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Apocalypse of Abraham

About this book

The Journey to Horeb

Chapter 12

1 And we went, the two of us together, for forty days and nights, 2 and I ate no bread, and drank no water,⁠ because my food was to see the angel who was with me, and his speech was my drink.⁠ 3 And we came to the Mount of God, the glorious Horeb. 4 And I said to the angel: "Singer of the Eternal One! Look, I have no sacrifice with me, and I do not know of a place for an altar on the mountain: how can I bring a sacrifice?" 5 And he said to me: "Look behind you!" 6 And I looked behind me, and saw all the prescribed sacrificial (animals) following us: the young heifer, and the female goat, and the ram, and the turtledove, and the pigeon. 7 And the angel said to me: "Abraham!" I said: "Here I am." 8 And he said to me: "Slaughter all these, and divide the animals in half, placing the halves opposite each other, but do not cut the birds apart;⁠ 9 and ("but") give the halves to the men I will show you standing beside you, for these are the altar on the Mountain, to offer a sacrifice to the Eternal; 10 but give the turtledove and the pigeon to me, for I will go up on the wings of the birds, to show you what is in heaven, and on the earth, and in the sea, and in the abyss, and in the underworld, and in the Garden of Eden, and in its rivers and in the fullness of the whole world and its circle; you will see everything in (them)."

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 15:10 and Apocalypse of Abraham 12:8

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In Genesis, Abraham divides the sacrificial animals but leaves the birds whole, with no reason given. In the Apocalypse of Abraham, the uncut birds have a purpose, carrying Abraham and his angel up to heaven.

Passages

Genesis 15:10

Hebrew Bible
9 The Lord said to him, “Take for me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” 10 So Abram took all these for him and then cut them in two and placed each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds in half. 11 When birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep, and great terror overwhelmed him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for 400 years. 14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Apocalypse of Abraham 12:8

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
7 And the angel said to me: "Abraham!" I said: "Here I am." 8 And he said to me: "Slaughter all these, and divide the animals in half, placing the halves opposite each other, but do not cut the birds apart; 9 and ("but") give the halves to the men I will show you standing beside you, for these are the altar on the Mountain, to offer a sacrifice to the Eternal; 10 but give the turtledove and the pigeon to me, for I will go up on the wings of the birds, to show you what is in heaven, and on the earth, and in the sea, and in the abyss, and in the underworld, and in the Garden of Eden, and in its rivers and in the fullness of the whole world and its circle; you will see everything in (them)."
70–150 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Apocalypse of Abraham

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. ...”
Alexander Kulik, “Apocalypse of Abraham,” in Outside the Bible: Ancient Jewish Writings Related to Scripture, ed. James L. Kugel Louis H. Feldman and Lawrence H. Schiffman (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2013), 1465.

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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Genesis 15:10 and Apocalypse of Abraham 12:8

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