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46 • • • Fallen Angels CHAPTER ELEVEN The Apocalypse of Abraham T: 'he last of the Outside Books we must consider, though extraordinarily interesting, has been somewhat neglected by scholars.1 It is the Apocalypse of Abraham, preserved in a Slavonic translation which contains many unintelligible passages and several additions by Christian scribes. The original was composed in Palestine after the destruction of the Temple. Unlike the Baruch and Ezra apocalypses, which date from about the same time, it presents an extreme dualistic doctrine . The first part of the book tells how Abraham came to believe in one God and sought to spread monotheism. This story, much like those told by the rabbis, is rationalistic in tone.2 A similar rationalistic monism appears sometimes in the second part, the apocalypse proper; but more often we find in this section a mood of mystery and mysticism, an intense consciousness of a realm of evil, and a dualistic doctrine that reminds us of the trend called Gnosticism—a movement we shall consider a little later. The philosophic and mystical elements are so interwoven that we can be sure the book comes from a single author who drew on a variety of sources. Abraham, the apocalypse relates, ascended to heaven on the back of a pigeon, accompanied by the great angel Jaoel.3 As they flew upward, an unclean bird appeared and urged Abraham to return to earth, lest the heavenly beings destroy him. The unclean bird, the angel explains, is ungodliness, that is, Azazel. And Jaoel cries out: "Disgrace upon thee, Azazel! For Abraham's lot is in heaven, but thine upon the earth. Because thou hast chosen and loved this for the dwelling-place of thine uncleanness , therefore the eternal mighty Lord made thee a dweller upon the earth, and through thee every spirit of lies, and through thee wrath and trials for the generations of ungodly men; for God the eternal mighty One hath not permitted that the bodies of the righteous shall be in thy hand, in order that thereby the The Apocalypse of Abraham • • • 47 life of the righteous and the destruction of the unclean may be assured." And Jaoel warns him to depart from Abraham, who is his enemy, and whom he will not be able to overcome. "For behold , the vesture which in heaven was formerly thine hath been set aside for him, and the mortality which was his hath been transferred to thee (ch. XIII).4 Now the angel commands Abraham, the chosen of God, to rebuke the evil being, "who hath scattered over the earth the secrets of heaven and hath rebelled against the Mighty One. Say to him: Be thou the burning coal of the furnace of the earth; go, Azazel, into the inaccessible parts of the earth/' But after he has uttered this exorcism, Abraham is to have no further words with Azazel; for God has given him power over those who answer him (ch. XIV). The myth of the fallen angels seems to be echoed here, not only in the name Azazel, but in the charge of revealing heavenly secrets and in the banishment of Azazel to a fiery netherworld. But basically this Azazel is a malignant Satan, not (like his namesake in I Enoch) an amorous angel. His character, and his place in the divine economy, become clearer as the apocalypse proceeds . Abraham comes before the divine throne and receives revelations of the future (ch. XVIII ff.). The angels now fade from the picture and we have a direct colloquy between God and Abraham, though the discussion is sometimes hard to follow. God promises Abraham a numberless posterity, "a nation and a people , set apart for Me in My heritage with Azazel." This is dualism with a vengeance—God appears to divide the world with the Prince of Evil! The author seems horrified by his own bold thought; for Abraham recalls Azazel's taunts, and asks: "How then, while he is not now before Thee, hast Thou constituted Thyself with him?" (ch. XX). No clear answer is given, and Abraham's attention is directed to a vision of the earth, the netherworld, Leviathan, and Paradise . He beholds (on earth?) a multitude of human figures, half on the right side, half on the left. God explains that the lot of men is predestined. Those on the left are assigned, "some for judgment and restoration, and others for vengeance and destruction at the end of the world. But these which are at the right...

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