Patriarch as Participant: On the Emergence and Development of the Apocalyptic Abraham in Second Temple and Rabbinic Literature

• In Event: Second Temple Literature and the Bible

Abstract

My goal in this paper is to examine the emergence and development of the “Apocalyptic Abraham” from its origins in Second Temple literature to the amoraic midrash Genesis Rabbah. Several first century texts such as 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, the Gospel of John, and the Apocalypse of Abraham provide evidence of a robust corpus of extra-biblical traditions depicting Abraham’s visionary experiences during the enigmatic “covenant between the pieces” (Gen. 15). Some of these traditions depict temporal revelations, where Abraham views the periodization of history up until the eschaton, while others depict Abraham’s ascent to heaven to see the secrets of the divine realm. I will argue that these traditions are best understood as building upon various elements in the biblical text which present Abraham as a participant in Israel’s history, who quite literally experiences the Jewish people’s destiny. Many of these same motifs find their way into Genesis Rabbah. While scholars have previously noted their presence, they have not illuminated the degree to which these apocalyptic traditions have been altered and expanded in order to “sanitize” them and bring them into the rabbinic fold. For example, Abraham’s vision of the periodization of history is not a wholesale acceptance of the determinism found in apocalyptic literature. Rather, the patriarch’s vision is presented as a confirmation of standard Deuteronomic theology: if the Jews follow the mitzvot they will be rewarded, and if they stray from them they will be punished. Thus, far from validating the traditions concerning the apocalyptic Abraham, the rabbis appear to be undoing the very legacy they seem to be adopting. What, then, accounts for the presence of the apocalyptic Abraham in rabbinic midrash? I contend that the literary conceit of the visionary experience serves the same function for the rabbinic authors as for those of the Second Temple period: allowing a character to transcend physical and temporal boundaries to view an unseen reality. Thus, while the apocalyptic Abraham looked to the heavens and saw the mysteries of the cosmos, the rabbinic Abraham looked to the heavens and saw the rabbis and their Torah. In this way, the biblical portrayal of Abraham as experiencing his descendants’ future is maintained by later generations of interpreters and authors.

Author

• Matthew Hass, Harvard University