Jubilees 17:16
Pseudepigrapha
15 During the seventh week, in the first year during the first month — on the twelfth of this month — in this jubilee [2003], there were voices in heaven regarding Abraham, that he was faithful in everything that he told him, that the Lord loved him, and that in every difficulty he was faithful. 16 Then Prince Mastema came and said before God: ‘Abraham does indeed love his son Isaac and finds him more pleasing than anyone else. Tell him to offer him as a sacrifice on an altar. Then you will see whether he performs this order and will know whether he is faithful in everything through which you test him.’ 17 Now the Lord was aware that Abraham was faithful in every difficulty which he had told him. For he had tested him through his land and the famine; he had tested him through the wealth of kings; he had tested him again through his wife when she was taken forcibly, and through circumcision; and he had tested him through Ishmael and his servant girl Hagar when he sent them away.
Date: 150-100 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Sanhedrin 89b
Babylonian Talmud
Rabbinic
§ Apropos the binding of Isaac, the Gemara elaborates: It is written: “And it came to pass after these matters [hadevarim] that God tried Abraham” (Genesis 22:1). The Gemara asks: After what matters? How does the binding of Isaac relate to the preceding events? Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra: This means after the statement [devarav] of Satan, as it is written: “And the child grew, and was weaned, and Abraham prepared a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned” (Genesis 21:8). Satan said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe, this old man, you favored him with a product of the womb, i.e., a child, at one hundred years of age. From the entire feast that he prepared, did he not have even one dove or one pigeon to sacrifice before You as a thanks-offering? God said to Satan: Did Abraham prepare the feast for any reason but for his son? If I say to him: Sacrifice your son before Me, he would immediately slaughter him. Immediately, after these matters, the verse states: “And God tried Abraham.”
Date: 450-550 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... But even this inspiring narrative raised questions for early interpreters. Why, to begin with, should God want to test Abraham? Certainly not in order to find out whether Abraham was worthy. For, as we have just seen, Abraham had already proven himself worthy many times in the past ... In seeking the answer to these questions, interpreters looked to other parts of the Bible, in particular, to the book of Job, another biblical figure whom God had tested. In his case, however, the test was initiated not by God but by Satan, who in effect challenged God's high opinion of Job: 'Do some harm to him, indeed, afflict all that he has, and then see if he does not curse You to Your face' (Job 1:11). To ancient interpreters it seemed plausible that, with regard to Abraham as well, God may have received a challenge from Satan or some other angel(s) ..."
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