Texts in Conversation
Exodus 34 describes God as compassionate and generous when Moses receives the covenant. The Apocalypse of Abraham echoes these qualities in Abraham’s heavenly song, placing his praise within the same account of God’s character given to Moses.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Exodus 34:6
Hebrew Bible
5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the Lord by name. 6 The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.” 8 Moses quickly bowed to the ground and worshiped 9 and said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, let my Lord go among us, for we are a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
Apocalypse of Abraham 17:12
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
8 Eternal, mighty. Holy, El, God only — Supreme! 9 You who are self-originated, incorruptible, spotless, Uncreate, immaculate, immortal, 10 Self-complete, self-illuminating; Without father, without mother, unbegotten, 11 Exalted, fiery One! 12 Lover of men, benevolent, bountiful, jealous over me and very compassionate; 13 Eli, that is, My God-Eternal, mighty holy Sabaoth, very glorious. El, El, El, El, Jaoel! 14 You are He whom my soul has loved! Eternal Protector, 15 shining like fire, Whose voice is like the thunder, Whose look is like the lightning, all-seeing, 16 Who receives the prayers of such as honour You! [And turns away from the requests of such as embarrass with the embarrassment of their provocations, 17 Who dissolves the confusions of the world which arise from the ungodly and righteous in the corruptible age, renewing the age of the righteous!]
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Notes and References
“... The whole clause (from “lover of men” to “compassionate”) contains a short
summary of the divine attributes based upon Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7, a passage much used in later literature (cf.
e. g. Wisdom xv. 1), and especially in the Liturgy; cf. 4 Ezra vii. 132-viii. 3 and the writer’s notes thereon. ...”
Box, G. H., with J. I. Landsman
The Apocalypse of Abraham
(p. PDF 37) Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1918
* 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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