This Jewish apocryphal writing describes the death of Abraham. In the story, when the angel Michael comes to take Abraham's soul, he refuses to die. Michael does not want to force him, so he asks God for permission to let Abraham see all of creation first. The angel takes Abraham in a chariot into the heavens so that he can look at all people on earth. Abraham is shocked to see how evil people are, and he curses the sinners, who immediately die. He then witnesses the judgment of a soul.
Although angels participate in the trial, Abel is the main judge. The soul seems to have done as much good as evil, but Abraham's intervention leads to a favorable judgment. Abraham realizes how harsh his curse on sinners was. However, the angel tells him their early death actually served to remove punishment for their sins.
After returning to earth, Abraham still refuses to die. Death appears in a terrifying form and kills 7,000 of Abraham’s servants, though they later come back to life. Even then, Abraham still resists. Finally, Death takes Abraham’s hand gently, and the angels lift his spirit to the heavens.
This work is found in several Greek manuscripts. The oldest is probably from the 13th century AD. The text has also survived in Slavonic, Romanian, Arabic, Ethiopic, and Coptic. The story was probably first written in Hebrew in the first century AD and later translated into Greek, possibly by a Christian writer.
A shorter version also exists, in which God takes Abraham’s soul while he dreams. The story does not try to teach about the nature of God or his actions in human life. Its portrayal of the angel Michael and Death reflects Jewish beliefs from the first century AD.