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Apocalypse of Abraham

About this book

Azazel Challenges Abraham

Chapter 13

1 And I did everything as the angel commanded, and gave the angels, who had come to us, the divided animals, but the angel took the birds. 2 And I waited for the evening sacrifice. 3 And an unclean bird flew down on the carcasses, and I drove it away.⁠ 4 And the unclean bird spoke to me, and said: "What are you doing, Abraham, on the holy Heights, where no one eats or drinks, and there is not (any) human food there, but these consume everything with fire, and (will) burn you up. 5 Leave the man who is with you, and run away; for if you go up to the Heights they will destroy you. 6 And when I saw the bird speaking, I said to the angel: "What is this, my lord?" And he said: "This is godlessness, this is Azazel."⁠ 7 And he said to it: "Shame on you, Azazel! For Abraham's lot is in heaven, but yours on the earth. 8 Because you have chosen and loved this as the dwelling(place) of your impurity, the eternal mighty Lord therefore made you live on the earth 9 and through you comes every evil spirit of lies, and through you come anger and trials for the generations of godless people; 10 for God, the Eternal, Mighty One, has not allowed the bodies of the righteous to be in your power, so that in this way the life of the righteous and the destruction of the unclean may be made certain. 11 Listen, counselor, leave me in shame. For you have not been allowed to tempt all the righteous. 12 Leave this man!⁠ 13 You cannot deceive him, because he is an enemy of you and of those who follow you and love what you want. 14 For look, the garment that was once yours in heaven has been set aside for him,⁠ and the mortality that was his has been transferred to you."⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Zechariah 3:4 and Apocalypse of Abraham 13:14

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In Zechariah, an angel answers Satan's accusation by replacing the high priest Joshua's filthy clothes with clean ones. In the Apocalypse of Abraham, Abraham also exchanges his corruption for clean clothing, the heavenly garment Azazel once wore.

Passages

Zechariah 3:4

Hebrew Bible
1 Next I saw Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, with Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 The Lord said to Satan, “May the Lord rebuke you, Satan! May the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Isn’t this man like a burning stick snatched from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood there before the angel. 4 The angel spoke up to those standing all around, “Remove his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “I have freely forgiven your iniquity and will dress you in fine clothing.” 5 Then I spoke up, “Let a clean turban be put on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood nearby.
500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Zechariah

Apocalypse of Abraham 13:14

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
9 and through you comes every evil spirit of lies, and through you come anger and trials for the generations of godless people; 10 for God, the Eternal, Mighty One, has not allowed the bodies of the righteous to be in your power, so that in this way the life of the righteous and the destruction of the unclean may be made certain. 11 Listen, counselor, leave me in shame. For you have not been allowed to tempt all the righteous. 12 Leave this man! 13 You cannot deceive him, because he is an enemy of you and of those who follow you and love what you want. 14 For look, the garment that was once yours in heaven has been set aside for him, and the mortality that was his has been transferred to you."
70–150 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Apocalypse of Abraham

References

“... In Zechariah the soiled garment of the priestly figure is simply exchanged for a pure one. In the Apocalypse of Abraham the transformational pattern is radicalized. The priestly initiate’s “soiled” gar- ments are not simply exchanged for pure ones; they are transferred to Azazel, recalling the Yom Kippur ritual, in which the sin of humanity is transferred to the scapegoat. ...”
Andrei A. Orlov, Heavenly Priesthood in the Apocalypse of Abraham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 140.

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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Zechariah 3:4 and Apocalypse of Abraham 13:14

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