What Were Abraham's 10 Tests?

Question:

I learned in Ethics of Our Fathers1 that G‑d tested Abraham with 10 tests and he withstood all of them. But the Mishnah does not tell us what those tests were. Can you perhaps enlighten me?

Response:

You are correct; Ethics does not tell us what the tests actually were. There are actually a number of schools of thought about this. Here are some.

Maimonides2 lists them as follows:

1. G‑d tells him to leave his homeland to be a stranger in the land of Canaan.3
2. Immediately after his arrival in the Promised Land, he encounters a famine.4
3. The Egyptians capture his beloved wife, Sarah, and bring her to Pharaoh.5
4. Abraham faces incredible odds in the battle of the four and five kings.6
5. He marries Hagar after not being able to have children with Sarah.7
6. G‑d tells him to circumcise himself at an advanced age.8
7. The king of Gerar captures Sarah, intending to take her for himself.9
8. G‑d tells him to send Hagar away after having a child with her.10
9. His son, Ishmael, becomes estranged.11
10. G‑d tells him to sacrifice his dear son Isaac upon an altar.12

Note that all of the tests in Maimonides' list can be found clearly in Scripture. Most other lists include events that are recorded only in Midrashic accounts. For example, the following list is brought by Rabbi Obadiah of Bertinoro. Notice that the first event listed—Abraham's being thrown into a furnace—is one that is not recorded in the Bible, but is known to us only by way of Midrashic traditions.

1. He is thrown into a fiery furnace.
2. G‑d tells him to leave his homeland to be a stranger in the land of Canaan.
3. Immediately after his arrival in the Promised Land, he encounters a famine.
4. The Egyptians capture his beloved wife, Sarah, and bring her to Pharaoh.
5. He faces incredible odds in the battle of the four and five kings.
6. He is told by G‑d that his children will be strangers in a strange land.13
7. G‑d tells him to circumcise himself at an advanced age.
8. The king of Gerar captures Sarah, intending to take her for himself.
9. G‑d tells him to send away Hagar and her son, Ishmael.
10. Abraham is told by G‑d to sacrifice his dear son Isaac upon an altar.

Should you want to do more research, you can find more lists in Midrash Tehillim,14 Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer,15 Avot D'Rabbi Natan,16 and the commentary of the Meiri on Ethics of Our Fathers.