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Apocalypse of Abraham

About this book

The Burning of Barisat

Chapter 5

1 I thought about my father's anger and went out; [and after I had gone out] my father called out: "Abraham!" 2 And I said: "Here I am." 3 And he said: "Gather up the splinters of the wood from which I made gods of pine wood before you came; and prepare my midday meal." 4 And when I gathered the splinters of wood, I found under them a small god which had been lying among the brushwood on my left, 5 and his forehead was inscribed with: God Barisat. 6 And I did not tell my father that I had found the wooden god Barisat under the chips. And when I had put the splinters in the fire to prepare food for my father, as I was going out to ask about the food, I placed Barisat in front of the burning fire, and threatened him by saying: 7 "Pay careful attention, Barisat, [that] the fire does not go out until I return; but if it goes out, blow on it so that it burns again." 8 And I went out and did what I had planned. 9 And when I returned I found Barisat fallen backward, and his feet surrounded by fire and horribly burned.⁠ 10 I burst out laughing, and I said to myself: "Truly, Barisat, you can light the fire and cook food!" 11 And while I spoke (thus) as I laughed he (i.e. Barisat) was gradually burned up by the fire and reduced to ashes.⁠ 12 And I brought the food to my father, and he ate. 13 And I gave him wine and milk, and he was pleased and blessed his god Merumath. 14 And I said to him: "Father Terah, do not bless your god Merumath, and do not praise him, but praise your god Barisat because he loves you more and has thrown himself into the fire to cook your food!"⁠ 15 And he said to me: "And where is he now?" 16 [And I said:] "He is burned to ashes in the fierce fire and is reduced to dust." 17 And he said: "Barisat is very powerful! I (will) make another today, and tomorrow he will prepare my food."

Texts in conversation

Compare Exodus 3:2 and Apocalypse of Abraham 5:11

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In Exodus, fire surrounds God's presence in a bush without burning it up. In the Apocalypse of Abraham, fire has the opposite effect, as the wooden god Barisat burns to ashes while supposedly tending the fire for Terah's meal.

Passages

Exodus 3:2

Hebrew Bible
1 Now Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. 2 The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from within a bush. He looked, and the bush was ablaze with fire, but it was not being consumed! 3 So Moses thought, “I will turn aside to see this amazing sight. Why does the bush not burn up?” 4 When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him from within the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Exodus

Apocalypse of Abraham 5:11

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
7 "Pay careful attention, Barisat, [that] the fire does not go out until I return; but if it goes out, blow on it so that it burns again." 8 And I went out and did what I had planned. 9 And when I returned I found Barisat fallen backward, and his feet surrounded by fire and horribly burned. 10 I burst out laughing, and I said to myself: "Truly, Barisat, you can light the fire and cook food!" 11 And while I spoke (thus) as I laughed he (i.e. Barisat) was gradually burned up by the fire and reduced to ashes. 12 And I brought the food to my father, and he ate. 13 And I gave him wine and milk, and he was pleased and blessed his god Merumath.
70–150 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Apocalypse of Abraham

References

“... Here the authors of the Apocalypse of Abraham are drawing on an established visionary tradition manifested in several biblical accounts, including Exodus’ theophany of the burning bush. There Moses encounters a bush that burns but is not consumed, a manifestation of the divine. The motif of the celestial form embraced by fire also brings to mind the aforementioned account found in the first chapter of the Book of Ezekiel, where the seer beholds the Deity enveloped by fire or perhaps even composed of it. ...”
Andrei A. Orlov, Heavenly Priesthood in the Apocalypse of Abraham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 28.

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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Exodus 3:2 and Apocalypse of Abraham 5:11

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