Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets

In the mean time Nimrod, being very curious to see Abraham, ordered Terah to bring him into his royal presence. The child entered the throne-room boldly, and going to the foot of the steps which led to the throne, he exclaimed; “Woe to thee, accursed Nimrod, blasphemer of God! Acknowledge, O Nimrod, that the true God is without body, everlasting, never slumbering nor sleeping; acknowledge that He created the world, that all men may believe in Him likewise!”

At the same moment all the idols in the palace fell, and the king rolled from his throne in convulsions, and remained in a fit for two hours.

When he came to himself again, he said to Abraham, “Was that thy voice, or was it the voice of God?”

Abraham answered, “It was the voice of the meanest of His creatures.”

“Then your God must be great and mighty, and a King of kings.”

Nimrod now suffered Abraham to depart, and as his anger was abated, the child remained in his father’s house, and no attempts were made against his life.

Here must be inserted a legend of the childhood of Abraham, which I have ventured to render into verse.

THE GIFT OF THE KINGNimrod the Cushite sat upon a throneOf gold, encrusted with a sapphire stone,And round the monarch stood, in triple rank,Three hundred ruddy pages, like a bankOf roses all a-blow,Two gentle boys, with blue eyes clear as glass,And locks as light as tufted cotton grass,And faces as the snowThat lies on Ararat, and flushes pinkOn summer evenings, as the sun doth sink,Were stationed by the royal golden chairWith fillets of carnation in their hair,And clothed in silken vesture, candid, clean,To flutter fans of burnished blue and green,Fashioned of peacock’s plume.A little lower, on a second stageOn either side, was placed a graceful page,To raise a fragrant fume —With costly woods and gums on burning coalsThat glowed on tripods, in bright silver bowls;And at the basement of the marble stair,Sweet singing choirs and harping minstrels were,In amber kirtles purple gilt and sashed.The throbbing strings in silver ripples flashed,Where slaves the choral songAccompanied with psaltery and lyre,In red and saffron, like to men of fire,Whilst hoarsely boomed the gong:Or silver cymbals clashed, or, waxing shrill,Danced up the scale a flute’s melodious thrill.Now at the monarch’s signal, pages twain,With sunny hair as ripened autumn grain,And robed in lustrous silver tissue, shotWith changing hues of blue forget-me-not,Start nimbly forth, and bendBefore the monarch, at his gilded stool,And crystal goblets brimming, sweet and cool,Obsequiously extend;But Nimrod, slightly stirring, stately, calm,Towards the right-hand beaker thrusts his arm,And languid, raises it towards his lips;Yet ere he of the ruby liquor sips,He notices upon the surface lie —Fallen in and fluttering – a feeble fly,With draggled wings outspread.Then shot from Nimrod’s eyes an angry flare,And passionately down the marble stairThe costly draught he shed.He spoke no word, but with a finger wave,Made signal to a scarlet-vested slave;And as the lad before him, quaking, kneels,Above him swift the gleaming falchion wheels,Then flashes down, and, with one leap, his headBounds from his shoulders, and bespirts with redThe alabaster floor.And, mingled with the outpoured Persian wine,Descends the steps a sliding purple lineOf smoking, dribbled gore;And floats the little midge upon a floodOf fragrant grape-juice, and of roseate blood.Then Nimrod said: “I would you ugly stainWere wiped away; and thou, my chamberlain,Obtain for me a stripling, to replaceThis petty fool. Let him have comely face,And be of slender mould:Be lithely built, of noble birth; a youth,The choicest thou canst find. His cost, in sooth!I heed not. Stint no gold,But buy a goodly slave: for I, a king,Will have the best, the best of every thing —Of gems, of slaves, of fabrics, meats, or wine;The best, the very best on earth be mine.”Then, prostrate flung before his master’s throne,The servant said, “Sire! Terah hath a sonWhose equal in the whole round world is none,Beloved as himself.But, Sire! I fear the father will not deignTo yield his son as slave through love of gain,For great is he in wealth.”“Go!” said the monarch, “I must have the child:Be sure the father can be reconciled,If you expend of gold a goodly store,And, if he haggles at your price, bid more;I will it, chamberlain!I care not what the cost. I’ll have the lad!”And then, he leaned him idly back, and badeThe slaves to fan again.Now on the morrow, to the royal court,Terah Ben-Nahor from old Ur was brought —Protesting loud he would not yield his sonAs slave, at any price, to any one.“My flesh and blood be sold!Fie on you! Do you reckon that I prizeMy first-begotten as mere merchandise,To barter him for gold!A curse on him who would the old man’s stay,That bears him up, with money buy away!Require me not to offer child of mineTo serve and brim a tyrant’s cup with wine;To waste a life from morning to its grave,Branded in mind and soul and body ‘Slave!’How could I be repaid?His artless fondlings, all his childish ways:The reminiscences of olden days,That sudden flash and fade,Of her who bore him – her, my boyhood’s choice —Resemblances in feature, figure, voice,In gesture, manner, ay! in very toneOf pealing laugh, of that dear partner gone?Thou, Nimrod, to an old man condescendTo hear his story; your attention lend,And judge if acted well.Last year to me thou gav’st a goodly steed,From thine own stud, of purest Yemen breed:And thus it me befel.A stranger offered me a price so fairThat I accepted it, and sold the mare.”“My gift disposed of!” with an angry start,King Nimrod thundered: “Thou, old man, shalt smartFor this thy avarice. A royal gift,Thou knowest well, must never owners shift,As thing of little worth.”Then Terah raised his trembling hands, and said,“From thine own mouth, O King has judgment sped.The Lord of Heaven and Earth,The King of Kings to me my offspring gave,And shall I sell His gift to be a slave?Nimrod! that child, which is His royal gift, —Thy mouth hath said it, – may not owners shift.”

At this time idolatry was commonly practised by all. Nimrod and his servants Terah and his whole house worshipped images of wood and stone. Terah had not only twelve idols of the twelve months which he adored, but he manufactured images and sold them.

One day, when Terah was absent, and Abraham was left to manage the shop, he thought the time had come when he must make his protest against idolatry. This he did as follows. Every purchaser who came, was asked by Abraham his age; if he answered fifty or sixty years old, Abraham exclaimed, “Woe to a man of such an age who adores the work of one day!” and the purchaser withdrew in shame.

Another version of the incident is more full.

A strong, lusty fellow came one day to buy an idol, the strongest that there was. As he was going away with it, Abraham called after him, “How old are you?”

“Seventy years,” he answered.

“Oh, you fool!” said Abraham, “to adore a god younger than yourself.”

“What do you mean?” asked the purchaser.

“Why, you were born seventy years ago, and this god was made only yesterday.”

Hearing this, the buyer threw the idol away.

Shortly after, an old woman brought a dish of meal to set before the idols. Abraham took it, and then with a stick smashed all the gods except the biggest, into whose hands he placed the stick.

Terah, who was returning home, heard the noise of blows, and quickened his pace. When he entered, his gods were in pieces.

He accused Abraham angrily; but Abraham said, “My father, a woman brought this dish of meal for the gods: they all wanted to have it, and the strongest knocked the heads off the rest, lest they should eat it all.” And this, say the Mussulmans, was the first lie that Abraham told, but it was not a lie, but a justifiable falsehood.

Terah said this could not be true, for the images were of wood and stone.

“Let thine ear hear what thy mouth hath spoken,” said Abraham, and then he exhorted his father against idolatry.

Terah complained to Nimrod, who sent for Abraham, and he said to him, “Wilt thou not worship these idols? Well, then, adore fire.”

“Why not water which quenches fire?” asked Abraham.

Nimrod.– “Very well; then worship water.”

Abraham.– “Why not the clouds which swallow the water?”

Nimrod.– “So be it; adore the clouds.”

Abraham.– “Rather let me adore wind which blows the clouds about.”

Nimrod.– “So be it; pray to the wind.”

Abraham.– “But man can stand up against the wind, and build it out of his house.”

Then Nimrod in a fury exclaimed, “Fire is my god, and that shall consume you.”

According to another version, a woman came to Abraham to buy a god, because thieves had stolen her former god; this gave the patriarch a text for his homily against idolatry. The woman was convinced.

“Believe in the true God,” said he, “and you will recover the things the thieves stole from your house.”

A few days after, the woman recovered all her lost goods, amongst them her image. Then she took a stone, and smashed its head, saying, “Oh, thou blockhead, not to be able to preserve my property and thyself from thieves!”

The report of what she had said and done reached the king, who ordered her to be executed. But Nimrod was uneasy, and he announced a grand ceremony to last for seven days, during which every one was to produce his gods and carry them about the streets, which were to be hung with gold and silks. His object was to dazzle Abraham’s eyes by the splendor of idol worship. He sent for Terah and Abraham, but the latter refused to attend. The Mussulmans say that Abraham excused himself thus: “I see in the stars that I am going to be very sick to-day.” This was the second lie Abraham told, but it was not a lie, it was a justifiable falsehood. Then the king sent his guard, who arrested him and cast him into a dungeon.

He lay in the dungeon ten days. The angel Gabriel brought him food, and a crystal fountain bubbled up through the soil of his cell.

Nimrod called his council together, and it was unanimously decided that Abraham should be burnt alive. The king therefore published a decree ordering every man to bring wood or other fuel for the heating of the kiln.299 The wood was piled about the furnace to the height of five ells, for a circle of five ells diameter, and for three days and three nights the fire was kept up, and the flames licked the heavens, so that the oven was at a white heat. Then Nimrod ordered his jailer to produce Abraham. The prison-keeper humbly answered, that it was impossible that Abraham could be alive, for he had been given neither meat nor drink. But Nimrod answered, “Produce him alive or dead.”

Then the jailer went to the prison door and cried, “Abraham, livest thou?”

“I live,” answered the prisoner, “and am hearty.”

“How is that possible?” asked the jailer, astonished.

“Because the Almighty has wrought a miracle on my behalf. He is sole God, invisible, the Creator of the world, and the Lord of Nimrod.”

The jailer believed.

The news was conveyed to Nimrod, who ordered the immediate execution of the jailer; but as the executioner was about to smite off his head, he cried, “The Eternal One is alone the true God of the world, and the God of Nimrod who denies him.” And lo! the sword was blunted, and shivered into a thousand fragments.

Here we must add a few particulars from Mussulman sources.

“Who is your God?” asked Nimrod of Abraham, when brought before him.

“He who kills and makes alive again,” said Abraham.

“I can do that,” exclaimed Nimrod, and he ordered two prisoners before him; one he slew, the other he spared.

But Abraham said, “Behold the power of my God!” and he bade a dead man who had been four years in his grave, rise and bring him a white cock, a black raven, a green pigeon, and a gayly-colored peacock. The dead man rose and obeyed. Then Abraham cut up the birds, but preserved their heads; and lo! from the heads new bodies sprouted.

“Now,” said Abraham, “do the same.”

But Nimrod could not.

“If thou art a God,” said Abraham again, “command the sun to rise to-morrow in the west and set in the east.”

But this he could not do.300

Nimrod was highly incensed, and ordered that Abraham should be at once precipitated into the fire. When he was brought before the king, say the Rabbis, the soothsayers recognized him as the boy at whose birth they had warned the king that one was come into the world who would be the father of a great nation which would subdue that of Nimrod, and would possess the whole earth and heaven.

“This is the man against whom we cautioned you,” they said; “his father Terah must have deceived you, O king, and not have given you up the right child.”

Terah, on being questioned, owned the truth.

“Who gave you this advice?” asked the king; “confess it, and your life shall be spared.”

Out of fear Terah told a lie, and said that Haran, his other son, had suggested the deception.

“For having given this advice,” said Nimrod, “Haran shall perish along with Abraham. Cast them both into the flames.” Abraham and Haran were now to be stripped and their hands and feet bound by ropes, and then they were to be thrown into the fire. But the servants of Nimrod who approached the brothers were caught by the flames which, like the tongues of serpents, shot out, curled round them, drew them into the fire, and consumed them.

Then Satan appeared to Nimrod, and instructed him how to make a catapult which would throw stones to a distance, and by means of which Abraham and Haran could be projected into the midst of the fire.

Haran was undecided in his mind whether to worship God or idols; sometimes he sided with Abraham, and sometimes with Terah. Now, the moment Haran was shot into the flames, his heart failed him, and he cried out that he would worship idols if his life were spared. But it was too late, he was burnt to ashes. But Abraham was unharmed. The cords which bound him were consumed, but for three days and nights he walked about in the flames, and felt no inconvenience.301

Then the king cried aloud. “Abraham, servant of the God of Heaven, come forth from the furnace to me.”

And Abraham came forth. Then the king said to him, “How is it that thou art not consumed?” And Abraham answered, “The Lord God of Heaven and Earth, whom I serve, hath delivered me.”

Instantly the flames were extinguished, and the wood burst forth into flower and fruit; and the pile was like a grove of flowering shrubs to look upon, and Angels descended and took Abraham and seated him in the midst.

The Arabic version of this part of the story is something different.

Nimrod could not see into the fire, so he ascended a high tower in his palace, and from the top looked down into the furnace, and saw that in the midst was a garden with flowers and a fountain of sparkling water, and Abraham seated on the grass beside the spring, conversing with an angel.302

Nimrod now loaded Abraham with presents, amongst which were two slaves named Oni and Eliezer; according to some, the latter was a son of the tyrant. Many followed Abraham home, and brought their children to him, and said, “Now we see that the God in whom thou trustest, is the only true God; teach our children the truth, that they may serve Him in righteousness.” Thus three hundred persons accompanied Abraham home, most of whom were servants of the king, and of noble race.

Here follows in the Mussulman account the story of Nimrod’s attempt to reach heaven in a box, to which were attached four vultures. His object was, says Tabari, to kill the God of Abraham. He went up along with his vizir. After a night and day in the air, the king said to his vizir, “Open the window of the box towards the earth and tell me what you see.” He did so, and replied, “I see the earth.” After another day and night, he again looked out and saw the earth still; on the third day, at the king’s command he looked out and saw nothing. Then said Nimrod, “Open the window towards heaven and look out.” He did so and saw nothing. Then Nimrod shot three arrows into the sky, and they fell back with blood on them. So Nimrod said, “I have killed the God of Abraham.” But whence the blood came is unsettled. Some say that the arrows hit a bird which flew higher than the vultures; but others, with more probability, say they struck a fish, which was being carried by the wind, that had caught it up with the rain out of the sea.303

Abraham now married the daughter of his brother Haran, named Sarai or Jisha, “the seeress,” because she was endowed with the spirit of prophecy, say some, or, say others, because she was so beautiful that every one wanted to see her. At the time of his marriage, Abraham was aged fifty; others, however, suggest twenty-five.

Two years later, Nimrod was visited with a dream. He saw himself and all his army in a valley, near the furnace into which he had cast Abraham. A man resembling the latter stepped out of the furnace and approached the king, holding a naked sword. When Nimrod recoiled, the man cast an egg at his head; the egg broke and became a mighty river, which swept all his hosts away, saving only three men; and on looking at them, the king saw that they wore royal robes, and exactly resembled himself. Then the stream retreated into the egg, and when all the water was gathered into it, from the egg hopped out a chicken, which seated itself on Nimrod’s head, and pecked out one of his eyes.

Next morning the king sent for his soothsayers to explain the dream, and this was their interpretation; “Hear, O king! this dream presages to thee great misfortune, which Abraham and his posterity shall bring upon thee. The time will come when he will war with his forces against thee and thy forces, and will overcome them and put them to the sword. Thou alone wilt escape with three of thy confederates; but a messenger of Abraham will cause thy death. Therefore, O king! remember that thy council of wise men foretold this fifty-two years ago, in the stars at Abraham’s birth. As long as Abraham lives thou art in jeopardy. Wherefore could he be suffered to live any longer?”

Nimrod believing what was said, sent a servant to assassinate Abraham. But Eliezer, the slave, whom Nimrod had given to the patriarch, had been with the councillors when this advice was given, and he fled and told Abraham before the emissary of the tyrant arrived; and Abraham left his house and took refuge with Noah and Shem, and remained hidden with them for the space of one month.

Here Terah sought him in secret; and Abraham addressed him a long discourse on the vanity of idol-worship and the evil of serving the godless tyrant Nimrod. And Noah and Shem supported him.

Then Terah, who grieved over the death of his son Haran, consented to all that Abraham had said, and he went forth with Abraham and his wife Sarah, and Lot his grandson, the son of Haran, and all his household, and they settled at Charan, where the land was fruitful and well watered. The dwellers in Charan associated themselves with Abraham, who instructed them in the knowledge and fear of the Lord.

2. THE CALL OF ABRAHAM, AND THE VISIT TO EGYPT

For three years Abraham dwelt in Charan, till God called him to go further with his wife Sarah, and to take up his abode in Canaan; but Terah and Lot remained at Charan. Abraham reached Canaan and pitched his tent among the inhabitants of that land; and on the spot where God promised that He would give him all that pleasant country for his inheritance, he erected an altar to the Eternal One.

For fifteen years he had dwelt in Canaan, and Abraham was now aged 70, when, on the 15th day of the first month (Nisan), on the self-same day on which, in after years, the children of Israel went out of Egypt, the voice of God came to him saying, “I am the Lord that brought thee out of the furnace of Chaldæa; to thee will I give this land to inherit it.” And he said, “Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? Shall my descendants be faithful and true, and serve Thee the living God, or will they rebel against God, against Thee, as did the men before the Flood, and as did the men of Shinar who builded the tower?”

Then God bade him take an heifer of three years old, or a she-goat of three years old, and a ram, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. And he took all these and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another; but the birds divided he not.304 And God said to him, “When, in after days, thy descendants shall build me a temple, in it shall these five kinds of victims be offered to me.”

“But,” said Abraham, “should the temple be destroyed, what then shall they do?”

“Then,” answered the Most Holy, “They shall offer to me in spirit, and I will pardon their sins.” The beasts and birds also signified the races over which his seed was to reign; the beasts he divided, and they betokened the Gentile races, from which they were to purge away their idolatry; but the birds divided he not; for the birds signified the elect nation.

Then came ravens and vultures down upon the carcases, but Abraham drove them away (ver. 11); a symbol of the protection which God would accord to the people, for His promise sake, and the sake of their father Abraham, when the powers of evil, or mighty princes, menaced them.

And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham (ver. 12), and he saw the four realms, – the horror-awakening Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Syro-Grecian, and Roman empires. And God said to Abraham (ver. 13), “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years. But in the fourth generation thy seed shall come hither again, after I have plagued the nation that has held them in bondage with 250 plagues.”

“Is this decree spoken to punish me for my crimes?” asked Abraham.

“No,” answered the Almighty: “Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age (ver. 15); and Terah, who now bewails his former idolatry, has a share in the eternal happiness; also Ishmael, thy son, who shall be born to thee, will, in thy lifetime, repent and return to good, and the profanity of thy grandson Esau shalt thou not see.”

And when the sun was set, it was dark, and the various periods of futurity passed before the eyes of the seer. He beheld a smoking furnace (ver. 17); this was the flaming Gehinom, Hell, where sinners shall expiate their iniquities. Then he saw a burning lamp: that was the Law given on Sinai, and it passed between those pieces; that is, he saw Israel go through the Red Sea.

Then said the voice of God to the patriarch, “I have showed thee the Temple-worship, Law, Bondage, and Hell. I must tell thee that in the times to come, through the sins of thy children, the Temple will be destroyed, and the Law will be disregarded.

“Choose now, whether thou wilt have for their punishment, Bondage or Hell.”

And Abraham after long hesitation answered, “I choose Hell;” for he thought, “It is better to fall into the hands of God, than into the hands of men.”

But the Lord answered and said, “Not so; thou hast chosen wrongly, for from Bondage there will come deliverance, but from Gehinom, never.”

After that, Abraham returned to the land of Charan, and dwelt there many years; and he instructed the men, and Sarah the women, in the true religion. And when his father Terah was dead, God called him again, and bade him go forth to the land which God had promised him; and he went obediently, and Lot his brother’s son accompanied him. And he reached the land of Canaan, and pitched first his wife’s tent, and then his own, on the plain between Gerizim and Ebal; and he erected three altars in thanks to God for His call, for His having brought him into the promised land, and for having cast down his enemies before him. Then he went south, and pitched on the spot where stands Jerusalem.

And now a famine came upon the land; this was the third famine since the world was formed, and it was sent to prove Abraham. He murmured not, but went down with Sarah his wife, and his servants.

When he reached the River of Egypt (Wadi el Arisch), Abraham rested some days. As Abraham and Sarah walked together by the water-side, Abraham saw for the first time, reflected in the water, the beauty of Sarah; for he was so modest that he had never lifted his eyes to her face, and knew not what she was like, till he saw her in the water. Then, when he saw how beautiful she was, he persuaded her to pass as his sister in Egypt, for he feared lest he should be slain for her sake; but as a further precaution he shut her up in a chest.