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Research source

Nimrod, however, was not to be turned aside from his purpose, to make Abraham suffer death by fire

Date of account
Modern scholarly compilation of much earlier traditions, published 1909
Source
The Legends of the Jews — Volume 1
Reference
The Legends of the Jews — Volume 1 · selected passage 104
Rights
public_domain
Language
English translation and synthesis from rabbinic sources
Translation
Henrietta Szold; compiled by Louis Ginzberg
Record updated
2026-08-24

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Record summary

Nimrod, however, was not to be turned aside from his purpose, to make Abraham suffer death by fire

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

Nimrod, however, was not to be turned aside from his purpose, to make Abraham suffer death by fire. One of the princes was dispatched to fetch him forth. But scarcely did the messenger set about the task of throwing him into the fire, when the flame leapt forth from the furnace and consumed him. Many more attempts were made to cast Abraham into the furnace, but always with the same success—whoever seized him to pitch him in was himself burnt, and a large number lost their lives. Satan appeared in human shape, and advised the king to place Abraham in a catapult and sling him into the fire. Thus no one would be required to come near the flame. Satan himself constructed the catapult. Having proved it fit three times by means of stones put in the machine, they bound Abraham, hand and foot, and were about to consign him to the flames.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This is a passage from a historical religious or interpretive text. Its genre, manuscript history, translation and place within its own tradition are part of the evidence and must remain visible.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

Lattice can compare the passage's descriptive features with later reports, but resemblance does not turn a vision, angel, mythic creature or sacred narrative into a modern incident report.

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