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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 16:18

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

Revelation and the Apocalypse of Abraham share a common Jewish apocalyptic tradition that reshapes the plagues of Exodus into a new series of plagues at the end of the age, connecting them to the New Exodus tradition of the Hebrew prophets.

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 16:18

New Testament
17 Finally the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying: “It is done!” 18 Then there were flashes of lightning, roaring, and crashes of thunder, and there was a tremendous earthquake—an earthquake unequaled since humanity has been on the earth, so tremendous was that earthquake. 19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. So Babylon the great was remembered before God and was given the cup filled with the wine made of God’s furious wrath.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... In the description of the last plague and the fall of Babylon in Revelation 16:17-21 a number of Old Testament allusions converge. The series of seven plagues in chapter 16 are fairly closely modelled on the ten last plagues of Egypt. The fact that Apocalypse of Abraham 30 has a series of ten last plagues on the Gentiles and ends with an allusion to the Sinai theophany like Revelation 16:18 may be evidence that there was already, before John wrote, an apocalyptic tradition of paralleling the last plagues with the plagues of Egypt, in accordance with the well-established treatment of the End as a new Exodus ..."
Richard Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993), 204.

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 16:18

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