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87 THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA

87

going on their way, lit- pointed to God above, whose steward he was and to whom alone they owed tlianks. Thns, by his love fur man. lie taught people how to worship God. .Viui.mia.m's 0.k. in eonneetion with wliieli the !Midr.ish (to Gen. ..i. 'S'4) relates these things, is mentioned also by Jerome (i|Uoted in Uhlnian's "Liehesthiltigkeil," |). ;K1). This philanthropic virtue of Abraham is specifically dwelt ujiou in the

Tkst.vmknt ok Abu.mi.vm.

His

i)riiplietie vision (Gen. xv.) furnished especially grateful material to apocalyptic writers, who beheld fiinshaddwiil in th<' fcnirdillerProphetic cut animals used lor the cnvcnant sac-

the • four kingdoms " cd' the Book Daniel (see also the Midrasliim and Targunis and I'irke K. El. xxviii; compare Apocalypse of Abniham, ix.). Regarding Abraham's relation to Melchizedek. who taught him new les.S(ins in philanthropy, see Whereas the Bibh' speaks of only JIki.chizkdkk. one trial thai Abraham had to undergo to give ])roof of his faith in and fear of (Wid (iheolVering of his son Isaac, Gen. ..ii.). tin' rabbis (Ab. v. 4; Ab. I{. N.

Vision,

rilice

iif

.xxiii. [B. x..vi.] and I'irke compare also Book of Jubilees,

1{.

Kl. .xvi. et seq.;

and xix. 5) mention ten trials of his faith, the offering of his son forming the culmination. Yet this was sutlicient rea-son tor Satan, or Mastemah, as the Hook of Jidjilees calls him. to imt all possible obstacles in his way. When Abraham linally held the knife over his beloved son, Isaac seemed doomed, and the angels of heaven shed tears which fell upon Supreme Isaac's eyes, causing him Idindness Test in later life. I5ut their prayer was of Faith, heard. The Lord sent Michael the archangel to tell Abraham not to sacrifice his son, and the dew of lift' was poured on Isaac to revive him.

The ram

xvii. 17,

to he offered in his place

had stood there ready, prepared from the beginning of creation (Ab. v. li). Abraham ha<l given ])roof that he served God not only from fear, but also out of love, and the promise was given that, whenever the "Akedali chapter was read on the New-year's day, on which occasion the nim's horn is always blown, the descendants of Abniham shoidd be redeemed from the power of Satan, of sin, and of oppression,

owing to the merit of him who.se ashes lay before God as lhoui;h he had been sacrificed and consumed (Pesilj. I{.

^

-K' iiii'l

elsewhere).

According to the Hook of Jubilees (xx.-xxii.), Abraham appointed Jacob, in the presence of Kebekah, heir of Ins divine bles.sings. Jacob remained with him to the very

receiving his instructions and his blessiiiL's. But while the same source informs us that he ordered all his children and grand childiiii to avoid inaLri<-, idolatry, anil all kinds of impurity, and to walk in the path of riirliteousness. .li;nKMrMi ii.Mi Aiiii.v (in Saidi. 'Jlu) tells us that he beciuiathed the knowledge of magic to the sous of his wife, Keturah. About his death rabbinical tradition has preserved only one statement that the. !;elof Death had no last,

—

power over him(H.

B.

I7 (hat hath lost its captain! .Mas for humanity that hath lost its leader!" (B. B. Old, 4.)

Abraham

Besides the discovery of astronomy, we find ascribed to Abraham the invention of the alphabet, the knowledge of magic, and of all secret lore ('Ab. Zarah. 14i Eusebius. "Prap. Ev."; D'llerbelot. Bibliotheque Orientale." »./•. "Abraham": "Sefer Yezirah." toward theend). All this is based on Gen. U. to Gen. xv. o: "God lifted him above the vault of heaven to cause him to see all the mysteries of life." It is related (Tosef., Kid., at end) that he wore a I)earl or precious stone of magic power on his neck, wherewith he healed the sick; and that all the secrets of the Law were disclosed to him, while he observed even the most minute provisions of the rabbis {^lishnah Kid., at end: Gen. R. Ixiv.). Even in physical size he towered above the rest of men, according to Gen. H. xlix. and Sofcrim, xxi. 9. There is a deep undercurrent of his true humanity in all the legends about Abraham. "Until Abraham's time the Lord was known True only as the God of heaven. When

Type of He appeared to .braham. He became Humanity, the God of the earth as well as of heaven, for lie brought Him nigh to man " (Midr. R. to Gen. xxiv. 3). Abraham, called "the One" (Isa. li. 'i. ILli., and Ezek. xxxiii.). rendered the whole human famih' one (Gen. R. xxxix) Whosoever has a benign eye, a simple heart, and a humble spirit, or who is humble and pious, is a disciple of Abraham (Ab. v. 29, andBer. Ci), and he who lacks kindness of heart is no true son of Abraham (Be/ah, i'-io). But it is particularly Abraham, the man of faith, the "friend of God" (Isa. xli. 8), ujion whom are founded alike the Synagogue (see Pes. 1174; Mek., Beshallah, S 3; I JIacc. ii. 52 Philo, is the Heir'?" xviii.-xix.), the Chinch (see Rom. iv. 1 Gal. iii. (i; James, ii. 23). and the Mosiiue (Koran, sura iii. 08-6O). "Abraham was not a Jew nor a Christ ian. but a believer in one God [a Moslem]. a haterof idolatry, a man of perfect faith " {il>. suras t<. iv. 124, v'i. 162, xvi. 121). ii. AVhen God said. "Let there be light!" He had Abraham in view (Gen. R. ii.). JIany -Vrabic legends concerning Abraham based on the K<iran foimd their way back to Jewish works (see Jellinek, "B. H." i. 25, "and introduction, xv.).

"Who



BIBUOOBAPHV: eH;

Well, Bihl. Legeuden der Mugelmanner, jt. AViit BcitriHn zur Simitischrii Sdyrii-

(irDnljiiuiii.

kuiiili, pp. t'l-iO; B. Beer, Lchen AhrtilinmK, iimh Aufax. sHtiudtr Jlhtii<vtuti Sage, especially pp. UV2UI, Lelpsle. 1St9 this book contains a very full accuuni. with vuliitibte reference.1, of tile nil)liliilolra(litlons concerning Abraham); Hiurlies,

Dktiuiuiru oT W(0*i,

s.v.

K.

In

Mohammedan Legend



Of all the

Biblical

personages mentioned in the Koran, Abraham is uiidoubteilly the most important. As is the case with all the Biblical material contained in the Koran, its source must be looked for not in any written documents, but in the stories, more or less tiiigi'<l by midra.shic additions, which Mohammei) heard from his Jewish or Christian teachers and friends. Care must also be taken to distinguish the various perimls for in these in the |ireacliingof the Arabian prophet matfei-s Mohammed livi-d from hand to mouth, and his views as to the importanci- of Bil)lical personages variid with changing circumstances and changing needs. In his early preachings .Mohammed shows very little knowle<lge of llie patriarch. The only mention of him during lln' early Meccan period is found in sura Ixxxvii. It) (compare sum liii. 87i. where .Mohammed makes a ]iu.ssing reference lo the "Sul.iuf Ibndiim" (the I^)lls of Abndiam); these can not have refcTence, as Sprenger thinks (" Ix-ben u. Lehre .Mohammeds," ii. 'MH, ;!ti3 <t »)i/.), lo any real apocryphal books, but merely to a reminiscence