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Apocalypse of Abraham

About this book

Abraham Returns to Earth

Chapter 30

1 But while He was still speaking, I found myself on the earth. And I said: "Eternal, [Mighty One], I am no longer in the glory in which I was (while) above, and I do not understand in my heart what my soul longed to understand."

The Ten Plagues

2 And He said to me: "I will tell you what your heart desires, because you have tried to see the ten plagues which I have prepared for the pagans, and have prepared in advance for when the twelve hours of the earth have passed. 3 Listen to what I tell you; this is how it will happen: 4 the first (is) pain of great distress; the second, the burning of many cities; 5 the third, destruction of animals by epidemic disease;⁠ the fourth, hunger of the whole world and of its people; 6 the fifth, destruction among its rulers by earthquake and the sword;⁠ the sixth, increased hail and snow; 7 the seventh, the wild beasts will be their grave; the eighth, hunger and epidemic disease will take turns destroying them; 8 the ninth, punishment by the sword and fleeing in distress; the tenth, thunder and voices and destructive earthquake.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Apocalypse of Abraham 30:8 and Revelation 11:19

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

In the Apocalypse of Abraham, God ends the list of ten plagues with thunder, voices, and a destructive earthquake. In Revelation, the same cluster comes when God’s Temple in heaven opens, after the seventh trumpet announces the final judgment.

Passages

Apocalypse of Abraham 30:8

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
2 And He said to me: "I will tell you what your heart desires, because you have tried to see the ten plagues which I have prepared for the pagans, and have prepared in advance for when the twelve hours of the earth have passed. 3 Listen to what I tell you; this is how it will happen: 4 the first (is) pain of great distress; the second, the burning of many cities; 5 the third, destruction of animals by epidemic disease; the fourth, hunger of the whole world and of its people; 6 the fifth, destruction among its rulers by earthquake and the sword; the sixth, increased hail and snow; 7 the seventh, the wild beasts will be their grave; the eighth, hunger and epidemic disease will take turns destroying them; 8 the ninth, punishment by the sword and fleeing in distress; the tenth, thunder and voices and destructive earthquake.
70–150 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Apocalypse of Abraham

Revelation 11:19

New Testament
17 with these words: “We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful, the one who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and begun to reign. 18 The nations were enraged, but your wrath has come, and the time has come for the dead to be judged, and the time has come to give to your servants, the prophets, their reward, as well as to the saints and to those who revere your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.” 19 Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was visible within his temple. And there were flashes of lightning, roaring, crashes of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

“... In the New Testament, besides the Apocalyptic passage in Matt. xxiv. 8-31 and parallels, there is a marked parallelism with the Apocalypse of the seven trumpets (Rev. viii. 6-ix. 21, x. 7, xi. 14-19), six of which mark partial judgements, while the seventh ushers in the final judgement. Several of the “trumpets” announce judgements like the Egyptian plagues. [...] Cf. Rev. xi. 19b. [Perhaps the passage most closely parallel with our text is Ap. Bar. xxvii. 1-13.] ...”
G. H. Box with J. I. Landsman, The Apocalypse of Abraham (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1918), PDF 53.

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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Apocalypse of Abraham 30:8 and Revelation 11:19

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