Apocalypse of Abraham: Why Does Azazel Try to Stop His Ascent?

Abraham rides the wings of sacrificed birds into heaven, sees a throne of fire with wheels full of eyes, and meets Azazel.

The Apocalypse of Abraham is a Jewish text written soon after 70 CE that survives only in Old Church Slavonic. In it the angel Yahoel guides Abraham to heaven, and Azazel tries to stop him.

The Apocalypse of Abraham was composed in Hebrew or Aramaic, probably soon after the Romans destroyed the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE, but it survives only in Old Church Slavonic manuscripts. The first half tells how young Abraham recognizes that his father Terah's idols are powerless. One falls and breaks, another burns in the fire, and in the end fire falls from heaven and consumes Terah's house.

In the second half, the angel Yahoel, whose name combines two names of God, guides Abraham through a sacrifice. On the wings of a pigeon and a turtledove, Abraham rises to heaven. He sees a fire with voices in it, a throne of fire surrounded by four living creatures, and wheels full of eyes, a scene built on Ezekiel.

Azazel appears during the sacrifice as an unclean bird that swoops down on the carcasses and tries to talk Abraham out of the ascent. Yahoel rebukes him: Azazel's portion is on earth, not in heaven. Later Abraham sees the whole of history laid out below, including the Garden of Eden and the destruction of the Temple. The book links the Enoch tradition's Azazel with the patriarchs and with the throne-chariot mysticism of Ezekiel. G. H. Box published an English translation in 1918.