you will speak to the Israelites.”
Apocalypse of Abraham 15:2
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
2 And the Angel took me with the right hand and set me on the right wing of the pigeon, and set himself on the left wing of the turtle dove, which (birds) had neither been slaughtered nor divided. 3 And he bore me to the borders of the flaming fire 4 [and we ascended as with many winds to the heaven which was fixed upon the surface. 5 And I saw on the air] on the height, to which we ascended a strong light, which it was impossible to describe, 6 and behold! in this light a fiercely burning fire for people, many people of male appearance, 7 all (constantly) changing in aspect and form, running and being transformed, and worshipping and crying with a sound of words which I did not know.
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Notes and References
“... See
Apoc. Ab. 15:2, where Abraham is set on a pigeon and Yahoel on a turtledove (cf. Exod. 19:4).
That explains why Abraham here (as well as in Gen. 15:10) does not cut up the birds. They are
supposed to function as the psychopompoi, “carriers of souls” of pagan sources. The motif is
unique to Apocalypse. ...”
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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