The Approval of Abraham: Traditions of God’s Acceptance of Abraham in Early Jewish and Christian Sources

God said to Abraham kill me a son…

—Bob Dylan (Highway 61)

When, in ancient times, people read the account of the life of Abraham, it was common for them to ask, “When did Abraham finally make the grade? At which point in his life was Abraham approved and accepted by God?”

Already in the account of Genesis it is apparent that there were certain moments in Abraham’s life that were particularly important in his relationship with God. But was there an instance when, either through an act of obedience or a demonstration of faith, Abraham merited God’s approval? Was there a moment when Abraham was proved to be righteous, or acceptable, or favored once and for all? Was there a moment when God specially commended Abraham for his uprightness or his courageous trust?

That Abraham had achieved an approved status with God was taken for granted; the LORD allowed himself to be remembered by all subsequent generations as the God of Abraham. Early traditions citing Abraham’s approved status tended to be rather vague, citing the commendable qualities of the patriarch and concluding that he merited divine approval and that he was, therefore, to be emulated. The earliest sources often do not point to one moment that was of particular significance, but as the traditions of Abraham’s acceptance developed, they began to take on a stylized form. Most often these focused on how Abraham had passed some sort of test (and there were plenty of trials in Abraham’s life to consider) and having passed the test, he was declared to have received divine approval. Often a verse from Genesis was cited to prove that this was, indeed, the moment at which Abraham had passed the test. Early in the development of these traditions they were not considered to be mutually exclusive, it could be that there were a number of times when Abraham merited acceptance before God. Sometimes, however, ideologies clashed, and the traditions relating to Abraham’s approval took on a polemical force. The development of certain branches of these traditions were sometimes cut off from one religious community and adopted by the other, while at other times older traditions took on a new force as the debate intensified.

• ^[1] All Scripture quotations are taken from the RSV unless otherwise noted. ↩
• ^[2] Was Ben Sira’s assertion informed by Gen. 26:5? The Greek version of Ben Sira maintains that Abraham “kept the law [νόμον; nomon],” which looks like a suitable translation of תורתי (torotai) from Gen. 26:5. But this is not the way the LXX translated Gen. 26:5, which reads ἐφύλαξεν…τὰ νόμιμά μου (ephulaxen…ta nomima mou). The force of the LXX is weaker than that of Ben Sira. The LXX would read more like the RSV’s English translation, implying that Abraham kept God’s “laws,” not that he kept the whole Torah. We might have assumed that the Greek translation of Ben Sira worked independently of the LXX when it translated torotai as nomon, but now that this passage from Ben Sira has been found preserved in Hebrew, we find that Ben Sira reads מצות שמר (shamar mitsvot), that is, “he kept the commandments” rather than “he kept the Torah,” which we might have expected from the Greek translation of Ben Sira. That the Hebrew reads mitsvot, however, does not rule out that Ben Sira intended to allude to Gen. 26:5, which maintains that Abraham both kept, “my commandments [mitsvotai] and my laws [torotai].” ↩
• ^[3] See S. Sandmel, Philo’s Place in Judaism: A Study of Conceptions of Abraham in Jewish Literature (New York: Ktav Publishing House, 1971), 45 n. 135. ↩
• ^[4] This comes remarkably close to the language of Paul in Rom 2:13-14, “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.” Cf. Romans 13:8, “for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” ↩
• ^[5] Ben Sira’s phraseology relies heavily on the language of Genesis. Some phrases, such as “father of a multitude of nations” are direct quotations from Genesis (17:4; Greek and Hebrew versions following the LXX and the MT precisely), and other phrases parallel Biblical language closely. See Patrick W. Skehan and Alexander A. Di Lella, The Wisdom of Ben Sira (AB 39; Garden City: Doubleday, 1987), 505. ↩
• ^[6] J. A. Fitzmyer, “The Interpretation of Genesis 15:6: Abraham’s Faith and Righteousness in a Qumran Text,” in Emanuel: Studies in Hebrew Bible, Septuagint and Dead Sea Scrolls in honor of Emanuel Tov, (ed. Shalom M. Paul, Robert A. Kraft, Lawrence H. Schiffman and Weston W. Fields; Boston: Brill, 2003), 267. ↩
• ^[7] Cited from Fitzmyer, "Interpretation of Genesis 15:6," 268. ↩
• ^[8] See Fitzmyer’s helpful discussion on p. 261. ↩
• ^[9] Fitzmyer, "Interpretation of Genesis 15:6," 266. ↩
• ^[10] Why then does Neh 9:8 speak in the active voice? Fitzmyer suggests that Nehemiah was dependent on a text conforming to the more ambiguous MT, which allowed Nehemiah to consider that it was not Abraham, but God who was reckoned righteous. See Fitzmyer, "Interpretation of Genesis 15:6," 258-259. ↩
• ^[11] Fitzmyer ("Interpretation of Genesis 15:6," 259) argues that “even though the authors of Ben Sira and First Maccabees do not specify the testing, they take it for granted that the reader would recognize the allusion to the sacrifice of Isaac, [Abraham’s] only son at that time (Gen. 22:9-18).” ↩
• ^[12] The first-century work entitled the Biblical Antiquities, which was falsely attributed to Philo, may also represent a combination of Genesis 15 and Genesis 22. There we read:

  I spoke to Abraham in a vision, saying, “Your seed will be like the stars of heaven,” when I lifted him above the firmament and showed him the arrangement of all the stars[.] And I demanded his son as a holocaust. And he brought him to the altar, but I gave him back to his father and, because he did not refuse, his offering was acceptable before me…

  Although the words “your seed will be like the stars of heaven” appear to be derived from Genesis 22:17, the chronological order suggests that God’s statement should have come before Abraham was tested in regard to his beloved son. In Genesis 15:5 God takes Abraham out and, showing him the stars, promised him that his descendants would be similarly innumerable. Indeed, God’s taking Abraham out, which was the basis of other traditions as we shall see below, may have been the basis for the idea that Abraham was lifted above the firmament. If it is to God’s promise in Genesis 15:5 that Pseudo-Philo alludes, then we have yet another combination of Genesis 15 and Genesis 22. ↩

• ^[13] Cf. the Damascus Document (CD A, col. 3, line 2) where it is said that because he did not walk in the stubbornness of his own heart, Abraham was “counted as a friend.” This line has not been found in the fragments from Qumran. Nevertheless, fragments containing sentences from the immediate context have been discovered. 4QDamascus Document^b fragment 2, column 2, represents CD A I, 21-II, 21, covering material up to a mere two lines before the statement regarding Abraham, while two fragments of 4QDamascus Document^e preserve fragments from just before and just after the statement regarding Abraham (fragment 1 corresponds to CD A II, 16-18, while fragment 2 corresponds to CD A III, 14). Finally, 4Q Damascus Document^f fragment 2 = CD A III, 6-11, which follows close on the heels of the statement regarding Abraham. All this would suggest that the statement regarding Abraham is missing in the Qumran corpus only by chance. ↩
• ^[14] See Sandmel, Philo’s Place in Judaism, 44-45 n. 130, for his discussion on this epithet. ↩
• ^[15] David Flusser noted that it is remarkable that Abraham became known as a great lover of God “when we bear in mind the very significant passage during the ‘Binding of Isaac,’ in which Abraham is told (Gen. 22:12): ‘Now I do know that you are God-fearing,’” since the traditions which remember Abraham as a lover/friend of God tie this designation so closely to the Akkedah [the Binding of Isaac] (David Flusser, “A New Sensitivity in Judaism and the Christian Message,” Judaism and the Origins of Christianity [Jerusalem: Magnes, 1988], 473). ↩
• ^[16] Did Paul agree then that Abraham did observe the Torah before it was given from Sinai, since Abraham was eventually circumcised and would, therefore be “bound to keep the whole law”? ↩
• ^[17] It is interesting that at the time of the Reformation, Luther, who attempted to read Scripture apart from Church tradition, took hold so firmly of the message of Paul, while the Catholic Church sided with James. ↩
• ^[18] See also 1 Clement 10.1-2, 7:

  Abraham, who was called “the friend,” was found faithful in his obedience to the words of God. He in obedience went forth from his country and from his kindred and from his father’s house, that by leaving behind a little country and a feeble kindred and a small house he might inherit the promises of God…. Because of his faith and hospitality a son was given him in his old age, and in his obedience he offered him as a sacrifice to God on the mountain which he showed him.

  Here Abraham is said to have been found faithful through his obedience to God, and because of his faith he was enabled to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. ↩

• ^[19] See also b. Makkot 24^a, the Midrash to Proverbs 19, and the Midrash to Psalms 119.3. ↩
• ^[20] Cf. b. Shabbat 156^a, “Abraham said before him, 'Master of the Universe! I have already consulted my astrology, and I see that I am not fit to sire a son!” or Genesis Rabbah 38.6, “Lord of the Universe! My planet tells me that I will be childless.” ↩
• ^[21] Cf. Exodus Rabbah 5.22 and Pesikta Rabbati 47.3. ↩
• ^[22] Louis Ginzberg noted that “Opinions…differ with regard to the question whether or not lack of trust in God is implied in Abraham’s words: ‘Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?’ (Gen. 15.8). The Church Fathers agree with the view favorable to Abraham…. The view prevalent among the Rabbis is that Abraham is greatly to be blamed for his lack of trust in God” (L. Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1947), 5:227-228 n. 110). ↩
• ^[23] We have already seen in Genesis Rabbah 44.12 how this verse was used to identify the moment when Abraham was proclaimed to be a prophet. ↩