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In Jubilees 12, Terah agrees with Abraham that idols are useless but fears the people who worship them. The Apocalypse of Abraham makes their dispute harsher, with Terah becoming furious when Abraham credits his own skill rather than the gods.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Jubilees 12:6
Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
5 Why do you worship things that have no spirit in them? For they are the work of (men's) hands, And on your shoulders you bear them, And you have no help from them, But they are a great cause of shame to those who make them, And a misleading of the heart to those who worship them: Do not worship them.' 6 And his father said to him, I also know it, my son, but what shall I do with a people who have made me to serve before them? 7 And if I tell them the truth, they will slay me; for their soul cleaves to them to worship them and honour them. 8 Keep silent, my son, lest they slay you.' And he spoke these words to his two brothers, and they were angry with him and he kept silent.
Apocalypse of Abraham 4:6
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
2 When he saw it he was glad, [and] he said: "Blessed are you, Abraham, of my gods, because you have brought the price of the gods, so that my work was not in vain." 3 And I answered and said to him: "Hear, O my father, Terah! Blessed are your gods, for you are their god, since you have made them; for their blessing is ruination, and their power is vain; 4 they who did not help themselves, how shall they, then, help you or bless me? 5 I have been kind to you in this affair because by (using) my intelligence, I have brought you the money for the broken gods." 6 And when he heard my word, he became furiously angry with me, because I had spoken hard words against his gods.
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Notes and References
“... An-
other narrative feature is several conversations with Terah about
the folly of idolatry (chaps. 4, 6-7). The interaction is stronger
and more argumentative than in Jubilees 12, but both narratives
feature a difference of opinion between the son and father ...”
Nickelsburg, George W. E.
"Abraham the Convert: A Jewish Tradition and Its Use by the Apostle Paul" in Stone, Michael E.; Bergren, Theodore A. (ed.) Biblical Figures Outside the Bible
(p. 164) Trinity Press International, 1998
* 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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