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About this book

Apocalypse of Abraham

About this book

The Revelation and the Command to Sacrifice

Chapter 9

1 Then a voice spoke to me twice: "Abraham, Abraham!"⁠ 2 And I said: "Here I am!" 3 And He said: "Look, it is I; do not be afraid, for I existed before the worlds, and I am a mighty God who has created the light of the world. 4 I am a shield over you, and I am your helper. 5 Go, bring me a young three-year-old heifer, and a three-year-old female goat, and a three-year-old ram, and a turtledove and a pigeon,⁠ and bring me a pure sacrifice. And in this sacrifice I will show you the ages (to come),⁠ 6 and tell you what has been kept in reserve, and you will see great things which you have not seen (until now); because you have loved searching for me, and I have named you my Friend. 7 But avoid every kind of food cooked over fire, and drinking wine, and rubbing (yourself) with oil for forty days,⁠ 8 and then offer me the sacrifice I have commanded you to make, in the place which I will show you, on a high mountain,⁠ 9 and there I will show you the ages which have been created and established, made and renewed, by my Word, 10 and I will tell you what will happen during them to those who have done evil and (practiced) righteousness among the human race.

Texts in conversation

Compare Daniel 10:3 and Apocalypse of Abraham 9:7

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

In Daniel, the prophet goes without rich food, wine, and oil for three weeks and then receives a heavenly revelation. In the Apocalypse of Abraham, Abraham keeps the same restrictions for forty days to prepare for a revelation on a high mountain.

Passages

Daniel 10:3

Hebrew Bible
3 I ate no choice food, no meat or wine came to my lips, nor did I anoint myself with oil until the end of those three weeks. 4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month I was beside the great river, the Tigris. 5 I looked up and saw a man clothed in linen; around his waist was a belt made of gold from Ufaz. 6 His body resembled yellow jasper, and his face had an appearance like lightning. His eyes were like blazing torches; his arms and feet had the gleam of polished bronze. His voice thundered forth like the sound of a large crowd. 7 Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men who were with me did not see it. On the contrary, they were overcome with fright and ran away to hide.
200–101 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Daniel

Apocalypse of Abraham 9:7

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
7 But avoid every kind of food cooked over fire, and drinking wine, and rubbing (yourself) with oil for forty days, 8 and then offer me the sacrifice I have commanded you to make, in the place which I will show you, on a high mountain, 9 and there I will show you the ages which have been created and established, made and renewed, by my Word, 10 and I will tell you what will happen during them to those who have done evil and (practiced) righteousness among the human race.
70–150 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Apocalypse of Abraham

References

“... David Halperin notes the Mosaic flavor of this passage, observing that “in preparation, Abraham must abstain from meat, wine, and oil (Apocalypse of Abraham, Chapter 9). The immediate source of this last detail seems to be Daniel 10:3. But, significantly, it recalls the abstentions of Moses and Elijah (Exodus 34:28, Deuteronomy 9:9, 18, 1 Kings 19:7–8); for like Moses and Elijah, Abraham is to have his experience on ‘the Mount of God, the glorious Horeb. ...”
Andrei A. Orlov, Heavenly Priesthood in the Apocalypse of Abraham (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 98.

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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Daniel 10:3 and Apocalypse of Abraham 9:7

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