Research source

On the third day of his journey, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place at a distance, which God had told…

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 121
Rights: public_domain
Language: English translation and synthesis from rabbinic sources
Translation: Henrietta Szold; compiled by Louis Ginzberg
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

On the third day of his journey, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place at a distance, which God had told him

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

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On the third day of his journey, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place at a distance, which God had told him. He noticed upon the mountain a pillar of fire reaching from the earth to heaven, and a heavy cloud in which the glory of God was seen. Abraham said to Isaac, "My son, dost thou see on that mountain which we perceive at a distance that which I see upon it?" And Isaac answered, and said unto his father, "I see, and, lo, a pillar of fire and a cloud, and the glory of the Lord is seen upon the cloud." Abraham knew then that Isaac was accepted before the Lord for an offering. He asked Ishmael and Eliezer, "Do you also see that which we see upon the mountain?" They answered, "We see nothing more than like the other mountains," and Abraham knew that they were not accepted before the Lord to go with them.[236] Abraham said to them, "Abide ye here with the ass, you are like the ass—as little as it sees, so little do you see.[237] I and Isaac my son go to yonder mount, and worship there before the Lord, and this eve we will return to you."[238] An unconscious prophecy had come to Abraham, for he prophesied that he and Isaac would both return from the mountain.[239] Eliezer and Ishmael remained in that place, as Abraham had co

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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