The Promise of Descendants

Chapter 20

1 And the Eternal Mighty One said to me: "Abraham, Abraham!" 2 And I said: "Here I am." 3 [And He said:] "Look down at the stars beneath you,⁠ and count them [for me],⁠ and report [to me] their number."⁠ 4 And I said: "How could I do that? For I am only a man [of dust and ashes]."⁠ 5 And he said to me: "As great as the stars in number and power, (so will) I make your descendants a nation and a people, set apart for me in my inheritance with Azazel."⁠

Abraham Asks about Evil

6 And I said: "Eternal, Mighty One! Let your servant speak in Your presence, and do not let Your anger flare up against Your chosen one! 7 Look, before You led me up Azazel attacked me with words. How, then, while he is not now in Your presence, have You established Yourself with him?"

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 15:5 and Apocalypse of Abraham 20:3

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

Summary

In Genesis, Abraham looks up at the stars as God promises him countless descendants. In the Apocalypse of Abraham, God repeats the promise in heaven, where Abraham looks down on the stars instead of up at them.

Passages

Genesis 15:5

Hebrew Bible

1 After these things the Lord’s message came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram! I am your shield and the one who will reward you in great abundance.” 2 But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, what will you give me since I continue to be childless, and my heir is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram added, “Since you have not given me a descendant, then look, one born in my house will be my heir!” 4 But look, the Lord’s message came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but instead a son who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 The Lord took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars—if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.”

750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Apocalypse of Abraham 20:3

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

2 And I said: "Here I am." 3 [And He said:] "Look down at the stars beneath you, and count them [for me], and report [to me] their number." 4 And I said: "How could I do that? For I am only a man [of dust and ashes]." 5 And he said to me: "As great as the stars in number and power, (so will) I make your descendants a nation and a people, set apart for me in my inheritance with Azazel." 6 And I said: "Eternal, Mighty One! Let your servant speak in Your presence, and do not let Your anger flare up against Your chosen one! 7 Look, before You led me up Azazel attacked me with words. How, then, while he is not now in Your presence, have You established Yourself with him?"

70–150 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Apocalypse of Abraham

References

“... In a reversal of the account of the making of the covenant in Genesis, God again tells Abraham to look down and count the stars, promising to make his seed as numerous (19–20). ...”

Kenneth R. Jones, Jewish Reactions to the Destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70: Apocalypses and Related Pseudepigrapha, JSJSup 151 (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 249.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

The Promise of Descendants

Abraham Asks about Evil

Apocalypse of Abraham32 chapters

Compare Genesis 15:5 and Apocalypse of Abraham 20:3

Summary

Passages

Genesis 15:5

Apocalypse of Abraham 20:3

References

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