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91 THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA AbrahamAbraham, Apocalypse ofthis sort, as the Tell-el-Amarna inscriptions indicate,must be regarded as possible. If a m otive for themovement be sought, it may be found in the warswhich were constantly going on between the thicklysettled and feebly organized inhabitants of the valleybetween the rivers. Distinct indications of an Abrahamic migration from Babylonia are found by somescholars in the similarity between Babylonian andHebrew institutions (as the Sabbath) and myths(Creation, Flood, etc.); by others this similarity isreferred to Canaanite intermediation, or to later borrowing from Assyria or Babylonia.The supposed relation of the names "Sin" (thewilderness) and " Sinai" (the mountain, and a Canaanite tribe) to the Babylonian moon-god, Sin, isdoubtful. The migrating tribes would speak Babylonian or Aramaic, but would speedily become absorbed in their new surroundings and adopt thelanguage of the region. If such a body settled innorthern Arabia, this might account for the connection of Abraham with Hagar and Keturah. TheHebrew tribes proper, coming to dwell in tha t region,may ha,ve found his name as that of a local hero, andmay gradually have adopted it. But of the conditionof things in Canaan from 2300 to 2000 B.C. nothing isknown, and between Abraham and Moses there is almost an absolute blank in the history.BIBLIOGRAPHY : Tomkins, Studies on the Time of Abraham,2d ed.. 1897; W. J. Deane, Abraham: His Life and Times,New York C Men of the Bible Series "); Kittel, Hist, of theHebrews, 1. passim; Bobertson, Early Religion of Israel,passim; Hommel, Ancient Hebr. Tradition, v. T.ABRAHAM, APOCALYPSE OF: An apoc-ryphon that has been preserved in Old Slavonicliterature . Its ti tle does not fully explain its contents, for about one-third of it might more appropriately be called "The Legend of Abraham," as thiscontains an account of Abraham's conversion fromidolatry to monotheism quite apart from the Apocalypse which follows.Abraham, the son of the idol-maker TERAU" (Gen.R. xxxviii. 13), was, like his father, a thoroughgoing idolater, being chiefly devotedAbraham to the worship of the stone idol calledth e Merumat ("Eben Marumah," stone ofIconoclast, deceit and corruption). But on a journey to a place near Fandana (Padan-aram), some of his idols were smashed, and havinglong felt misgivings as to their power, he becameconvinced of the unreality of such deities. Henceforth he fearlessly propagated this new tru th, defending it even against his own father, whom he invain endeavored to convert. He threw the woodenidol Barisat(K)riCN "13 (" Son of the Fire ")intothe flames, and when remonstrated with declaredthat i t must have thrown itself in, in order to hurrythe boiling of the food (compare a similar anecdoterelated of Abraham in Gen. R. xxxv iii. 13). But noteven this argument influenced his father; and hismore elaborate ones in favor of monotheism, whichalmost to the very lette r are identical with thosefound in the Midrash (Gen. R. I.e.), also provedfutile. Finally God told Abraham to leave his father's house, which, no sooner had he done, than itwas consumed by fire, as was also his father. TheBiblical "Urof the Chaldees" (Gen. xi. 31, xv. 7)is here interpreted as the fire of the Chaldees, andlater in fuller detail in the Book of Jubilees, andstill more fully in the Midrash, Gen. R., and inPes. 118a. In the last passage the account of thedeath of Haran and of the miraculous escape of Abraham from thefireof the Chaldees is based on a combination of this Apocalypse with the Book of Ju

bilees. The relative age of these works can bedetermined by comparing the legend of Abrahamas contained in the Apocalypse withD ate of It s those in the Talmud and in the Book ofCom posi- Jubilees. The legend of the raven inti on . the Book of Jubilees (xi. 18) and theaccount of the conversion of Abrahamin his boyhood are still unknown to the Apocalypse, while the legend of the fire of the Chaldees isfound there still in its incipient stage. The mockeryof the idol Barisat is more extended in the Midrashthan in the Apocalypse ; also the condemnation ofTerah as an idolater, as related in the Apocalypse,discloses the older Haggadah (Gen. R. xxxix. 7),whereas the Book of Jubilees presents the later one(compare Gen. R. xxx. 4, xxxix. 7, where Terah istreated quite mildly). As the Book of Jubilees cannot have been written later than 70 (see JUBILEES,BOOK OP), the date of the composition should beset before the middle of the first century .It is b y no means difficult to ascertain w ith somedegree of certainty the language in which thislegend was originally written. TheI t s Origi- sarcastic names given to the idols pre-nal suppose a familiarity with a SemiticLanguage, dialect which a Greco-Jewish writer

would scarcely have expected of hisreaders. It is not certain whether the book was written in Hebrew or Aramaic. The frequent phrase," And I said, Behold me," suggests the Hebrew idiom"JJD, while the expression "silver" for "money" iscommon to both languages.The second part of the book, the main Apocalypse, is a commentary on Gen. xv., which is notonly interpreted by the Haggadah as aA b ra ha m revelation of the future destinies ofan d th e Israel up to their final redemptionA ng els . (Gen. R. xliv. 15), but also as implying the fact that " God lifted Abrahamabove the firmament" and told him to " look downupon the world beneath." The Apocalypse relates minutely the circumstances under which thisascension, mentioned in the Midrash, took place.According to this, Abraham 's sacrifice of the animals(Gen. xv.) took place, by God's command, on theholy Mount Horeb, whither Abraham was led by theangel PKIIT (Yahoel) after a journey of forty days.The angel introduces himself to Abraham, the"friend of G od" (Book of Jubilees, 19; Men. 536),as a being possessed of the power of the IneffableName n^n DB> (Name of the Existing), a qualityassigned elsewhere by the rabbis to METATKON," whose name is like unto tha t of God Himself " (Sanh.386). This also explains why, in the Apocalypse,the name Yahoel is evidently a substitute for theIneffable Name (nii"P), of which even the writing out in full was forbidden. Yahoel is also theheavenly choirmaster, who teaches the angels theirhymn (DTKO, a function which, according to Yal-ku{, i. 133, is assigned to Michael. Similarly, thecontrol over " the threats and attacks of the reptiles "ascribed here to Yahoel is assigned to Michael (seeSchwab, " Vocabulaire," p. 283). Even Michael'schief task of protecting and watching over Israel(Dan. xii. 1) is assumed by Yahoel, who says toAbraham: "I am . . . w ith the generation prepared from of old to come from thee, andwith me isMichael." These are the oldest instances of thegradual transformation of Michael, originally theguardian angel of Israel, into Metatronthat is,unto the one who concentrates in himself all thatis great, a development in Jewish angelology of thegreatest influence upon the Christian doctrine ofthe Logos (see ABKAHAM, TESTAMENT OP). Under

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the guidance of Yahoel, and assisted by many otherangels, Abraham offers up his sacrifice (Gen. xv.), butnot without being disturbed by Azazel, the fallenarchangel and seducer of mankind, as he is characterized in the Apocalypse (in agreement with the Midr.Abkir, Yalk., Gen., 44). In the form of an uncleanbird he swoops down "upon the carcasses" (Gen.xv. 11), and, speaking with a human voice, tries topersuade Abraham to leave the holy place. ButAbraham was not the man to be seduced by Satan (Sanh. 896). Yahoel spoke to Azazel, saying."Listen, thou [evil] adviser, leave this man alone,thou canst not lead him astray; thou canst not temptthe righteous." According to Baba Batra, 17a,Abraham was one of the three righteous ones, overwhom Satan (jnn IV' the Evil Spirit) had no power.Yahoel then adds that the celestial garments whichSatan had worn now belong to Abraham; which is alsoexpressed in Pirke de-Rabbi Eliezer, xx. and in Tar-gum Yer. Gen. iii. 21, where it is said that the garments of light (TIN nUM for T1J? JTOrD, Gen. R. xx.29) of the firs t two human beings were made out ofthe skin of the primeval serpent. The Apocalypseunderstands A zazel's sin to have consisted in "scattering the secrets of heaven upon earth " (compareBook of Enoch, viii. 1) and in devising rebellionagainst the M ighty One (TON); compare also Gen.R. xix. and Pirke R. El. xiii.After this interview with Satan, Abraham, borneby a dove (compare Matt. iii. 16), ascended to heaven,the splendor and glory of which areA br ah am 's described at great length, and particu-Ascension. larly the rivalry of the living creaturesabout the heavenly throne (ND3HWn;see Tan., ed. Buber; Gen. x.). He also saw there theangels that are born daily, and disappear as soon asthey have sung their hymn (Gen. R. lxxviii. 1.) Herepeats the prayer spoken for him by the angel, especially the following passage: " Thou, O Light, didstshine before the primeval morning [the Slavonic texthas " morning-light," a mistranslation of the originalptWl TIN or X0-ip NTI.TJ] upon Thy creatures, tocause the day to illumine the earth by the light ofThy countenance," which is also found in the ritual.This view rests upon an ancient conception knownto the students of the Merkabah mysteries, and isrendered in Gen. R. iii. 4: "God wrapped Himselfin a garment of light, w ith which He illuminated theearth from one end to the o ther."Ascending higher, Abraham reaches the seventhheaven, where he sees the throne, but he does not seeGod, as He is invisible. Here he is shown by Godeverything that exists in the heavens: the angels,thecelestial bodies, also the earth, and everything thatis moving upon it. He sees, in addition, the Leviathan and its possessions in the nethermost waters(compare Cant. R. on i. 4), and the world foundedupon itsfins(compare Pirke R. El. ix.). Furthermore,he sees the rivers and their origin, and paradise (Syr-iac Apoc. of Baruch, iv. 4). The fall of mankindis explained to him, jus t as in the Slavonic Book ofBaruch and Pirke R. El. xxi. Adam and Eve are ledto commit (sexual) sin by Azazel (Satana-El in theBook of Baruch; Sama-El in Pirke R. El.) through hiscausing them to eat from the forbidden fruit, a grapefrom the vine (compare Slavonic Book of Baruch andBer. 40a). God informs Abraham that, notwithstanding yeeer ha-ra' (" the lustful desire "), and i>K> XDiTlTBTU ("the pollution of the serpent"), with whichman from that time has been possessed, he has a freewill of his own and may choose to abstain from sin.Abraham then obtains an insight into the future ofboth individuals and nations, and especially is he forewarned of the sufferings of the people of Israel and

theirfinalredemption in the Messianic time. The destruction of the Tem ple, which sorely grieves Abraham, is declared by God to be a necessary punishment for the sins of the people of Israel; and, as inPirke R. El. xxviii., a time is hinted for the end oftheir sufferings under the four empires. The description of the period preceding the Messianic timeis the only part containing Christian interpolations,which are easily separated from the main part, all ofwhich has a decidedly Jewish character. This is evidenced by the mention of the ten plagues which shallbefall the heathen nations, a constantly recurringfeature in the description of the Messianic time (seeTan., ed. Buber, ii. 30; Ex. R. ix. 13), and by theconcluding part of the Apocalypse, which containsthe prophecy of the gathering of Israel in the Promised Land, to be ushered in by a trumpet-blast fromGod (Jellinek, "B . H ." vi. 58), and by the judgmentto be passed upon the heathen and the w icked.Concerning the date of the composition of theApocalypse proper, it clearly can not have beenwritten before the destruction of theD ate of First Temple, as it contains Abraham'sComposi- lamentations over that catastrophe.ti on . The emphasis laid on the freedom ofwill, notwithstanding the fall of man,presupposes a knowledge of the Christian doctrineof sin, against which this passage seems to be directed. But this very opposition to the Christiandogma shows that at the time the Apocalypse waswritten Christianity was not far removed from Judaism, at least not in Palestine, where, since he useda Semitic language, the author must have lived.The last decades of thefirstcentury appear to be theperiod in which the xlpocalypse was written. Thisremark, however, applies to the main part of thebook, and not to its Christian and Gnostic interpolations. In connection with these must be consideredthe statement found in the Apocalypse that Azazel,who is described as being endowed with twelve wings(which description coincides exactly with that givenin the Haggadah, Pirke R. El. xiii.), shares with Godthe power over Israel. This is, no doubt, the Gnosticdoctrine of the God of the Jew s as Kakodaimon; andin this connection Irenajus may be quoted, who saysof the Ophitic Gnostics ("Contra"EXeyxoc," i. 30, 9)," et projectibilem serpentem duo habere nomina, Michael et Samael, dicunt" (and they called the wretchedserpent two names, Michael and Samael). Thus, inthe mind of these Gnostics, Samael (prppl? ETIJ " theentwined serpent") and Michael were fused into onebeing. Therefore, it is quite probable that certainparts of the heretical Apocalypse of Abraham, whichwas in circulation among the Gnostics (Epiphanius,Uavdpiov 39, 5), were incorporated in the present text.Subtracting, then, the first part, w hich does not belong to the Apocalypse, and the Gnostic and Christian interpolations, only about three hundred linesremain, and this number would exactly correspondwith the number which, according to the stichom-etry of Nicephorus.the Apocalypse of Abraham contained. Outside of this, no trace of the Apocalypseis found in ancient writings . The quotation by Ori-gen ("In Lucam," hom. 35) from an apocalypse ofAbraham certainly does not refer to the present text.Co mpare als o AZAZEL a nd ABRAHAM, TESTAMENT OP.BIBLIOGRAPHY : Die Apokalypse Abrahams, ed. G. NathanBonwetsch in Studien zur Gesch. der Theol. und Kirced. G. Nathanael Bonwetsch and R. Seeberg, i. 1, Leipsic, 1897;Schurer, Gesch. iii. 250-253; Ginzberg, Die Haggadah bKirchenvOtern, in Monatssehrift,1898, pp.537-549, and pp. 17-22, 61-75, etc. L ABRAHAM'S BOSOM: In the New Testamentand in Jew ish writings a term signifying the abode