Abraham's entire family were idol-makers. They carved images and sold them in the streets. But Abraham ran the stall like a philosopher. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, whenever a customer approached, Abraham would ask two questions: "How much is this idol?" and "How old are you?"
When a thirty-year-old man wanted to buy an idol for three manas, Abraham said: "You are thirty years old, and you bow to this idol we made just today?" The man left. When a fifty-year-old came, Abraham gave the same treatment: "You are fifty, and you worship something we manufactured this morning?" That man left too. One by one, Abraham embarrassed every customer into walking away.
Word reached Nimrod. He summoned Abraham and demanded: "Make me a beautiful god." Abraham went to his father Terah's workshop, had them craft and paint a fine image, and brought it to Nimrod. But on the day of reckoning, a cloudy, rainy day. Nimrod prepared a burning furnace. Abraham stood in the center and pleaded his case. Nimrod challenged him: "If not the gods, whom shall I serve?" Abraham answered: "The God of gods and Lord of lords, whose kingdom is everlasting in heaven and on earth."
Nimrod chose fire. They bound Abraham tightly and surrounded him with wood, 500 cubits thick on every side. They lit the pile. Terah's neighbors beat their heads and mocked: "Your son, whom you said would inherit this world and the next, Nimrod has burned in the fire!" But at that moment, God's mercy descended from the habitation of His glory and delivered Abraham from the furnace. The miracle fulfilled the verse, "I am the Lord who brought you out of the fire of the Chaldeans." Abraham survived, Terah's household was silenced, and the generation of the Dispersion was refuted.
XXXIII. (1) As this is simply to be taken as a legend,
we do not care to reconcile it with the other, which
makes Abraham live in the time of Nimrod the Wicked.
According to the latter w^e find that Nimrod acted as judge
over him, since it is related that the whole household of
Abraham's father were idol -worshippers, moreover they
made idols and sold them in the streets. But when a man
approached Abraham to sell him an idol, he would ask him,
'How much is this image?' 'Three manas,' he would
reply. ' How old art thou?' Abraham would add. ' Thirty
years.' ' Thou art thirty years of age, and yet worshippest
this idol which we made but to-day!' The man would
depart and go his way. Again, another would come to
Abraham, and ask, ' How much is this idol?' ' Five
manas,' he would say. 'How old art thou?' would
Abraham continue. ' Fifty years.' ' And dost thou, who art
fifty years of age, bow down to this idol which we made but
to-day?' With this the man would depart and go his way.
72 [XXXIII. 2
(2) When Nimrod heard of Abraham's utterances, he
ordered him to be brought before him, and said, ' Thou son
of Terah, make me a beautiful god.' Abraham then entered
his father's house, and said, ' Make a beautiful image for
me.' They accordingly made it, finished it, and painted it
with many colours. He went and brought it to Nimrod.
[Here probably a lacuna in MS.] (3) And on that day
Abraham's righteousness shone forth. It was a cloudy day,
and rain fell. Therefore, when they were about to thrust
him into the burning furnace, Nimrod sat down, and all
the people of the dispersion did likewise. Abraham then
entered, and standing in the centre, he pleaded his cause.
After which Nimrod asked, ' If not the gods, whom shall I
serve?' Abraham replied, ' The God of gods and Lord of
lords, whose kingdom is everlasting in heaven and on earth,
and in the heavens of the high heavens.' ' I shall worship,'
said Nimrod, ' the god of fire; and, behold, I shall cast
thee therein. Let, then, the God to whom thou testifiest
deliver thee from the burning furnace.' (4) They then
immediately bound him strongly and tightly, and placed
him on the ground. They then surrounded him with w^ood
on the four sides, 500 cubits thickness to the north,
500 cubits to the south, 500 to the west, and 500 to the
east. They then set the pile on fire. (5) The whole house
of Terah were worshippers of idols, and until that moment
had not recognised their Creator. Their neighbours and
fellow-citizens assembled, and, beating their heads, said to
Terah, ' 0 shame — great shame! thy son, of whom thou
didst say that he will inherit this world and the world to
come has Nimrod burnt in the fire.' (6) Immediately then
God's mercy was moved, so that He descended from the
habitation of His glory, His greatness. His majesty, and
the holiness of His great name, and delivered Abraham,
our ancestor, from that shame, from that reproach, and
from the burning furnace, as it is said, ' I am the Lord
who brought thee out of the fire of the Chaldeans '; and
since a miracle was wrought for our forefather Abraham,
he and Terah were able to refute the generation of the
Dispersion, as it is said, ' Be wise, 0 my son, and let my
heart rejoice, and then I shall be able to answer those who
reproach me.'
