Abraham

The first patriarch of Israel; son of Terah and brother of Nahor and Haran. At first his name was Abram (i.e. "the Father is exalted") but God changed it to Abraham (probably just a longer form of the name Abram, but explained in the bible as "a father of many nations", Gen 17:5). His family originally lived near the southern Mesopotamian city Ur of the Chaldees, but Terah took him, along with Lot, the son of Haran, to the city of Haran in northwest Mesopotamia (Gen 11:31). This region was populated by seminomadic West Semitic (or Amorite) tribes unrelated to the indigenous peoples of Mesopotamia, and with their own language (apparently cognate with Hebrew and Aramaic), and political organization; evidence for their way of life has been detected in the archives of Mari, dating from the era of Hammurabi (18th century B.C.)

After the death of his father (Gen 11:32) the Lord commanded Abraham to leave his country and his kindred and to go to the land which would be shown to him; God also promised to make him into a great nation, a blessing for all the families of the earth (Gen 12:1-3). Accordingly, the 75-year old Abraham, accompanied by his wife sarah and his nephew Lot, left for the land of Canaan. Upon his arrival he traversed the regions of Shechem and Bethel to the Negeb (Gen 12:4-9).

When a severe famine compelled him to travel to Egypt the Egyptian courtiers, entranced by the beauty of Sarah, brought her to the royal palace. Pharaoh was punished by God for taking her, but compensated Abraham with many gifts (Gen 12:10-20).

Upon their return to Canaan, Lot and Abraham separated because there was not sufficient grazing lands for their flocks. Abraham pitched his tents by the terebinths of Mamre near Hebron (Gen 13:1-18).

In these stories Abraham is described as a peaceful herdsman but the warlike aspects of his personality emerge in the chapter giving his exploits against four kings who had invaded Canaan to repress the rebellion of the local kings. The invaders were victorious and their captives included Lot (Gen 14:1-12). Abraham set out to rescue his nephew; with 318 retainers and his allies Aner, Eshcol and Mamre, he pursued the kings and defeated them near Hobah in the region of Damascus, freeing all the captives including Lot (Gen 14:13-16). Upon his triumphant return, Abraham was greeted by Melchizedek, the king of Salem (probably another name for Jerusalem) and "priest of the God of the Most High", who blessed him and offered him a tenth of all his goods. Abraham magnanimously declined to accept the gift (Gen 14:21-24).

The main theme of the abraham narrative is God's promise to multiply his descendants, who would inherit the land of Canaan (Gen 13:15-17). This promise contrasted with Sarah's hitherto childless state (Gen 11:30). The divine promise, however, is repeated and reinforced in the "Covenant between the pieces" (Gen 15:7-21). In answer to Abraham's demurral that he would die childless, God responded that he would have a son and heir (Gen 15:1-6).

Sarah tried to solve the problem by giving Abraham her maid, Hagar, as a wife. According to biblical chronology Abraham was 86 years old when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael (Gen 16:1-16). At the age of 99 Abraham experienced a further revelation predicting that Sarah would bear him a son although Ishmael would also benefit from God's blessing (Gen 17:14-22). In affirmation of his covenant with God, Abraham circumcised himself, his son Ishmael and all the males in his household (Gen 17:10-11, 23-27).

Abraham and Sarah were later visited by three angels who announced that within a year Sarah would give birth, notwithstanding her great age (Gen 18:1-15). The angels also heralded the divine purpose of destroying the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 18:16-22). Standing before the Lord Abraham boldly questioned the collective punishment of sinners and righteous together (Gen 18:23-25). God agreed to spare Sodom if as few as ten righteous men would be found in its midst (Gen 18:27-33), but Abraham failed to locate them. That night Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed; only Abraham's nephew Lot was saved, together with his daughters (Gen 19:1-28). Abraham then traveled south, where he concluded a covenant with Abimelech, king of Gerar, by the wells of Beersheba (Gen 21:22-34). Eventually, when Abraham was 100 years old, Sarah gave birth to a son called Isaac (Gen 21:1-8). When the boy was growing up, Sarah urged Abraham to banish Hagar and Ishmael, to ensure that Isaac be his sole heir. As the Lord confirmed this demand and promised once again that Ishmael would also become a great nation, Abraham consented and sent them off to the desert where they were saved by an angel of God (Gen 21:9-21).

Afterwards the election of Isaac was reaffirmed in the divine testing of Abraham. The Lord commanded him to take his son Isaac and offer him as a burnt-offering on Mount Moriah (Gen 22:1-2). In full trust and obedience to the divine command Abraham took Isaac to Moriah and built an altar there. But as Abraham stretched out his hand to kill his son, an angel of God prevented the sacrifice. this incident of the Binding of Isaac became an important element in Jewish theology and a symbol of absolute trust and willingness to sacrifice.

The story may originally have been intended as a condemnation of human sacrifice. In Christian theology Abraham's submission to God's will was seen as a prefiguration of the death of Jesus.

Upon Sarah's death in Hebron, Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah for 400 shekels of silver from Ephron, one of the Hittites living in Hebron.

Approaching his own death, Abraham sent his servant back to his family in Mesopotamia, in order to procure a wife for Isaac from his own kindred. The servant returned to Isaac with Abraham's great-niece Rebekah (Gen 24:55-67). Abraham died at the age of 175 and was buried by Isaac and Ishmael in the cave of Machpelah (Gen 25:9-11).

Abraham's call (Gen 12:1-3) is the origin and mainspring of Israel's election and religion (cf Josh 24:2-3; Is 51:2). The many altars he built were prototypes for Israel's worship (Gen 12:6-8; 13:18; 21:33), and the altar at Mount Moriah (Gen 22:9) became identified with the site of the Temple (II Chr 3:1).

Abraham is mentioned 72 times in the NT and was considered the father of all true believers, the first to receive God's promises. His story is summarized in Acts 7:2-8. All Christians are the children of Abraham whose righteousness was passed down to all believers in Jesus by virtue of Abraham's faith (Rom 4:13-25). Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:22) is the place of rest reserved for the righteous in the afterworld.