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Apocalypse of Abraham

About this book

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 Pseudo Philo, Biblical Antiquities 18:5 and Apocalypse of Abraham 20:3

Classical · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

Pseudo-Philo and the Apocalypse of Abraham describe Abraham being lifted above the solid firmament to view the stars below, following ancient Near Eastern cosmology where the stars are attached to a solid dome just over the earth.

Passages

Pseudo Philo, Biblical Antiquities 18:5

Classical
4 In the night God said to him, “Who are the men who have come to you?” Balaam said, “Why, Lord, do you test the race of man? They cannot bear it, for you knew, more than they, all that was in the world before you founded it. Now enlighten your servant whether it is right that I go with them.” 5 God said to him, “Was it not concerning this people that I spoke to Abraham in a vision, saying, ‘Your offspring will be as the stars of heaven, when I raised him up above the firmament and showed him all the orderings of the stars, and required of him his son for a burnt offering’? He brought him to be laid on the altar, but I restored him to his father. And because he did not resist, his offering was acceptable in my sight, and for the blood of him I chose this people. Then I said to the angels who work subtly, ‘Did I not say of him, “To Abraham I will reveal all that I do”?’ 6 “Jacob also, when he wrestled in the dust with the angel who was over the praises, did not let him go until he blessed him. And now, you think to go with these men and curse those whom I have chosen. But if you curse them, who is it that will bless you?”
1–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Pseudo Philo, Biblical Antiquities

Apocalypse of Abraham 20:3

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
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." 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!
70–150 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Apocalypse of Abraham

References

"... Genesis Rabbah (44:12) also interprets the reference to YHWH bringing Abram 'outside' in an overtly cosmological manner, in a way that appears both to presuppose and to censure his use of astrology outright (Such an interpretation of the lifting above the firmament is, in fact, represented in the so-called Midrash Aggadah of Solomon Buber (based on a Mediaeval manuscript from Aleppo), which explicitly says (ad loc.) that although most humans are "under their constellation" (bënê ädäm tahat mazzäläm) which 'therefore judges them' (lëpikäk hammazzäl dän ötäm), Abra(ha)m is "above the dome of the firmament, in which the constellations are" (lëmalá mikktppat häräqta sehammazzäl säm), and therefore, presumably, exempt from astrological influence) ..."
Ola Wikander, “‘Go Out from Your Sign’: Rashi to Genesis 15:5 as a Reference to Astrological Primary Direction - Its Background in Rabbinic Literature and Parallels in Abraham bar Hiyya,” OTE 33.3 (2020): 1–5.

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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Pseudo Philo, Biblical Antiquities 18:5 and Apocalypse of Abraham 20:3

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