Apocrypha
Testament of Abraham
Pseudepigraphon
20 chapters · read and listen
Reading note
An apocryphal or pseudepigraphal text — outside the canon of the Western churches, yet widely circulated among ancient Jews and Christians. Published here from a public-domain translation, edited for continuous reading.
Chapters
Dossier
God sends the archangel Michael to fetch Abraham's soul — and Abraham simply refuses to go, negotiates, stalls and makes demands, in a book with more humour than any other here.
Where this text comes from
Greek, probably 1st or 2nd century AD, from Egyptian Jewish circles. It exists in long and short recensions with large differences in tone, and circulated in Coptic, Arabic, Slavonic and Romanian.
Why it is not in the Bible
Outside every canon. It is devotional narrative with a streak of comedy, a genre never in contention for a place among the Scriptures.
What you will find
- Michael has to return to heaven for instructions because he cannot persuade Abraham to die.
- Abraham asks to see the whole world before departing — and, seeing sinners, starts asking for them to be struck down, until God tells him to stop.
- The judgement of souls seen close up, with Abel on the throne and the two scales.
- Death appears in person, first beautiful and then showing his true face at Abraham's own request.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the Testament of Abraham Jewish or Christian?
- The core is Jewish, from the 1st or 2nd century, though it was preserved and retouched by Christian copyists. There is no religious polemic in it — the subject is death, and it works for any reader.