An angel prevents the sacrifice of Isaac.
Abraham and Isaac,
Rembrandt, 1634
Abraham (Hebrew: אַבְרָהָם, Standard Avraham
Tiberian ʾAḇrāhām
Ashkenazi Avrohom or Avruhom ; Arabic: ابراهيم, Ibrāhīm ; Ge'ez: አብርሃም,
ʾAbrəham) is a figure in the Torah, Bible, and Quran whom Jewish, Christian and Muslim believers regard as the founding
patriarch of the Israelites, Arabs and Edomite peoples. In what is thus called Abrahamic religious tradition, Abraham is the forefather of these peoples.
According to the Torah, Abraham was brought by God from Mesopotamia to the land of
Canaan. This is thought to have occurred around 2000
BC[1]. There
Abraham entered into a covenant: in exchange for sole recognition of
YHWH as supreme universal deity and authority, Abraham will be blessed with innumerable progeny.
His life as narrated in the book of Genesis (chapters 11–25) may reflect various traditions.
His original name was Abram (Hebrew: אַבְרָם, Standard Avram
Tiberian ʾAḇrām) meaning
either "exalted father" or "[my] father is exalted" (compare Abiram). For the latter part of his life, he was called Abraham (see retroactive nomenclature), often glossed as av hamon (goyim) "father of many
(nations)" per Genesis
17:5, although it does not have any literal meaning in Hebrew.[1]
Abraham was the third son of Terah and the grandson of Nahor.
Abraham's older brothers were named Nahor and Haran. (The city of Ḥaran was not named after this
brother and is spelled differently in Hebrew.)
Judaism, Christianity and Islam are sometimes referred to as the "Abrahamic
religions", because of the role Abraham plays in their holy books. In the Jewish tradition, he is called Avraham
Avinu or "Abraham, our Father". God promised Abraham that through his offspring, all the nations of the world will come to be
blessed (Genesis 12:3), interpreted in Christian tradition as a reference to Christ. Jews, Christians, and Muslims consider him father of the people
of Israel through his son Isaac (cf. Exodus 6:3, Exodus 32:13). For Muslims, he is a prophet of
Islam and the ancestor of Muhammad through his other
son Ishmael. By his concubine , Keturah, (Genesis 25) Abraham is also a progenitor of the Semitic tribes of the Negev who trace their descent from their common ancestor Sheba (Genesis 10:28).
In the Torah
Origins and calling
Abraham and his family were originally from the city of Ur (now known as Tell Muqqayyar in
southern Iraq), which was an ancient city in Sumeria. His father,
Terah, came from Ur of the Chaldees, popularly identified since
1927 by Sir Leonard Woolley with an ancient city in southern Mesopotamia which was under the rule of the Chaldeans — although Josephus,
Islamic tradition, and Jewish authorities like Maimonides all concur that Ur of the Chaldees
was in Northern Mesopotamia — now southeastern Turkey (identified with Urartu, or claiming Abraham was born in Urfa), or the nearby Urkesh, which others identify with “Ur of the Chaldee."
Abram migrated to Haran, apparently the classical Carrhae, on a
branch of the Habor. Thence, after a short stay, he, his wife Sarai, Lot (the son of Abram's brother Haran),
and all their followers, departed for Canaan. There are two cities possibly identifiable with the
biblical Ur, neither far from Haran: Ura and Urfa (in southern Turkey), a northern Ur also being
mentioned in tablets at Ugarit, Nuzi, and Ebla. These possibly refer to Ur, Ura, and Urau (See BAR January 2000, page 16). Moreover, the names of
Abram's forefathers Peleg, Serug, Nahor, and Terah, all appear as names of cities in the region of Haran (Harper's Bible Dictionary, page
373) suggesting that these are epynomous ancestors of these communities. God called Abram to go to "the land I will show you",
and promised to bless him and make him (though hitherto childless) a great nation. Trusting this promise, Abram journeyed down to
Shechem, and at the sacred tree (compare Genesis 35:4, Joshua 24:26, Judges 9:6) received a new promise that the land would be given unto his seed (descendant or descendants). Having
built an altar to commemorate the theophany, he removed to a
spot between Bethel and Ai, where he built another
altar and then called upon (i.e. invoked) the name of God (Genesis 12:1-9.).
Sarai and Pharaoh
Driven by a famine to take refuge in Egypt (26:11, 41:57,
42:1), Abram feared lest his wife's beauty should arouse the evil designs of the Egyptians
and thus endanger his own safety, so he referred to Sarai as his sister, first to the Philistine king of Gerar and then to the unnamed Pharaoh of Egypt.
One interpretation of the original Hebrew includes Abraham's explanation that Sarai was literally his sister since she was his
father's daughter, but not his mother's, i.e., a half-sister.[2] However, the kinship pattern of the semitic chiefs listed in Genesis followed an established protocol
that involved betrothal to half-sisters, so Abraham may not have lied when he said that Sarai was his sister. On the other hand,
there has been ancient tablets recently recovered from the ancient city of Mari that suggest otherwise. These ancient Semite
legal records show that when a woman is married to a man, she is then formally adopted by his father as a full daughter as
well[2]. Like Abraham, many ancient Semites were Nomads and it was customary for the daughter-in-law to be officially
adopted as a full daughter in case her husband is to die while she is traveling with his family. According to Genesis 12.5, Sarai
left her family to set out for the land of Canaan, which puts her in this same position as suggested in the ancient tablets of
Mari (an ancient Semite city of Abraham's time). This suggests that Sarai was not Abrahams half-sister, but adopted sister by
law. Thus, Abraham did not lie, nor did he commit incest.
In any case, this did not save her from the Pharaoh, who took her into the royal
harem and enriched Abram with herds and servants. But when Yahweh
"plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues" Abram and Sarai left Egypt. There
are two other parallel tales in Genesis of a wife confused for a
sister (Genesis 20-21 and 26) describing a similar event at Gerar with the Philistine king Abimelech, though the latter attributing it to Isaac not
Abraham.
When Abraham with Sarai and his nephew Lot left Egypt they returned to Ai. Here he dwelt for some time, until strife arose
between his herdsmen and those of his nephew, Lot. Abram thereupon proposed to Lot that they should separate, and allowed Lot the
first choice. Lot preferred the fertile land lying east of the Jordan River, while Abram
moved down to the oaks of Mamre in Hebron. After receiving
reaffirmation and clarification of the promise from Yahweh, he built an altar there.
Chedorlaomer and Melchisedek
Some years after this, Lot being taken prisoner by Chedorlaomer and his allies, then
warring against the kings of Sodom, and the neighboring places, Abraham with his household pursued the conquerors, overtook and
defeated them at Dan, near the springs of Jordan and retook the spoil, together with Lot.
At his return, passing near Salem (supposed to be the city afterwards called Jerusalem), Melchisedek, king of that city, and priest of the Most High God, came out and blessed him, and presented him
with bread and wine for his own refreshment and that of his army; or as some have thought, offered bread and wine to God, as a
sacrifice of thanksgiving on Abraham's behalf.
Birth of Ishmael
-
After this, the Lord renewed his promises to Abraham, with fresh assurances that he should possess the land of Canaan and that
his posterity should be as numerous as the stars of heaven.
As Sarai continued to be infertile, God's promise that Abram's seed would inherit the land seemed incapable of fulfillment.
His sole heir was his servant, who was over his household, a certain Eliezer of Damascus (15:2). Abraham is now promised as heir
one of his own flesh. The passage recording the ratification of the promise is remarkably solemn (see Genesis 15). Sarai, in accordance with custom, gave to Abram her Egyptian handmaid Hagar as his wife.(Gen 16:3) Sarai found that Hagar was with child, unable to endure the reproach of
barrenness (cf. the story of Hannah, 1 Samuel
1:6), dealt harshly with Hagar and forced her to flee (16:1-14). God hears Hagar's sorrow and promises her that her descendants
will be too numerous to count, and she returns. Her son, Ishmael, was Abram's firstborn, but was
not the promised child, as God made his covenant with Abram after Ishmael's birth (chapter 16-17). Hagar and Ishmael were
eventually driven permanently away from Abraham by Sarah (chapter 21).
Covenant
-
The name Abraham was given to Abram (and the name Sarah to Sarai) at the same time as
the covenant of circumcision (chapter 17), which is practiced in Judaism and Islam to this day. At this time Abraham was promised not only
many descendants, but descendants through Sarah specifically, as well as the land where he was living, which was to belong to his
descendants. The covenant was to be fulfilled through Isaac, though God promised that Ishmael
would become a great nation as well. The covenant of circumcision (unlike the earlier promise) was two-sided and conditional: if
Abraham and his descendants fulfilled their part of the covenant, Yahweh would be their creator and give them the land.
The promise of a son to Abraham made Sarah "laugh," which became the name of the son of promise, Isaac. Sarah herself "laughs"
at the idea because of her age, when Yahweh (god) appears to Abraham at Mamre (18:1-15) and, when the child is born, cries
"Yahweh has made me into laughter; every one that hears will laugh at me" (21:6).
Sodom and Gomorrah
-
The enormous sins of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the neighboring cities, being now filled up, three angels were sent to inflict upon
them the divine vengeance. After visiting Abraham, they were ready to depart and Abraham accompanied them towards Sodom, whither
two of them (who proved to be divine messengers) continued their journey. The third remained with Abraham, and informed him of
the approaching destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham interceded, praying that if fifty righteous persons were found
therein, the city should be spared; he reduced the numbers gradually to ten; but this number could not be found (or God, in
answer to his prayers, would have averted his design). Lot and his 2 daughters, being the only righteous, were preserved from the
disaster.
Sarah and Abimelech
-
Sarah having conceived according to the divine promise, Abraham left the plain of Mamre and went south, to Gerar, where Abimelech reigned; and again fearing that Sarah might be forced from him, and himself put to death,
he called her here, as he had done in Egypt 'sister'.
Abimelech took her to his house, designing to marry her but God having in dream informed him that she was Abraham's wife he
restored her with great presents.
Beersheba
-
About the same time, Abimelech came with Phicol, his general, to conclude an alliance with Abraham, who made that prince a
present of seven ewe-lambs out of his flock, in consideration that a well that he had opened should be his own property; and they
called the place Beer-sheba or "the well of swearing".
Here Abraham resided some time.
Binding of Isaac
-
Some time after the birth of Isaac, Abraham was commanded by God to offer his son up as a sacrifice in the land of
Moriah. The patriarch traveled three days until he came to the mount that God taught him. He
commanded the servant to remain while he and Isaac proceeded alone to the mountain, Isaac carrying the wood upon which he would
be sacrificed. Along the way, Isaac repeatedly asked Abraham where the animal for the burnt offering was. Abraham then replied
that God would provide one. Just as Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, he was prevented by an angel, and given on that spot a ram which he sacrificed in
place of his son. Thus it is said, "On the mountain the Lord provides." (Genesis 22) As a reward for his obedience he received
another promise of a numerous seed and abundant prosperity (22). After this event, Abraham did not return to Hebron, Sarah's
encampment, but instead went to Beersheba, Keturah's encampment, and it is to Beersheba that
Abraham's servant brought Rebecca, Isaac's patrilineal parallel cousin who became his wife.
The near sacrifice of Isaac is one of the most challenging, and perhaps
ethically troublesome, parts of the Bible. According to Josephus, Isaac was 25 years old at the
time of the sacrifice or Akedah, while the Talmudic sages teach that Isaac was 37. In
either case, Isaac was a fully grown man, old enough to prevent the elderly Abraham (who was 125 or 137 years old) from tying him
up had he wanted to resist. The narrative now turns to Isaac. To his "only son" (22:2, 12) Abraham gave all he had, and dismissed
his other sons, as Abraham himself had been dismissed by Terah after Terah had given his territory to Nahor.
Death of Sarah
Sarah died at an old age, and was buried in the Cave of the Patriarchs near
Hebron, which Abraham had purchased from Ephron the Hittite,
along with the adjoining field (Genesis 23). Here Abraham himself was buried so they could be with each other forever. Centuries
later the tomb became a place of pilgrimage and Muslims later
built an Islamic mosque inside the site.
A wife for Isaac
Abraham, being reminded by this occurrence, probably, of his own great age, and the consequent uncertainty of his life, became
solicitous to secure an alliance between Isaac and a female branch of his own family.
Eliezer his steward was therefore sent into Mesopotamia, to fetch from the country and kindred
of Abraham a wife for his son Isaac. Eliezer went on his commission with prudence, and returned
with Rebecca, daughter of Bethuel, granddaughter of Nahor, and,
consequently, Abraham's niece.
Last years of Abraham
The life of the patriarch was prolonged for many years after this event. After the death of Sarah, he slept with a concubine
named Keturah and had children with her. He died at the age of 175 years. He was buried by his sons Isaac and Ishmael, in the
Cave of the Patriarchs, where he had deposited the remains of his beloved Sarah. Jewish legend says that he was meant to live to
180 years, but God purposely took his life because he felt that Abraham did not need to go through the pain of seeing
Esau's wicked deeds.
Significance
Biblical narratives represent Abraham as a wealthy, powerful and supremely virtuous man, but humanly flawed, and when afraid
for himself, miscalculating, and a sometimes deceiving and an inconsiderate husband. But his central importance in the Book of
Genesis, and his portrait as a man favored by God, is unequivocal. Abraham's generations (Hebrew: toledoth, translated to
Greek: "Genesis") are presented as part of the crowning explanation of how the world has been fashioned by the hand of God, and
how the boundaries and relationships of peoples were established by him.
As the father of Isaac , Abraham is ultimately the common ancestor of the Israelites. As
the father of Ishmael, whose twelve sons became desert princes (most prominently,
Nebaioth and Kedar), along with Midian, Sheba and other Arabian tribes (25:1-4), the
Book of Genesis gives a portrait of Isaac's descendants as being surrounded by kindred peoples, who are also more often enemies.
This is because the clans practiced intermarriage. are in the descending scale, perhaps of purity of blood, or as of purity of
relationship, or of connectedness to Sarah: Sarah, her servant, her husband's other wife. The Bible says of the Hebrew people:
"Your father was a wandering Syrian". Yet to Abraham's face the Hittites said, "You are a great
chief among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs." (Genesis 23:4 and 5)
As stated above, Abraham came from Ur in Chaldea to Haran and thence to Canaan. Late tradition supposed that this was to escape Babylonian idolatry (Judith 5, Jubilees 12; cf. Joshua 24:2), and knew of Abraham's miraculous escape from death (an obscure reference to some act of
deliverance in Isaiah 29:22). The route along the banks of the Euphrates from south to north was so frequently taken by migrating tribes that the tradition has nothing
improbable in itself. It was thence that Jacob, the father of the tribes of Israel, came,
and the route to Shechem and Bethel is precisely the same
in both.
Further, there is yet another parallel in the story of the conquest by Joshua, partly implied and partly actually detailed
(cf. also Joshua 8:9 with Gen. 12:8, 13:3), whence it would appear that too much importance must not be laid upon any
ethnological interpretation which fails to account for the three versions. That similar
traditional elements have influenced them is not unlikely; but to recover the true historical foundation is difficult. The
invasion or immigration of certain tribes from the east of the Jordan; the presence of
Aramean blood among the Israelites; the origin of the sanctity of venerable sites — these and
other considerations may readily be found to account for the traditions.
Noteworthy coincidences in the lives of Abraham and Isaac, such as the strong parallels between two tales of a wife confused for a sister, point to the fluctuating state of traditions in the oral
stage, or suggest that Abraham's life has been built up by borrowing from the common stock of popular lore. More original is the
parting of Lot and Abraham at Bethel. The district was the scene of contests between Moab and the
Hebrews (cf. perhaps Judges 3), and if this explains part of the story, the physical configuration
of the Dead Sea may have led to the legend of the destruction of inhospitable and vicious
cities.[citation needed]
In Christianity
In the New Testament Abraham is mentioned prominently as a man of faith (see e.g., Hebrews 11), and the apostle Paul uses him as an example of salvation by
faith, as the progenitor of the Christ (or Messiah) (see
Galatians 3:16).
Authors of the New Testament report that Jesus cited Abraham to support belief in the resurrection of the dead. "But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the
Book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to
him, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?" He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the
living. You are therefore greatly mistaken" (Mark 12:26-27). The New Testament also sees
Abraham as an obedient man of God, and Abraham's interrupted attempt to offer up Isaac is seen as
the supreme act of perfect faith in God. "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the
promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," concluding that God was
able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense." (Hebrews 11:17-19)
The traditional view in Christianity is that the chief promise made to Abraham in
Genesis 12 is that through Abraham's seed, all the people of earth would be blessed. Notwithstanding this,
John the Baptist specifically taught that merely being of Abraham's seed was no
guarantee of salvation. The promise in Genesis is considered to have
been fulfilled through Abraham's seed, Jesus. It is also a consequence of this promise that Christianity is open to people of all
races and not limited to Jews.
The Roman Catholic Church calls Abraham "our father in Faith," in the
Eucharistic prayer called the Roman Canon, recited during the Mass. (See Abraham in the Catholic liturgy). He is also
commemorated in the calendars of saints of several denominations, on August 20 by the Maronite Church, August
28 in the Coptic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, with the full office for the latter, and on October 9 by the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. He is also regarded as the patron saint of hotel men.[3]
In Islam
-
Abraham, known as Ibrahim in Arabic, is very important in Islam, both in his own right as a prophet as well as being the father of Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael, his firstborn son, is considered the Father of the
Arabised Arabs, and Isaac is considered the Father of the Hebrews. It is widely believed in Islam, that
Ishmael was the son whom Abraham almost sacrificed. Muslims use various proofs among others the
fact that Ishmael was at one time his only son. Abraham is revered by Muslims as one of the
prophets of Islam, and is commonly termed Khalil Ullah, "Friend of God".
Abraham is considered a Hanif, that is, a discoverer of monotheism.
Abraham is mentioned in many passages in 25 Qur'anic suras (chapters). In terms of the number of repetition of his name in the
Qur'an (but not meaning in terms of importance) is second only to Moses. [4]
Muslims believe Abraham rebuilt the Kaaba, the Holy Mosque in Makkah, during his life.[4] The construction of the Kaaba was upon God's command. Abraham's footprint is displayed
outside the Kaaba, which is on a stone, protected and guarded by a Mutawa (Religious Police) or a Police. The annual
Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, follows Abraham,
Hagar, and Ishmael's journey to the sacred place of the Kaaba. The Eid ul-Adha ceremony is focused on Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his promised son on God's command. In
turn, God spared his son's life and instead substituted a sheep. This was Abraham's test of faith. On Eid ul-Adha, Muslims
sacrifice a domestic animal — a sheep, goat, cow, buffalo or camel — as a symbol of Abraham's sacrifice, and divide the meat
among the family members, friends, relatives, and most importantly, the poor.
Arab connection
A line in the Book of Jubilees (20:13) mentions that the descendants of Abraham's son by
Hagar, Ishmael, as well as his descendants by Keturah, became the "Arabians" or "Arabs". The 1st century Jewish historian
Josephus similarly described the descendants of Ishmael (i.e. the Ishmaelites) as an "Arabian"
people. [5] He also calls Ishmael the "founder" (κτίστης)
of the "Arabians". [6] Some Biblical scholars also believe that the area outlined in Genesis as the final destination of Ishmael
and his descendants ("from Havilah to Assyria") refers to the
Arabian peninsula. This has led to a commonplace view that modern Semitic-speaking
Arabs are descended from Abraham via Ishmael, in addition to various other tribes who intermixed with the Ishmaelites, such as
Joktan, Sheba, Dedan, Broham, etc.
Both Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions speak of earlier inhabitants of Arabia.
Classical Arab historians traced the true Arabs (i.e., the original Arabs from
Yemen) to Qahtan and the Arabicised Arabs (people from the
region of Makkah, MorMakkah Al-Mukarramah in Arabic, who assimilated into the Arabs) to
Adnan, said to be an ancestor of Muhammed, and have further
equated Ishmael with A'raq Al-Thara, said to be ancestor of Adnan. Umm Salama, one of Muhammed's wives, wrote that this was done using the following
hermeneutical reasoning: Thara means moist earth, Abraham was not consumed by
hell-fire, fire does not consume moist earth, thus A'raq al-Thara must be Ishmael son of Abraham. [7]
According to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Abraham means "Father of a multitude." Originally named Abram, "exalted father" (Gen. 11: 26; Gen. 17: 5). Son of Terah, born
in Ur of the Chaldees (Gen. 11: 26-28). Migration to Haran, where Terah died, is found in Gen. 11: 31. Abraham’s journey to
Canaan, the divine call, and the covenant are recorded in Gen. 12: 1-5. His sojourn in Egypt is given in Gen. 11 - 20 and Abr. 1
- 3. reference LDS Bible Dictionary. Abraham restored praise and worship of truth and love of Elohim and Jehovah. Abraham
restored the lost ordinance of circumcision to covenant to God his commitment of devotion. Abraham restored Temple ordinances and
covenants which greatly blessed the land of Egypt.
Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac as a similitude to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Abraham is an Great important
figure in Mormon or LDS scripture, and is referenced in
several LDS books of canon. Abraham had deep precocious curiosity to truth, life, God,
and science. Reference "desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, . . . and to possess a greater knowledge" (Abraham
1:2) Abraham is credited for restoring praise and worship of the One true God (Elohim, Jehovah, and Holy Spirit).
The Book of Abraham, found in the Pearl of
Great Price, has five chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 include details about Abraham’s early life and his fight against the
idolatry of Egypt under rule of Pharaoh Nimrod and even of his own family. [Vermes, Scripture and Tradition in Judaism,
70–72][Beer, Leben Abraham's, 9–14]
It recounts how pagan priests of Nimrod tried to sacrifice him, but an angel appeared and rescued him. Chapter 2 includes
information about God’s covenant with Abraham, and how it would be fulfilled: "And thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after
thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations; And I will bless them through thy name;
for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless
thee, as their father;...and in thy seed after thee ... shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings
of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal." (Abraham 2:9-11)
Thus, considers Abraham the ""Father of a multitude," who was blessed to covenant promises because he sought to regain praise
and worship of One true God of love & life, the true priesthood and the true gospel possessed by others on earth such as
Melchizedek, and because he was willing to follow the Lord's guidance and direction in all things, not withholding anything.
Chapters 3 through 5 are a vision in which God reveals much about astronomy, the creation of the world, foreordination, and
the creation of man. It agrees closely with Moses’ account of the creation, but gives more detail.
The cosmos cultivated great interest into the divine majesty of God's order and pattern to life. See Abraham Temple Drama, Hugh
W. Nibley.
In addition to the text, there are three facsimiles of vignettes from the papyrus. One depicts Abraham about to be sacrificed
by a priest; the second is the hypocephalus which contains important insights about the
organization of the heavens (Cosmos) for order of the Temple ordinances and covenants to be officiated through the Priesthood
Keys of Heaven. The final picture shows Abraham teaching in the Pharaoh’s court.
The Book of Jacob, part of the Book of Mormon,
explains that God's commandment that Abraham sacrifice Isaac was "a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son" (Jacob 4:5).
"Abraham is always regarded in the O.T. as founder of the covenant race, which is personified in the house of Israel. He is
the “father of the faithful.” John the Baptist and Paul rebuked those holding the erroneous idea that natural descent from
Abraham was by itself sufficient to secure God’s favor (Matt. 3: 9; Rom. 9: 7). For references to him in Jesus’ teachings see
Matt. 8: 11; Luke 16: 22; John 8: 56. Latter-day revelation has clarified the significance of the Abrahamic covenant and other
aspects of Abraham’s life and ministry. We learn that he was greatly blessed with divine revelation concerning the planetary
system, the creation of the earth, and the premortal activities of the spirits of mankind. One of the most valiant spirits in the
premortal life, he was chosen to be a leader in the kingdom of God before he was born into this world (Abr. 1 - 5). We also learn
from latter-day revelation that because of Abraham’s faithfulness he is now exalted and sits upon a throne in eternity (D&C
132: 29, 37)." www.lds.org Bible Dictionary under "Abraham"
In philosophy
Abraham, as a man communicating with God or the divine, has inspired some fairly extensive discussion in some philosophers, such as Søren Kierkegaard and Jean-Paul Sartre. Kierkegaard goes into Abraham's plight in considerable detail in his work
Fear and Trembling. Sartre understands the story not in terms of Christian
obedience or a "teleological suspension of the ethical", but in terms of mankind's utter behavioral and moral freedom. God asks
Abraham to sacrifice his only son. Sartre doubts that Abraham can know that the voice he hears is really the voice of his God and
not of someone else, or the product of a mental condition. Thus, Sartre concludes, even if there are signs in the world, humans
are totally free to decide how to interpret them.
Textual criticism
Writers have regarded the life of Abraham in various ways. He has been viewed as a chieftain of the Amorites, as the head of a great Semitic migration from Mesopotamia; or, since Ur and Haran were seats of
Moon-worship, he has been identified with a moon-god. From the character of the literary evidence
and the locale of the stories it has been held that Abraham was originally associated with Hebron. The double name Abram/Abraham
has even suggested that two personages have been combined in the Biblical narrative; although this does not explain the change
from Sarai to Sarah.
The interesting discovery of the name Abi-ramu on Babylonian contracts of about 2000 BC does not prove the Abraham of
the Old Testament to be an historical person, even as the fact that there were Amorites in
Babylonia at the same period does not make it certain that the 'patriarch' was one of their number. A fairly lucid treatment of
the subject is given by Michael Astour in The Anchor Bible Dictionary (s.v. "Amraphel", "Arioch" and "Chedorlaomer"), who
explains the story of Genesis 14 as a product of anti-Babylonian propaganda during the Babylonian captivity of the Jews:
"After Böhl's widely accepted, but wrong, identification of mTu-ud-hul-a with one
of the Hittite kings named Tudhaliyas, Tadmor found the correct solution by equating him with
the Assyrian king Sennacherib (see Tidal). Astour (1966) identified the remaining two kings of the Chedorlaomer texts with
Tukulti-Ninurta I of Assyria (see Arioch) and with the Chaldean Merodach-baladan (see
Amraphel). The common denominator between these four rulers is that each of them,
independently, occupied Babylon, oppressed it to a greater or lesser degree, and took away its sacred divine images, including
the statue of its chief god Marduk; furthermore, all of them came to a tragic end.
3. Relationship to Genesis 14. All attempts to reconstruct the link between the Chedorlaomer texts and Genesis 14 remain
speculative. However, the available evidence seems consistent with the following hypothesis: A Jew in Babylon, versed in Akkadian
language and cuneiform script, found in an early version of the Chedorlaomer texts certain things consistent with his
anti-Babylonian feelings. ..." (The Anchor Bible Dictionary, s.v. "Chedorlaomer")
Another scholar, criticizing Kitchen's maximalist viewpoint, considers a relationship between the tablet and Gen. speculative,
also identifies but identifies Tudhula as a veiled reference to Sennacherib of Assyria, and Chedorlaomer, i.e. Kudur-Nahhunte, as
"a recollection of a 12th-century BC king of Elam who briefly ruled Babylon." ("Finding Historical Memories in the Patriarchal
Narratives" by Ronald Hindel, BAR, Jul/Aug 1995)
The Anchor Bible Dictionary suggests that the biblical account was in all probability derived from a text very closely
related to the Chedorlaomer Tablets, and this in a publication which can be said to do at least a reasonably good job of getting
good scholarship. The Chedorlaomer Tablets are thought to be from the 6th or 7th century BC, well after the time of
Hammurabi, at roughly the time when Gen. through Deu. are thought to have come into their
present form (e.g. see the Documentary Hypothesis). While Astour's
identifications of the figures these tablets refer to is certainly open to question, he does cautiously support a link between
them and Gen. 14:1. Hammurabi is never known to have campaigned near the Dead Sea at all, although his son had. Writes Astour,
"This identification, once widely accepted, was later virtually abandoned, mainly because Hammurabi was never active in the
West." The Chedorlaomer Tablets, then, appear to still be the closest archaeological parallel to the kings of the Eastern
coalition mentioned in Gen. 14:1. The only problem is, that in all probability, they refer to kings that were from widely
separated times, having conquered Babylon in different eras. Linguistically, it seems, there is little reason to reject the
identification of Hammurabi with Amraphel, but the narrative does not make sense in light of modern archeology when it is made. A
number of scholars also say that the connection does not make sense on chronological grounds, since it would place Abram later
than the traditional date, but on this, see the section on chronology below.
If Gen. ch. 14 is a historical romance (cf., e.g., the Book of Judith), it is possible
that a writer who lived in an exilic or post-exilic age (i.e. during or after the Babylonian Captivity), and who was acquainted with Babylonian history, decided to enhance the
greatness of Abraham by claiming his military success against the monarchs of the Tigris and
Euphrates, the high esteem he enjoyed in Canaan, and the practical character displayed in his
brief exchange with Melchizedek. The historical section of the article Tithe deals more extensively with the historicity of the meeting with Melchizedek.
Many scholars claim, on the basis of archaeological and philological evidence, that many stories in the Pentateuch, including
the accounts about Abraham and Moses, were written under king Josiah (7th century BC) or king Hezekiah (8th century BC) in order to provide a historical framework
for the monotheistic belief in Yahweh. Some scholars point out that the archives of neighboring countries with written records
that survive, such as Egypt, Assyria, etc., show no trace of the stories of the Bible or its main characters before
650 BC. Such claims are detailed in "Who Were the Early Israelites?" by William G. Dever (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 2003). Another similar book by
Neil A. Silberman and Israel
Finkelstein is "The Bible Unearthed" (Simon and Schuster, New York, 2001). Even so, the Moabite Stele mentions king Omri
of Israel, and many scholars draw parallels between the Egyptian pharaoh Shoshenq I and the
Shishaq of the Bible (1 Ki. 11:40; 14:25; and 2 Chr. 12:2-9), and between the king David of the
Bible and a stone inscription from 835 BC that appears to refer to "house of David"--although some would dispute the last two
correspondences.
Dating and historicity
Traditional dating
According to calculations directly derived from the Masoretic Hebrew Torah, Abraham was born 1,948 years after biblical creation and lived
for 175 years (Genesis 25:7), which would correspond to a life spanning from 1812 BC to 1637 BC by Jewish dating. The figures in the Book of Jubilees have Abraham born 1,876
years after creation, and 534 years before the Exodus; the ages provided in the Samaritan version of Genesis agree closely with those of Jubilees before the Deluge, but after the Deluge, they add roughly 100 years to each of the ages of the Patriarchs in the
Masoretic Text, resulting in the figure of 2,247 years after creation for Abraham's birth. The Greek Septuagint version adds around 100 years to nearly all of the patriarchs' births, producing the even higher
figure of 3,312 years after creation for Abraham's birth.
Other interpretations of Biblical chronology place Abraham's birth at 2008 AM (Anno Mundi). In Genesis 11:32 : Abraham
was the youngest son of Terah who died in Haran aged 205, in year 2083 AM. In Gen.12:4 we learn that at that time Abraham was 75
years old. In other words Abraham was born when his father Terah was 130 years old. (205-75 = 130). Therefore Abraham was born in
year 2008 AM.
History of dating attempts
When cuneiform was first deciphered, Theophilus Pinches translated some Babylonian tablets which were part of the Spartoli
collection in the British Museum. The Chedorlaomer Text in particular, currently thought to have been written in the 6th
to the 7th century BC, he believed that he recognized the names of three of the kings of the Eastern coalition fighting against
the five kings from the Vale of Siddim in Gen. 1:14.
In 1887, Schrader then was the first to propose that Amraphel could be an alternate spelling for Hammurabi (cf. the ISBE of 1915, s.v.
"Hammurabi").
Vincent Scheil subsequently found a tablet in the Imperial Ottoman Museum in Constantinople from Hammurabi to a king of the
very same name, i.e. Kuder-Lagomer, as in Pinches' tablet. Thus are achieved the following correspondences:
By 1915, many scholars had become largely convinced that the kings of Gen. 14:1 had been identified (cf. again the ISBE of 1915, s.v.
Hammurabi, which mentions the identification as doubtful, and also The Catholic Encyclopedia of 1917, s.v. "Amraphel", and Donald A. MacKenzie's 1915
Myths of Babylonia and
Assyria, who has (p. 247) "The identification of Hammurabi with Amraphel is now generally accepted"). The terminal
-bi on the end of Hammurabi's name was seen to parallel Amraphel since the cuneiform symbol for -bi can also be
pronounced -pi. Tablets were known in which the initial symbol for Hammurabi, pronounced as kh to yield
Khammurabi, had been dropped, such that Ammurapi was a viable pronunciation. Supposing him to have been deified in
his lifetime or afterwards yielded Ammurabi-il, which was suitable close to the Bible's Amraphel.
Albright was instrumental in synchronizing Hammurabi with Assyrian and Egyptian contemporaries, such that Hammurabi is now
thought to have lived in the late 18th century, not in the 19th as assumed by the long chronology. Since many ecumenical theologians may not hold that the dates of
the Bible could be in error, they began synchronizing Abram with the empire of Sargon I (23rd
century in the short chronology), and the work of Schrader, Pinches
and Scheil fell out of favor with them.
The objection[citation needed] resurfaced that Amraphel could not be derived from Khammurabi, in
spi
