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Apocalypse of Abraham

About this book
Chapter 14

1 The angel said to me: ["Abraham!" And I said: "Here I am, your servant." 2 And he said: "Know from now on that the Eternal One has chosen you, (He) whom you love; 3 take courage and use this authority, as I instruct you, against the one who slanders truth; 4 should I not be able to shame the one who has scattered over the earth the secrets of heaven and has rebelled against the Mighty One?⁠ 5 Say to him: Be the burning coal of the Furnace of the earth; go, Azazel, into the inaccessible parts of the earth;⁠ 6 [for your inheritance is (to be) over those who exist with you and are born with the stars and clouds, with the men who have you as their portion, and (who) exist through your being; 7 and your hostility is justification. So disappear from my presence through your own destruction." 8 And I said the words which the angel had taught me. 9 And he said: "Abraham!" And I said: "Here I am, your servant."] 10 And the angel said to me: "Do not answer him; for God has given him power (lit. will) over those who do answer him." 11 [And Azazel spoke to me a second time 12 and the angel said: "Now, however much he speaks to you, do not answer him, so that his will cannot act freely in you, 13 because the Eternal and Mighty One has given him weight and will; do not answer him." 14 I did what the angel commanded me;] and however much he spoke to me, I gave him no answer at all.

Texts in conversation

Compare Leviticus 16:22 and Apocalypse of Abraham 14:5

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In Leviticus, the goat that represents Israel’s sins is sent away into the wilderness. In the Apocalypse of Abraham, Abraham sends Azazel himself away like that goat, into the remote parts of the earth, before entering the heavenly presence.

Passages

Leviticus 16:22

Hebrew Bible
20 “When Aaron has finished purifying the Holy Place, the Meeting Tent, and the altar, he is to present the live goat. 21 Aaron is to lay his two hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the Israelites and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins, and thus he is to put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the desert by the hand of a man standing ready. 22 The goat is to bear on itself all their iniquities into an inaccessible land, so he is to send the goat away into the desert.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Leviticus

Apocalypse of Abraham 14:5

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
2 And he said: "Know from now on that the Eternal One has chosen you, (He) whom you love; 3 take courage and use this authority, as I instruct you, against the one who slanders truth; 4 should I not be able to shame the one who has scattered over the earth the secrets of heaven and has rebelled against the Mighty One? 5 Say to him: Be the burning coal of the Furnace of the earth; go, Azazel, into the inaccessible parts of the earth; 6 [for your inheritance is (to be) over those who exist with you and are born with the stars and clouds, with the men who have you as their portion, and (who) exist through your being; 7 and your hostility is justification. So disappear from my presence through your own destruction."
70–150 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Apocalypse of Abraham

References

“... The name of the chief of the demons, Azazel, reveals the influence of the demonology of 1 Enoch and Leviticus 16. Beyond that, several formulations allude to the imaginaire of Yom Kippur. Marc Philonenko and Belkis Philonenko-Sayar translate the Slavonic equivalent for “portion” in 13:7 as “lot,” which may reflect the dualistic anthropology of two lots, one evil and one good. Alexander Kulik translates “send” in 13:10 and connects the Slavonic word to ἀποστέλλω/שלח. This may allude to the sending out of the scapegoat. Also the formulation “Go, Azazel, into the untrodden parts of the earth” (14:5) is reminiscent of the Septuagint version's translation of Leviticus 16:22 to εἰς γῆν ἄβατον and the expression chosen by Philo in his description of Yom Kippur εἰς ἀτριβῆ καὶ ἄβατον ἐρημίαν ἐκπέμπειν ἐφ’ ἑαυτῷ κομίζοντα τὰς ὑπὲρ τῶν πλημμελησάντων ἀράς. ...”
Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra, The Impact of Yom Kippur on Early Christianity (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003), 93–94.

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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Leviticus 16:22 and Apocalypse of Abraham 14:5

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