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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 2 Enoch 19:6 and Apocalypse of Abraham 19:6

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In 2 Enoch, Enoch sees bright angels who govern the world in the sixth heaven. In the Apocalypse of Abraham, Abraham sees angels in the same heaven, but they are bodiless spirits who carry out the orders of the fiery angels above them.

Passages

2 Enoch 19:6

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Secrets of Enoch
3 And when they see evildoing they make commandments and instruction, and sweet and loud singing, and all songs of praise. These are the archangels who are above angels, measure all life in heaven and on earth, 4 and the angels who are appointed over seasons and years, the angels who are over rivers and sea, and who are over the fruits of the earth, and the angels who are over every grass, giving food to all, to every living thing, 5 and the angels who write all the souls of men, and all their deeds, and their lives before the Lord's face; 6 among them are six Phoenixes and six Cherubim and six six-winged ones continually singing together with one voice, and it is not possible to describe their singing, and they rejoice before the Lord at his footstool.
1–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Enoch

Apocalypse of Abraham 19:6

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

“... In 2 Enoch xix. the seer describes what he saw in th e sixth heaven: legions of angels more resplendent than the sun, the archangels set over the sun, stars, seasons, rivers, vegetation, the living things and the souls of men, with six phœnixes, seven cherubim, and seven hayyoth in the midst, all singing with a voice indescribably beautiful; cf. also Asc. Is. viii. 1 ff, 6 ff., where the sixth heaven is described as full of hosts of angels uttering praise. In our passage apparently the angels of service (ministering angels) are located in this heaven. ...”
G. H. Box with J. I. Landsman, The Apocalypse of Abraham (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1918), PDF 41.

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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2 Enoch 19:6 and Apocalypse of Abraham 19:6

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