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Apocalypse of Abraham

About this book

The Powers of Heaven

Chapter 19

1 And a voice came to me from the middle of the fire, saying: "Abraham, Abraham!" 2 I said: "Here I am!" 3 And He said: "Look at the expanses which are under the heavenly vault on which you are (now) standing, and see that there is no one on any expanse except He whom you have searched for, or who has loved you." 4 And while He was still speaking (and) look, the expanses opened, and the heavens were beneath me. And I saw on the seventh heavenly vault where I stood fire spread over a wide area, and light, and dew,⁠ and a multitude of angels, and a power of invisible glory over the living creatures which I saw; but I saw no other being there.⁠ 5 And I looked from the height at which I stood [downward] to the sixth heavenly vault, 6 and saw there a multitude of angels of (pure) spirit without bodies, who carried out the commands of the fiery angels who were on the eighth heavenly vault,⁠ as I was standing suspended over them. 7 And look, on this heavenly vault there were no powers in (any) other form, but only angels of (pure) spirit, like the power which I saw on the seventh heavenly vault. 8 And He commanded that the sixth heavenly vault be removed. 9 And I saw there, on the fifth heavenly vault, the powers of the stars which carry out the commands given to them, and the elements of the earth obeyed them.

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 4:12 and Apocalypse of Abraham 19:4

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In Deuteronomy, Moses reminds Israel that they heard God from the fire without seeing any form. The Apocalypse of Abraham echoes this in heaven, where Abraham hears God’s voice and sees fire, light, and angels, but sees no divine figure.

Passages

Deuteronomy 4:12

Hebrew Bible
11 You approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, a mountain ablaze to the sky above it and yet dark with a thick cloud. 12 Then the Lord spoke to you from the middle of the fire; you heard speech but you could not see anything—only a voice was heard. 13 And he revealed to you the covenant he has commanded you to keep, the Ten Commandments, writing them on two stone tablets. 14 Moreover, at that same time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to keep in the land that you are about to enter and possess. 15 Be very careful, then, because you saw no form at the time the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the middle of the fire.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Apocalypse of Abraham 19:4

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
4 And while He was still speaking (and) look, the expanses opened, and the heavens were beneath me. And I saw on the seventh heavenly vault where I stood fire spread over a wide area, and light, and dew, and a multitude of angels, and a power of invisible glory over the living creatures which I saw; but I saw no other being there. 5 And I looked from the height at which I stood [downward] to the sixth heavenly vault, 6 and saw there a multitude of angels of (pure) spirit without bodies, who carried out the commands of the fiery angels who were on the eighth heavenly vault, as I was standing suspended over them. 7 And look, on this heavenly vault there were no powers in (any) other form, but only angels of (pure) spirit, like the power which I saw on the seventh heavenly vault.
70–150 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Apocalypse of Abraham

References

“... The choice of the name Horeb instead Sinai reflects the author’s utilization of Deuteronomistic traditions. This is borne out throughout the rest of the text, which contains the incorporation of Deuteronomistic language and motifs, most notably regarding the absence of anthropomorphism and its substitution with God’s Name, a rational approach to cult and ritual, and its rhetoric concerning idolatry. ...”
Amy Elizabeth Paulsen-Reed, “The Origins of the Apocalypse of Abraham” (diss., Harvard Divinity School, 2016), 176.

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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Deuteronomy 4:12 and Apocalypse of Abraham 19:4

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