"The Apocalypse of Abraham is a pseudepigraphal work that narrates Abraham's rejection of idol worship and his subsequent ascent to heaven, where he is shown eschatological secrets through angelic mediation. This fascinating text was only preserved in Old Church Slavonic and must be studied as both a medieval Christian and an ancient Jewish text. This monograph addresses the following questions: -Why were medieval Slavs translating and reading Jewish pseudepigrapha -How much, if at all, did they emend oredit the Apocalypse of Abraham? -When in antiquity was it most likely written? -What were its ancient Jewish social and theological contexts?"--
This book examines the multiple contexts for the pseudepigraphal Apocalypse of Abraham, including the ancient Jewish milieu in which it was originally written and its medieval Christian Slavic setting.
| Acknowledgments |
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ix | |
| Introduction |
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1 | (5) |
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6 | (7) |
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1 Methodological Considerations |
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8 | (5) |
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2 From Byzantium to Bulgaria |
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13 | (24) |
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1 Early Bulgarian Literary Activity |
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18 | (3) |
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2 The Popularity of the Pseudepigrapha in Bulgaria |
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21 | (1) |
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3 The Indices of Forbidden Books in Bulgaria |
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22 | (2) |
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4 Literary Compilations and Works in Bulgaria |
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24 | (4) |
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28 | (7) |
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6 Bulgarian Literary Creativity |
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35 | (2) |
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37 | (13) |
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38 | (4) |
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2 The Spread of Bogomilism |
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42 | (3) |
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3 Bogomil Literary Activity |
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45 | (5) |
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50 | (6) |
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1 Literary Activity in Rus |
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52 | (4) |
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56 | (9) |
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56 | (5) |
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61 | (2) |
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3 Translations from Hebrew into Slavonic? |
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63 | (2) |
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6 The Slavonic Pseudepigrapha: Conclusions |
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65 | (5) |
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7 The Original Language of the Apocalypse of Abraham |
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70 | (7) |
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8 The Structure and Unity of the Apocalypse of Abraham |
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77 | (12) |
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77 | (2) |
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79 | (10) |
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9 Christian Emendations and Interpolations |
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89 | (17) |
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10 The Themes, Messages and Functions of the Apocalypse of Abraham |
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106 | (30) |
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1 Did the Destruction of the Second Temple Create a Religious Crisis? |
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106 | (3) |
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109 | (3) |
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112 | (2) |
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114 | (3) |
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117 | (3) |
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120 | (2) |
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122 | (3) |
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125 | (4) |
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129 | (1) |
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130 | (1) |
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130 | (2) |
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132 | (1) |
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133 | (3) |
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11 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, and the Apocalypse of Abraham: A Comparative Analysis |
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136 | (20) |
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136 | (1) |
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2 The Relationship between 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch |
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136 | (1) |
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137 | (7) |
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144 | (5) |
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149 | (7) |
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12 The Social Setting of the Apocalypse of Abraham |
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156 | (24) |
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1 Methodological Considerations |
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156 | (4) |
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2 Apocalyptic Literature and Sectarianism |
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160 | (4) |
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3 The Social Setting of Opaque Texts: Lessons from Midrash Studies |
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164 | (14) |
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178 | (2) |
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13 The Exegetical Context of the Apocalypse of Abraham |
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180 | (15) |
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180 | (6) |
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186 | (2) |
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188 | (7) |
| Bibliography |
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195 | (29) |
| Subject Index |
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224 | (7) |
| Index of Ancient Sources |
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231 | |
Amy Paulsen-Reed, Th.D. (2016), studied Hebrew Bible at Harvard Divinity School, where she focused on ancient Jewish biblical interpretation. Her early academic interests were modern Hebrew and Russian language and literature, which developed into a scholarly focus on biblical Hebrew and pseudepigraphal, apocalyptic, and Rabbinic literature. She is currently pursuing a career in publishing as the Academic Sales Manager and Acquisitions Editor at Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA.
