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Apocalypse of Abraham

About this book
Chapter 11

1 And I stood up and saw the one who had taken my right hand and stood me on my feet: 2 and the appearance of his body was like sapphire, and the look of his face like chrysolite,⁠ and the hair of his head like snow,⁠ 3 and the turban on his head like the appearance of the rainbow,⁠ and his clothing like purple;⁠ and a golden scepter was in his right hand. 4 And he said to me: "Abraham!" And I said: "Here I am, your servant." And he said: "Do not let my appearance frighten you, or let my speech trouble your soul. 5 Come with me and I will go with you, visible until the sacrifice, but invisible forever after the sacrifice. 6 Take courage, and come!"

Texts in conversation

Compare Apocalypse of Abraham 11:2 and Revelation 1:13

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

Revelation describes Jesus as a radiant figure with white hair and shining clothes, similar to the angel in the Apocalypse of Abraham, who shines like jewels and wears a crown with rainbow light. Both follow patterns based on texts like Ezekiel.

Passages

Apocalypse of Abraham 11:2

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
1 And I stood up and saw the one who had taken my right hand and stood me on my feet: 2 and the appearance of his body was like sapphire, and the look of his face like chrysolite, and the hair of his head like snow, 3 and the turban on his head like the appearance of the rainbow, and his clothing like purple; and a golden scepter was in his right hand. 4 And he said to me: "Abraham!" And I said: "Here I am, your servant." And he said: "Do not let my appearance frighten you, or let my speech trouble your soul. 5 Come with me and I will go with you, visible until the sacrifice, but invisible forever after the sacrifice. 6 Take courage, and come!"
70–150 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Apocalypse of Abraham

Revelation 1:13

New Testament
12 I turned to see whose voice was speaking to me, and when I did so, I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man. He was dressed in a robe extending down to his feet, and he wore a wide golden belt around his chest. 14 His head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His face shone like the sun shining at full strength. 17 When I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, 18 and the one who lives! I was dead, but look, now I am alive—forever and ever—and I hold the keys of death and of Hades!
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... in the paradigmatic vision recounted in Ezekiel 1, where the seer beholds the anthropomorphic Kavod, he describes the fiery nature of the lower body of the Deity ... A similar depiction can be also found in Ezekiel 8:2; there the prophet again encounters the celestial anthropomorphic manifestation with a fiery lower body ... Another important testimony to this prominent motif can be found in the first chapter of the Book of Revelation, a text which is possibly contemporaneous with the Apocalypse of Abraham and which in many aspects shares the theophanic paradigm of the Book of Ezekiel and the Book of Daniel ..."
Andrei A. Orlov, Heavenly Priesthood in the Apocalypse of Abraham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 25–26.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Apocalypse of Abraham 11:2 and Revelation 1:13

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