Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
The king was confounded in his sleep, and when he awoke, his heart beat
like a trip-hammer, and his fear was exceeding great. In the morning,
when he arose, he sent and called for his wise men and his magicians,
and told them his dream. One of his wise men, Anoko by name, stood up,
and said: "Know, O king, this dream points to the misfortune which
Abraham and his descendants will bring upon thee. A time will come when
he and his followers will make war upon thy army, and they will
annihilate it. Thou and the three kings, thy allies, will be the only
ones to escape death. But later thou wilt lose thy life at the hands of
one of the descendants of Abraham. Consider, O king, that thy wise men
read this fate of thine in the stars, fifty-two years ago, at the birth
of Abraham. As long as Abraham liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not
be stablished, nor thy kingdom." Nimrod took Anoko's words to heart,
and dispatched some of his servants to seize Abraham and kill him. It
happened that Eliezer, the slave whom Abraham had received as a present
from Nimrod, was at that time at the royal court. With great haste he
sped to Abraham to induce him to flee before the king's bailiffs. His
master accepted his advice, and took refuge in the house of Noah and
Shem, where he lay in hiding a whole month. The king's officers
reported that despite zealous efforts Abraham was nowhere to be found.
Thenceforth the king did not concern himself about Abraham.
When Terah visited his son in his hiding-place, Abraham proposed that
they leave the land and take up their abode in Canaan, in order to
escape the pursuit of Nimrod. He said: "Consider that it was not for
thy sake that Nimrod overloaded thee with honors, but for his own
profit. Though he continue to confer the greatest of benefactions upon
thee, what are they but earthly vanity? for riches and possessions
profit not in the day of wrath and fury. Hearken unto my voice, O my
father, let us depart for the land of Canaan, and serve the God that
hath created thee, that it may be well with thee."
Noah and Shem aided and abetted the efforts of Abraham to persuade
Terah, whereupon Terah consented to leave his country, and he, and
Abraham, and Lot, the son of Haran, departed for Haran with their
households. They found the land pleasant, and also the inhabitants
thereof, who readily yielded to the influence of Abraham's humane
spirit and his piety. Many of them obeyed his precepts and became
God-fearing and good.[45]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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