Texts in Conversation
Genesis 3 gives the serpent a role in the first humans’ disobedience without naming a fallen angel. The Apocalypse of Abraham reshapes this scene by identifying the tempter as Azazel, linking the first sin to the evil power Abraham has confronted.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 3:6
Hebrew Bible
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; 3 but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die, 5 for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.
Apocalypse of Abraham 23:11
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
9 And I said: "Who are these mutually embracing, or who is this who is between them, or what is the fruit which they are eating, O Mighty Eternal One?" 10 And He said: "This is the human world, this is Adam, and this is their desire upon the earth, this is Eve; 11 but he who is between them represents ungodliness, their beginning (on the way) to perdition, even Azazel." 12 And I said: "O Eternal, Mighty One! Why have You given to such power to destroy the generation of men in their works upon the earth?" 13 And He said to me: "They who will (to do) evil — and how much I hated (it) in those who do it! — over them I gave him power, and to be beloved of them."
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Notes and References
Box, G. H., with J. I. Landsman
The Apocalypse of Abraham
(pp. PDF 44-45) 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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