Jubilees (Rewritten
Genesis with additions [153 bce]).
[Chap 17] 16b And the prince
Mastema
came and said before God, 'Behold, Abraham loves Isaac his son, and he delights
in him above all things else; bid him offer him as a burnt-offering on the
altar, and Thou wilt see if he will do this command, and Thou wilt know if he
is faithful in everything wherein Thou dost try him. 17 And the Lord knew that
Abraham was faithful in all his afflictions; for He had tried him through his
country and with famine, and had tried him with the wealth of kings, and had
tried him again through his wife, when she was torn (from him), and with
circumcision; and had tried him through 18 Ishmael and Hagar, his maid-servant,
when he sent them away. And in everything wherein He had tried him, he was
found faithful, and his soul was not impatient, and he was not slow to act; for
he was faithful and a lover of the Lord. [chap 18] 1,2 And God said to him,
'Abraham, Abraham'; and he said, Behold, (here) am I.'
And he said, Take thy beloved son whom thou lovest, (even) Isaac, and go unto
the high country, and offer him 3 on one of the mountains which I will point
out unto thee.' And he rose early in the morning and saddled his ass, and took
his two young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood of the 4
burnt offering, and he went to the place on the third day, and he saw the place
afar off. And he came to a well of water, and he said to his young men, 'Abide
ye here with the ass, and I and the 5 lad shall go (yonder), and when we have
worshipped we shall come again to you.' And he took the wood of the
burnt-offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire
and the 6 knife, and they went both of them together to that place. And Isaac
said to his father, 'Father;' and he said, 'Here am I, my son.' And he said
unto him, 'Behold the fire, and the knife, and the 7 wood; but where is the
sheep for the burnt-offering, father?' And he said, 'God will provide for
himself a sheep for a burnt-offering, my son.' And he drew near to the place of
the mount of 8 God. And he built an altar, and he placed the wood on the altar,
and bound Isaac his son, and placed him on the wood which was upon the altar,
and stretched forth his hand to take the knife 9 to slay Isaac his son. And I
stood before him, and before the prince Mastema, and the Lord said, 'Bid him
not to lay his hand on the lad, nor to do anything to him, for I have shown
that he fears 10 the Lord.' And I called to him from heaven, and said unto him:
'Abraham, Abraham;' and he 11 was terrified and said: 'Behold, (here) am I.'
And I said unto him: 'Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything
to him; for now I have shown that thou fearest the Lord, and hast 12 not
withheld thy son, thy first-born son, from me.' And the prince Mastema was put
to shame; and Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold a ram caught
... by his horns, and Abraham 13 went and took the ram and offered it for a
burnt-offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called that place 'The Lord
hath seen', so that it is said the Lord hath seen: that is 14 Mount Sion. And
the Lord called Abraham by his name a second time from heaven, as he caused 15
us to appear to speak to him in the name of the Lord. And he said: 'By Myself
have I sworn, saith the Lord,
Because
thou hast done this thing,
And hast not withheld thy son, thy beloved son, from Me,
That in blessing I will bless thee,
And
in multiplying I will multiply thy seed
As the stars of heaven, And as the sand which is on the seashore.
And
thy seed shall inherit the cities of its enemies,
16 And in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed;
Because
thou hast obeyed My voice,
And I have shown to all that thou art faithful unto Me in all that I have said
unto thee:
Go in peace.'
Mastema
is the name of the arch-demon in Jubilees.
The term mastemah means “hostility” (see
Hos 9:7, 8).
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