Was Abraham a Jew or Gentile?

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The first "Jew " was one of Abraham's great grandchildren. His name was "Judah " from which the nickname "Jew " is derived. So, technically, Abraham was not a "Jew " [that is, descended from Judah. Judah descended from Abraham]. Neither are the majority of Abraham's descendants through Isaac Jews, with the one exception, his great-grandson Judah [whose eleven brothers no doubt called him "Jew ."]. But this deceived world recognizes no such distinction among Abraham's children descended through Isaac. To the peoples of this world, they're all Jews. It's a distinction upon which few people dwell. The distinction of being a "Gentile ," however is merely a physical matter of not having been "circumcised ." A state in which Abram [and every other male throughout man's generations] started out in the world; a physical state that has nothing to do with the spirit, Faith or Righteousness: "...'Blessed is the man of whose sin the LORD will not take account.' This declaration of blessedness, then, does it come simply to the circumcised, or to the uncircumcised as well? For Abraham's Faith - so we affirm - was placed to his credit as Righteousness. "What then were the circumstances under which this took place? Was it after he had been circumcised, or before? "Before, not after. And he received circumcision as a sign, a mark attesting the reality of the Faith - Righteousness which was his while still uncircumcised, that he might be the forefather of all those who believe even though they are uncircumcised, namely of those who not merely are circumcised, but also walk in the steps of the Faith which our forefather Abraham had while he was yet uncircumcised. "Again, the Promise that he should inherit the world did not come to Abraham or his posterity conditioned by Law, but by Faith - Righteousness." (Rom.4:8-13 WEY  Weymouth's New Testament ) Abraham was also the father of Ishmael, whose descendants are the Arab people. Ishmael, also, was born a Gentile, but later circumcised [Gen.17:23]. And no Jew or Arab today in their right mind would refer to an Arab as a Jew. Abraham's son Isaac also had another son other than Jacob; Esau, whose descendants became the nation of Turkey today. Are the Turks Gentiles or Jews? "That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, 'I have made you the father of many nations.'..." (verse 17). Abraham is the forefather of many so-called "Gentile " nations as well as the scattered few who practice the Jewish religion. The world little suspects or cares about all the nations that have descended from Faithful Abraham... Truth be known. Fortunately, God doesn't Judge man according to his appearance... but by what He sees in a man's heart... and by the works that are manifested from those things in a man's heart. "See, I AM coming soon, and My reward is with Me, to repay all according to their deeds." (Rev.22:12 NLT  New Living Translation ) And for that reason God doesn't refer to Abraham as a Gentile or Jew, but: "...'Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be Righteous.' He was even called 'the friend of God.'   So you see, we are made right with God by what we do, not by Faith alone." (Heb.11:23-24 NLT ) ANSWER Abraham was from Ur of the Chaldees and was born in 1996 BC , while the Jews were named after Judah who was not born until over 241years later in 1755 BC. The word "gentile" is not in the original but is an English translation of the Hebrew word "goy" meaning "nation," "race" , or "people." , and the tribes of Israel  became a nation in 1446 BC when they left Egypt  in the Exodus. Abraham was called "Abram" when he was born 550 years earlier in the Chaldees, so Abraham was a Chaldean: he was definitely not Jew or Gentile. [All dates Ussher].

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Answer:

Abraham was a Gentile. His family came from Chaldea (Babylon).

"...and Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there." (Gen.11:31)

The first "Jew" in Abraham's lineage was his great great grandchild, "Judah." Jew is merely a shortening of the name Judah.

Another View:

According to tradition, Abraham was born an idolater and repudiated idolatry. He became the founder of what was later called Judaism.

Abraham, tenth generation descendant of Noah, of Hebrew lineage, was the son of Terah, uncle of Lot, father of Isaac, grandfather of Jacob, and ancestor of the Israelites. His story is in Genesis ch.11 (end), through ch.25. Jewish tradition states that he was the first to teach belief in One God; and it is in his merit that Jews continue to exist (Genesis 18:19, and ch.17).

Abraham (18th century BCE) came from ancestry that had been God-fearing a couple of centuries earlier but had afterwards slipped into idolatry (Joshua 24:2). Nimrod, the idolatrous tyrant, had brought Abraham's father (Terah) from the Semitic ancestral seat near the conjunction of the Balikh and the Euphrates, and instated him in a position of power in his army in the royal Babylonian city of Ur, where Abraham was born. Nimrod persecuted any who would question his idolatrous cult.

The Kuzari (Rabbi Judah HaLevi, 1075-1141) states that Abraham was gifted with high intelligence; and, as Maimonides (1135-1204) describes, Abraham didn't blindly accept the ubiquitous idolatry. The whole populace had been duped, but the young Abraham contemplated the matter relentlessly, finally arriving at the conclusion that there is One God and that this should be taught to others as well. This is what is meant by his "calling out in the name of the Lord" (Genesis ch.12). As a young man, he remonstrated with passersby in public, demonstrating to them the falsehood of their idols; and our tradition tells how he was threatened and endangered by Nimrod.

Subsequently, Terah relocated to Harran; and it is here that Abraham began to develop a circle of disciples (Rashi commentary, on Genesis 12:5).

Later, God told Abraham in prophecy to move to the Holy Land, which is where Abraham raised his family.

He continued his contemplations, eventually arriving at the attitudes and forms of behavior which God later incorporated into the Torah given to Moses.

Abraham, with God's help, singlehandedly trounced the supremacy of the evil Nimrod. He received God's promise of inheriting the Holy Land (Genesis 13). He strove to raise a family (Genesis ch.15, 17, and 24) which would serve God (Genesis 18:19); and God eventually blessed his efforts, granting him many children (ibid., ch.16, 21 and 25), as He had promised (Genesis ch.17). Abraham founded the Jewish people and lived to see his work live on in the persons of Isaac and Jacob; and he taught many other disciples as well (Talmud, Yoma 28b). He saved the population of the south of Canaan from invading foreign kings (Genesis 14); and he was feared by neighboring kings (ibid., ch.12 and 20). Abraham gave tithes (Genesis ch.14), entered into a covenant with God (Genesis ch.15 and 17), welcomed guests into his home (Genesis ch.18) unlike the inhospitable Sodomites (Genesis ch.19), prayed for people (Genesis ch.18), rebuked others when necessary (Genesis ch.20), eulogized and buried the deceased (Genesis ch.23), and fulfilled God's will unquestioningly (Genesis ch.22). He became renowned as a prince of God (Genesis 23:6).

All of these forms of behavior were based upon the ways of God, which Abraham comprehended through his contemplations. These, and similar personality traits, were the teachings of Abraham and his descendants (unlike idolatry, which had tended to go hand in hand with cruel, licentious and excessive behavior, since the caprices which were narrated concerning the idols were adopted as an excuse to imitate those types of behavior).

It is therefore clear why God expresses His love for Abraham (Isaiah 41:8) and calls Himself the God of Abraham (Genesis 26:24), and says that Abraham obeyed Him fully (Genesis 26:5). And this is why, according to our tradition, Abraham is credited with having begun the religion which became known as Judaism. However, Abraham and his descendants observed their traditions voluntarily, until the Giving of the Torah to Moses 3325 years ago, when God made it obligatory.

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