The Testament of Abraham is a pseudepigraphic text probably composed in the 1st or 2nd century AD. It is of Jewish origin and is usually considered to be part of the apocalyptic literature. It is regarded as scripture by Beta Israel Ethiopian Jews, but not by any other Jewish or Christian groups. It is often treated as one of a trio of very similar works, the other two of which are the Testament of Isaac and Testament of Jacob, though there is no reason to assume that they were originally a single work. All three works are based on the Blessing of Jacob, found in the Bible, in their style.
The Testament of Abraham was likely written originally in Koine Greek, by someone living in Roman Egypt. Its vocabulary is similar to that used in the later books of the Septuagint and in 3 Maccabees, which were written in Egypt.
Manuscript tradition The Greek text of the Testament of Abraham is preserved in two quite different recensions: the long recension, which has a more developed, detailed and linear story, survives in about thirty manuscripts, among which the more important are A,Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, Grec 770, ff.225v-241r, dated 1315 EVienna, Theol Grec 333 (ex 337), ff. 34r-57r, 11th century and B.Jerusalem, Armenian Patriarchate, Holy Sepulcher No. 66, ff. 128v-144v, 15th century the short recension, where the episodes are sometimes abrupt and not logically connected but with probably an earlier wording, has survived in about nine manuscripts, among which the more important are AParis, Bibliothèque Nationale, Grec 1613, ff.87v-96r, 15th century and EMilano, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Grec 405 (G 63 sup), ff. 164r-171r, 11th century (manuscript E of the short recension is notable because of the presence of many semitisms). There is no consensus among scholars as to which recension is nearer the original, or whether we shall suppose one or more original texts. The early scholars, as James, but also recently Ludlow,Jared W. Ludlow, Abraham Meets Death: Narrative Humor in the Testament of Abraham (2002), pag 186 working mainly on the narrative viewpoint, support the priority of the long recension. This view has been challenged for example by Turner,N. Turner The Testament of Abraham: Problems in Biblical Greek NTS 1 (1954/55) 219-23 who studied the text from a linguistic point of view, and mainly by Schmidt,F. Schmidt Le Testament grec d'Abraham, introducion, edition critique des deux recensions grecques, traduction TSAJ 11, Tubingen, 1986 who worked deeply on manuscript E of the short recension, which was not available to the early editors.
The text is preserved also in Slavonic,Tichonrawow, Pamjatniki otretschennoi russkoi Literaturi, 1863, i. 79-90. Romanian,Moses Gaster, Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, 1887, 1X. 195-226. Also, Nicolae Roddy, Romanian Version of the Testament of Abraham: Text, Translation, and Cultural Context, Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2001. Ethiopic (Falasha), Coptic Bohairic and Arabic. These versions, apart one Romanian recension, follow the content of the Greek short recension. The Greek Text was first edited, with an English translation and introduction, by M. R. JamesM. R. James The Testament of Abraham, the Greek Text now first edited with an Introduction and Notes. With an appendix containing extracts from the Arabic Version of the Testaments of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, by Barnes in "Text and Studies", 2.2, Cambridge 1892 in 1892. The Greek text was also early edited by VassilievVassiliev, in Anecdota Graeco-Byzantina, 1893, i. 292-308, based on manuscript E of the long recension. in 1893.
Origin and date As regards its origin James writes: "The Testament was originally put together in the second century by a Jewish Christian, who for the narrative portions employed existing Jewish legends, and for the apocalyptic, he drew largely on his imagination". James holds that the book is referred to by Origen, Horn.in Luc. xxxv. With the exception of x.xi. the work is really a legend and not an apocalypse. To the above conclusions Schürer,Emil Schürer Geschichte des jd. Volkes, 3rd ed., iii. 252 takes objection, and denies the reference in Origen, asserting that there are no grounds for the assumption of a partial Jewish origin. KohlerKohler, in Jewish Quarterly Review, 1895, V. 581606 on the other hand has given adequate grounds for regarding this apocrypha as in the main an independent work of Jewish origin subsequently enlarged by a few Christian additions, and it is Kohler's stance that most scholars follow today.
The Testament of Abraham was likely written originally in Greek, by someone living in Egypt at the time. This is due to the fact that the vocabulary found in the text is quite similar to the vocabulary used in the later books of the Septuagint, which were being written at that time, in addition to other books, such as 3 Maccabees, that we know were written around that time in Egypt. In addition, there are aspects of the story that seem to reflect aspects of Egyptian life, such as the three judgments which mirror the three levels of Egyptian government. Unfortunately these reasons for the place of origin being Egypt are only supported by the long recension of the Testament of Abraham.James H. Charlesworth "The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Volume 1" (1983) p.875
The short recension therefore has no definite place or date of origin. While it would be logical to assume that it had its origins in the same place and time as the long recension, as there is no concrete evidence, any Jewish cultural center could therefore be a possibility for its origin.
Content This testament deals with Abraham's reluctance to die and the means by which his death was brought about. Overall, the long recension is about twice as long as the short recension, though both relate the same overall plot.
Chapter 1 (long recension/short recension): God tells the angel Michael to "Go down … to my friend Abraham and speak to him concerning death, so that he might put his affairs in order."Testament of Abraham 1:4 long recension as translated in Allison This exact phrasing comes from the long recension, though the short recension has a similar wording. The long recension also includes a list of Abraham's virtues, particularly highlighting his hospitality, and it mentions that he was at the "Oak of Mamre".Testament of Abraham 1:2 long recension as translated in Allison The conversation between God and Michael is also longer than in the short recension. Chapter 2 (long recension/short recension): Michael comes down to earth and finds Abraham in a field. They greet each other, and Michael dodges a few questions about his origins, causing Abraham to treat Michael as an ordinary man. Then Abraham invites Michael to his home and offers Michael the use of a horse to get there, which Michael refuses. The precise phrasing and order of the conversation changes between the recensions, but the overall effect of the conversations is very similar between the two recensions. Perhaps the biggest difference is that in the short recension, Abraham speaks about how he was named, while in the long recension, the question dodging is longer. Additionally, the long recension mentions again that Abraham is near the Oak of Mamre. Chapter 3 (long recension/short recension): On the way back to the house, a tree (specified as a cypress tree in the long recension) speaks to Abraham, though Abraham does not draw attention to the tree. When they get to the house, Abraham tells Isaac to wash Michael's feet. This causes Michael to cry, and his tears become precious stones. In the long recension, Isaac recognizes that Michael is not human. Additionally, Abraham takes Michael's tears (that were turned into precious stones). They appear again in the long recension, but are forgotten in the short recension. In the short recension, Abraham starts the preparations for dinner. Chapter 4 (long recension/short recension): Michael returns to Heaven and tells God that Abraham is too nice—Michael is unable to tell Abraham of his death. God promises to send a dream to Isaac that will show Abraham's death. In the long recension, the dinner preparations start in this chapter, and God says that Michael will have to interpret the dream. The short recension mentions that all angels worship God at sunset (which explains how Michael went back to heaven), while the long recension leaves this unexplained. Chapter 5 (long recension)/Chapter 5-6:6 (short recension): Michael comes back down to Earth and eats dinner with Abraham. Isaac then goes to sleep and dreams of Abraham's death, though the contents of the dream are not discussed yet. This causes Isaac to run over to Abraham and hug him while crying, which in turn causes Abraham and Michael to start crying as well. Sarah then enters and asks whether all of the weeping is because Michael said that Lot died. There is little difference between the two recensions in this section. Chapter 6 (long recension)/Chapter 6:6-6:13 (short recension): Sarah recognizes Michael as one of the angels in Genesis 18, and Abraham confirms this by remembering that Michael has the same feet (Abraham washed Michael's feet and those of the three visitors in Genesis 18). In the long recension, Michael's tears (which turned into precious stones) are mentioned as further proof of Michael's identity. Chapter 7 (long recension)/Chapter 7:1-18 (short recension): Isaac explains his dream. In it, a "glorious man"Testament of Abraham 7:3 long recension as translated in Allison took the sun and the moon from Isaac. Michael reveals his full identity and states that the sun is Abraham, the moon is Sarah, and the glorious man taking away both the sun and the moon represents Abraham and Sarah dying. Michael then orders Abraham to put his affairs in order. In the long recension, Abraham refuses to come. Chapter 8 (long recension): In the long recension, Michael runs back to heaven and relates Abraham's refusal. God gives a speech (that Michael is supposed to relate to Abraham later on) about how He blessed Abraham, so Abraham should not refuse His will. There is no analogue of this scene in the short recension (Abraham does not directly refuse to go with Michael). Chapter 9 (long recension)/Chapter 7:19-8:2 (short recension): Abraham requests that he be shown the entire world before he dies, Michael relays that request to God, and God accepts it. The long recension also includes Michael relaying God's speech and Abraham repenting his earlier words before making his request. Chapter 10 (long recension)/Chapter 12 (short recension): In the long recension, the next event is when Michael takes Abraham on the "Chariot of the Cherubim".Testament of Abraham 10:1 long recension as translated in Allison Abraham sees the entire world, including several sinners (murderers, people committing adultery, and thieves). When he sees the sinners, he requests that they be killed in various ways, and the request is granted. Analogues of the long recension's chapters 10-13 appear in the short recension, but the order is changed. Chapter 11 (long recension)/Chapter 8:3-16, 11:9-12 (short recension): In the long recension, Michael then takes Abraham to Heaven, where he sees a small gate and a large gate, with a man on a gold throne seated between them. The man spends most of his time weeping. A massive crowd travels through the large gate, while a few souls go in the small gate. Eventually, Abraham finds out that the large gate is where the souls of sinners go to damnation, the small gate is where the souls of the righteous go to paradise, and the man is Adam, who rejoices when souls are saved and weeps when souls are damned.