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The Apocalypse of Abraham has Abraham reject fire as a god because water overcomes it, then reject water in turn. Genesis Rabbah echoes this chain of stronger natural forces in his argument with Nimrod, who insists that Abraham worship fire.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Apocalypse of Abraham 7:4
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
4 But even more worthy of honour is the water, because it conquers the fire and satisfies the earth. 5 But even it I do not call God, because it is subjected to the earth under which the water inclines. 6 But I call the earth much more worthy of honour, because it overpowers the nature (and the fulness) of the water. 7 Even it (viz. the earth), however, I do not call god, [because] it, too, is dried up by the sun, [and] is apportioned to man to be tilled. 8 [I call the sun more worthy of honour than the earth,] because it with its rays illumines the whole world and the different atmospheres. 9 [But] even it I do not call god, because at night and by clouds its course is obscured."
Genesis Rabbah 38:13
Aggadah
Rabbinic
He [Teraḥ] took him and handed him over to Nimrod. He [Nimrod] said to him [Abraham]: ‘Let us bow down to fire.’ Abraham said to him: ‘Let us better bow down to water, that extinguishes fire.’ Nimrod said to him: ‘[All right,] let us bow down to water.’ He said to him: ‘If so, let us bow down to the clouds, that bear the water.’ He said to him: ‘[All right,] let us bow down to the clouds.’ He said to him: ‘If so, let us bow down to the wind, that scatters the clouds.’ He said to him: ‘[All right,] let us bow down to the wind.’ He said to him: ‘Better let us bow down to a person, who can withstand the wind.’
Date: 500 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... At the same time in chap. vii. of
our Book in the speech of Abraham to Terah about the claims to divinity of fire, water, earth,
sun, moon, and stars, there is a marked parallelism with the Rabbinical accounts. ...”
Box, G. H., with J. I. Landsman
The Apocalypse of Abraham
(pp. PDF 58-60) Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1918
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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