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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 Isaiah 44:16 and Apocalypse of Abraham 5:14

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In Isaiah, the prophet mocks a man who cooks with part of a tree and worships the rest as a god. In the Apocalypse of Abraham, Abraham makes a similar joke about Barisat, a wooden god that burns up while Abraham cooks Terah's meal.

Passages

Isaiah 44:16

Hebrew Bible
14 He cuts down cedars and acquires a cypress or an oak. He gets trees from the forest; he plants a cedar and the rain makes it grow. 15 A man uses it to make a fire; he takes some of it and warms himself. Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Then he makes a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire—over that half he cooks meat; he roasts a meal and fills himself. Yes, he warms himself and says, ‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’ 17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying, ‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Apocalypse of Abraham 5:14

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

References

“... The comic finale comes when Terah tells Abraham to sweep up the woodchips left over from the morning’s idol carving for use in cooking Terah’s lunch. While gathering the scraps Abraham finds a small wooden idol named Barisat. Having enkindled the fire, Abraham leaves Barisat to watch over it and charges him with making sure that the fire does not go out. When Abraham returns he, predictably, finds that Barisat has heroically given himself to the fire in order to fulfill Abraham’s charge. The sight of the idol lying on its back half-engulfed by the flame provokes Abraham to laughter. After lunch when Terah is giving praise to Marumath, Abraham tells him that the praise more justly belongs to Barisat, who through love of Terah threw himself into the fire to cook his lunch. Terah is filled with admiration for Barisat’s power and decides to carve another Barisat that day to make him his lunch on the morrow (5). [...] The fate of Barisat is reminiscent of the rather comic belittling of wooden idols in Isa 44.9–20. ...”
Kenneth R. Jones, Jewish Reactions to the Destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70: Apocalypses and Related Pseudepigrapha, JSJSup 151 (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 247.

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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Isaiah 44:16 and Apocalypse of Abraham 5:14

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