Notes on Semitic Adaptation of Egyptian Sources in the Testament of Abraham and the Apocalypse of Abraham

  

Two pseudepigraphic texts dealing with Abraham that were discovered after Joseph Smith's time also shed interesting light on the relationship between Abraham and the Egyptians. In the Testament of Abraham, Abraham is shown a vision of the Last Judgment that is unquestionably related to the judgment scene pictured in the 125th chapter of the Book of the Dead, thus clearly associating Abraham with the Egyptian Book of the Dead. One of the Joseph Smith papyri is in fact a drawing of this judgment scene from the 125th chapter of the Book of the Dead. (Michael D. Rhodes, “The Joseph Smith Hypocephalus . . . Twenty Years Later,” p. 7)

 

Note 35 to above:

 

Testament of Abraham, recension A, 12-13. For an English translation see James H. Charlesworth, Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 2 vols. (Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1983), 1:889-90.

 

Here is the translation in Charlesworth’s OTP:

 

12 ¹ While he was yet saying these things to me, behold (there were) two angels, with fiery aspect and merciless intention and relentless look, and they drove myriads of souls, mercilessly beating them with fiery lashes. ² And the angel seized one soul. And they drove all the souls into the broad gate toward destruction. ³ Then we too followed the angels and we came inside that broad gate. ⁴ And between the two gates there stood a terrifying throne with the appearance of terrifying crystal, flashing like fire. ⁵ And upon it sat a wondrous man, bright as the sun, like unto a son of God. ⁶ Before him stood a table like crystal, all of gold and byssus. ⁷ On the table lay a book whose thickness was six cubits, while its breadth was ten cubits. ⁸ On its right and on its left stood two angels holding papyrus and ink and pen. ⁹ In front of the table sat a light-bearing angel, holding a balance in his hand. ¹⁰ [On] (his) left there sat a fiery angel, altogether merciless and relentless, holding a trumpet in his hand, which contained within it an all-consuming fire (for) testing the sinners. ¹¹ And the wondrous man who sat on the throne was the one who judged and sentenced the souls. ¹² The two angels on the right and on the left recorded. The one on the right recorded righteous deeds, while the one on the left (recorded) sins. ¹³ And the one who was in front of the table, who was holding the balance, weighed the souls. ¹⁴ And the fiery angel, who held the fire, tested the souls. ¹⁵ And Abraham asked the Commander-in-chief Michael, “What are these things which we see?” And the Commander-in-chief said, “These things which you see, pious Abraham, are judgment and recompense.” ¹⁶ And behold, the angel who held the soul in his hand brought it before the judge. ¹⁷ And the judge told one of the angels who served him, “Open for me this book and find for me the sins of this soul.” ¹⁸ And when he opened the book he found its sins and righteous deeds to be equally balanced, and he neither turned it over to the torturers nor (placed it among) those who were being saved, but he set it in the middle.

 

13 ¹ And Abraham said, “My lord Commander-in-chief, who is this all-wondrous judge? And who are the angels who are recording? And who is the sunlike angel who holds the balance? And who is the fiery angel who holds the fire?” ² The Commander-in-chief said, “Do you see, all-pious Abraham, the frightful man who is seated on the throne? This is the son of Adam, the first-formed, who is called Abel, whom Cain the wicked killed. ³ And he sits here to judge the entire creation, examining both righteous and sinners. For God said, ‘I do not judge you, but every man is judged by man.’ ⁴ On account of this he gave him judgment, to judge the world until his great and glorious Parousia. And then, righteous Abraham, there will be perfect judgment and recompense, eternal and unalterable, which no one can question. ⁵ For every person has sprung from the first-formed, and on account of this they are first judged here by his son. ⁶ And at the second Parousia they will be judged by the twelve tribes of Israel, both every breath and every creature. ⁷ And, thirdly, they shall be judged by the Master God of all; and then thereafter the fulfillment of that judgment will be near, and fearful will be the sentence and there is none who can release. ⁸ And thus the judgment and recompense of the world is made through three tribunals. And therefore a matter is not ultimately established by one or two witnesses, but every matter shall be established by three witnesses.

 

⁹ “The two angels, the one on the right and the one on the left, these are those who record sins and righteous deeds. The one on the right records righteous deeds, while the one on the left (records) sins. ¹⁰ And the sunlike angel, who holds the balance in his hand, this is the archangel Dokiel, the righteous balance-bearer, and he weighs the righteous deeds and the sins with the righteousness of God. ¹¹ And the fiery and merciless angel, who holds the fire in his hand, this is the archangel Purouel, who has authority over fire, and he tests the work of men through fire. ¹² And if the fire burns up the work of anyone, immediately the angel of judgment takes him and carries him away to the place of sinners, a most bitter place of punishment. ¹³ But if the fire tests the work of anyone and does not touch it, this person is justified and the angel of righteousness takes him and carries him up to be saved in the lot of the righteous. ¹⁴ And thus, most righteous Abraham, all things in all people are tested by fire and balance.”

 

 

 

The Apocalypse of Abraham describes a vision Abraham saw while making a sacrifice to God. In this vision he is shown the plan of the universe, “what is in the heavens, on the earth, in the sea, and in the abyss” (almost the exact words used in the left middle portion of the Joseph Smith Hypocephalus). He is shown “the fullness of the whole world and its circle,” in a picture with two sides. The similarity with the hypocephalus is striking. There is even a description of what are clearly the four canopic figures labeled number 6 in the Joseph Smith Hypocephalus. The significance of these documents is that they date from the beginning of the Christian era -- they are roughly contemporary with the hypocephalus and the other Egyptian documents purchased by Joseph Smith -- and they relate the same things about Abraham that Joseph Smith said are found in the hypocephalus and the other Egyptian papyri. (Michael D. Rhodes, “The Joseph Smith Hypocephalus . . . Twenty Years Later,” p. 7)

 

Rhodes references Apocalypse of Abraham, 18:

 

18 ¹ And as I was still reciting the song, the mouth of the fire which was on the firmament was rising up on high. ² And I heard a voice like the roaring of the sea, and it did not cease from the plenitude of the fire. ³ And as the fire rose up, soaring to the highest point, I saw under the fire a throne of fire and the many-eyed ones round about, reciting the song, under the throne four fiery living creatures, singing. ⁴ And the appearance of each of them was the same, each having four faces. ⁵ And this (was) the aspect of their faces: of a lion, of a man, of an ox, and of an eagle. Each one had four heads on its body so that the four living creatures had sixteen faces. ⁶ And each one had six wings: two on the shoulders, two halfway down, and two at the loins. ⁷ With the wings which were on their shoulders they covered their faces, with the wings at their loins they clothed their feet, and they would stretch the two middle wings out and fly, erect. ⁸ And when they finished singing, they would look at one another and threaten one another. ⁹ And it came to pass when the angel who was with me saw that they were threatening each other, he left me and went running to them. ¹⁰ And he turned the face of each living creature from the face which was opposite it so that they could not see each other’s faces threatening each other. ¹¹ And he taught them the song of peace which the Eternal One has in himself. ¹² And while I was still standing and watching, I saw behind the living creatures a chariot with fiery wheels. Each wheel was full of eyes round about. ¹³ And above the wheels was the throne which I had seen. And it was covered with fire and the fire encircled it round about, and an indescribable light surrounded the fiery crowd. ¹⁴ And I heard the voice of their sanctification like the voice of a single man. (“The Apocalypse of Abraham,” trans. R. Rubinkiewicz, in The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. James H. Charlesworth, 2 vols. [New Haven: Yale University Press, 1983], 1:698)

 

The following images are taken from Kevin L. Barney, “The Facsimiles and Semitic Adaptation of Existing Sources,” in Astronomy, Papyrus, and Covenant, ed. John Gee and Brian M. Hauglid (Studies in the Book of Abraham 3; Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 2005), 129, 130: