Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
Before sitting down to the table, Michael arose, went out for a moment,
as if to ease nature, and ascended to heaven in the twinkling of an
eye, and stood before the Lord, and said to Him: "Lord and Master, let
Thy power know that I am unable to remind that righteous man of his
death, for I have not seen upon the earth a man like him,
compassionate, hospitable, righteous, truthful, devout, refraining from
every evil deed." Then the Lord said to Michael, "Go down to My friend
Abraham, and whatever he may say to thee, that do thou also, and
whatever he may eat, eat thou also with him, and I will cast the
thought of the death of Abraham into the heart of Isaac, his son, in a
dream, and Isaac will relate the dream, and thou shalt interpret it,
and he himself will know his end." And Michael said, "Lord, all the
heavenly spirits are incorporeal, and neither eat nor drink, and this
man has set before me a table with an abundance of all good things
earthly and corruptible. Now, Lord, what shall I do?" The Lord answered
him, "Go down to him and take no thought for this, for when thou
sittest down with him, I will send upon thee a devouring spirit, and it
will consume out of thy hands and through thy mouth all that is on the
table."
Then Michael went into the house of Abraham, and they ate and drank and
were merry. And when the supper was ended, Abraham prayed after his
custom, and Michael prayed with him, and each lay down to sleep upon
his couch in one room, while Isaac went to his chamber, lest he be
troublesome to the guest. About the seventh hour of the night, Isaac
awoke and came to the door of his father's chamber, crying out and
saying, "Open, father, that I may touch thee before they take thee away
from me." And Abraham wept together with his son, and when Michael saw
them weep, he wept likewise. And Sarah, hearing the weeping, called
forth from her bedchamber, saying: "My lord Abraham, why this weeping?
Has the stranger told thee of thy brother's son Lot, that he is dead?
or has aught befallen us?" Michael answered, and said to her, "Nay, my
sister Sarah, it is not as thou sayest, but thy son Isaac, methinks,
beheld a dream, and came to us weeping, and we, seeing him, were moved
in our hearts and wept." Sarah, hearing Michael speak, knew straightway
that it was an angel of the Lord, one of the three angels whom they had
entertained in their house once before, and therefore she made a sign
to Abraham to come out toward the door, to inform him of what she knew.
Abraham said: "Thou hast perceived well, for I, too, when I washed his
feet, knew in my heart that they were the feet that I had washed at the
oak of Mamre, and that went to save Lot." Abraham, returning to his
chamber, made Isaac relate his dream, which Michael interpreted to
them, saying: "Thy son Isaac has spoken truth, for thou shalt go and be
taken up into the heavens, but thy body shall remain on earth, until
seven thousand ages are fulfilled, for then all flesh shall arise. Now,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account