Reu and Serug, 1 (cf. Gen. xi.20, 21). Rise of war and bloodshed and eating of blood and
idolatry, 2-7. Nachor and Terah, 8-14 (cf. Gen. xi.22-30). Abram's knowledge of God and
wonderful deeds, 15-24.
[Chapter 11]
- And in the thirty-fifth jubilee, in the third week, in the first year [1681 A.M.] thereof,
Reu took to himself a wife, and her name was 'Ôrâ, the daughter of 'Ûr, the son of Kesed, and she
bare him a son, and
he called his name Sêrôh, in the seventh year of this week in this jubilee. [1687 A.M.]
- And the sons of Noah began to war on each other, to take captive and to slay each other, and to
shed the blood of men on the earth, and to eat blood, and to build strong cities, and walls, and
towers, and individuals (began) to exalt themselves above the nation, and to found the beginnings
of kingdoms, and to go to war people against people, and nation against nation, and city against
city, and all (began) to do evil, and to acquire arms, and to teach their sons war, and they began to
capture cities, and to sell
male and female slaves.
- And 'Ûr, the son of Kesed, built the city of 'Ara of the Chaldees,
and called its name after his own name and the name of his father. And they made for themselves
molten images, and they worshipped each the idol, the molten image which they had made for
themselves, and they began to make graven images and unclean simulacra, and malignant
spirits
assisted and seduced (them) into committing transgression and uncleanness.
- And the
prince Mastêmâ exerted himself to do all this, and he sent forth other spirits, those which were put
under his hand, to do all manner of wrong and sin, and all manner of transgression, to corrupt and
destroy,
and to shed blood upon the earth.
- For this reason he called the name of Sêrôh, Serug,
for every one
turned to do all manner of sin and transgression.
- And he grew up, and dwelt in Ur of
the Chaldees, near to the father of his wife's mother, and he worshipped idols, and he took to
himself a wife in the thirty-sixth jubilee, in the fifth week, in the first year thereof, [1744 A.M.]
and her name was Melka, the daughter
of Kaber, the daughter of his father's brother.
- And she bare him Nahor, in the first year
of this week, and he grew and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, and his father taught him the
researches of the
Chaldees to divine and augur, according to the signs of heaven.
- And in the
thirty-seventh jubilee in the sixth week, in the first year thereof, [1800 A.M.] he took to himself a
wife, and her name was 'Ijaska, the
daughter of Nestag of the Chaldees.
- And she bare him Terah in the seventh year of this
week. [1806 A.M.]
- And the prince Mastêmâ sent ravens and birds to devour the seed which was sown in
the land, in order to destroy the land, and rob the children of men of their labours. Before they
could plough
in the seed, the ravens picked (it) from the surface of the ground.
- And for this reason
he called his name Terah because the ravens and the birds reduced them to destitution and
devoured their
seed.
- And the years began to be barren, owing to the birds, and they devoured all the
fruit of the trees from the trees: it was only with great effort that they could save a little of all the
fruit of the
earth in their days.
- And in this thirty-ninth jubilee, in the second week in the first year,
[1870 A.M.] Terah took to himself a wife, and her name was 'Edna, the daughter of 'Abram, the
daughter of his father's sister. And in the seventh year of this week [1876 A.M.] she bare him a
son, and he called his name Abram,
by the name of the father of his mother;
- for he had died before his daughter had
conceived a son.
- And the child began to understand the errors of the earth that all went astray after
graven images and after uncleanness, and his father taught him writing, and he was two weeks of
years old, [1890 A.M.] and he
separated himself from his father, that he might not worship idols with him.
- And he
began to pray to the Creator of all things that He might save him from the errors of the children of
men, and that
his portion should not fall into error after uncleanness and vileness.
- And the seed time
came for the sowing of seed upon the land, and they all went forth together to protect their seed
against the
ravens, and Abram went forth with those that went, and the child was a lad of fourteen
years.
- And a cloud of ravens came to devour the seed, and Abram ran to meet them before they
settled on the ground, and cried to them before they settled on the ground to devour the seed, and
said, ' Descend
not: return to the place whence ye came,' and they proceeded to turn back.
- And he
caused the clouds of ravens to turn back that day seventy times, and of all the ravens throughout
all the land
where Abram was there settled there not so much as one.
- And all who were with him
throughout all the land saw him cry out, and all the ravens turn back, and his name became great
in all the
land of the Chaldees.
- And there came to him this year all those that wished to sow,
and he went with them until the time of sowing ceased: and they sowed their land, and that year
they brought
enough grain home and eat and were satisfied.
- And in the first year of the fifth week
[1891 A.M.] Abram taught those who made implements for oxen, the artificers in wood, and they
made a vessel above the ground, facing the frame of the plough, in order to put the seed thereon,
and the seed fell down therefrom upon the share of the plough, and was hidden in the earth, and
they no longer feared the
ravens.
- And after this manner they made (vessels) above the ground on all the frames
of the ploughs, and they sowed and tilled all the land, according as Abram commanded them, and
they no longer feared the birds.
Chapter: 1 | 2 | 3 |
4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 |
38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 |
44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 |
50
From The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament
by R.H. Charles, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913
Scanned and Edited by Joshua Williams, Northwest Nazarene College