Abraham's family tree

Though his forefathers were from southern Mesopotamia, Yahweh leads Abram on a journey to the land of Cannan, which he promises to Abram’s descendants. For a while, Abram lives in the region of Hebron, after which he is described as a “Hebrew.” Abraham’s family tree is connected by interesting stories. He is known as the patriarch of the Jewish people of today through Isaac, the son born to him and Sarah in their old age in fulfillment of a promise from God. Many Arabic people are also descended from Abraham through his son Ishmael, born to Abraham and his wife’s servant Hagar.

Abram’s original homeland

The home of Abram’s father Terah was Ur. Ur was an important Sumerian city that is now known as Tell el-Mukayyar. Terah took his son Abraham and his grandson Lot (son of Haran) to the city of Haran. The people here were not related to those of Mesopotamia.

Abram’s migration

When Abram is 75 years old, Yahweh tells him to move to a new place he will show him. Yahweh tells Abram that he will make Abram a great nation, that his descendants will multiply greatly and that whoever blesses Abram will be blessed and whoever curses him will be cursed. One of Abram’s first stopping places is the land of Canaan. There God promised the land to Abram’s descendants. However when there is a famine there, Abram moves to Egypt for a while.

Abram and Sarai

Sarai is Abram’s wife, and the account in Genesis says that she was beautiful. There are two occasions (years apart) when Abram lies about being married to her because he fears that a local king will kill him and take Sarai for his own wife. The first occasion occurs when they reach Egypt; Abram says that Sarai is his sister and Pharaoh takes her into his harem. When Pharaoh discovers Sarai is really Abram’s wife, he is appalled and he sends back Sarai along with wealth to Abraham and they move on.

Abraham is quoted as saying that actually Sarai is his half-sister since they have the same father but not the same mother. (Though the Law of Moses prohibited marriage between close relatives hundreds of years later, there is no indication that the marriage between Abram and Sarai was considered inappropriate at that time.)

The second occasion is years later, after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham settles in the Negev and a local king takes Sarah as his wife – in good conscience since Abraham does not disclose her married status. God appears to this king in a dream and tells him to give Sarah back to Abraham. Again Sarah is returned with gifts.

Until the birth of Isaac, the account says that Sarah has no children, and when the promise of Isaac is given, it says she laughs at the idea because she is well past her childbearing years.

Abram and Lot

Lot is Abram’s nephew, the son of his brother Haran. After God’s call to Abram, Abram and Lot leave (the land of) Haran together with all of their belongings, including flocks of animals. It seemed that their flocks are too large to graze the same land, so Abram has Lot choose between the lush plain of Sodom and Canaan. Lot chooses the better looking land in the plain of the Jordan and Abram lives in Canaan again. Specifically, he settles in Hebron – which leads to him (and his descendants) being called Hebrew.

Abram has a large estate with many people. When neighboring kings defeat some local tribes, they take Lot captive as well. Abram raises 318 soldiers from his household and defeats the kings to rescue Lot.

Lot settles in the city of Sodom and prospers until, years later, the sinfulness of the city as a whole reaches the limit of God’s patience and he sends angels to destroy it. At this time Abram is 99 years old and he has a hand in rescuing Lot again. God has mercy in response to Abram’s concern about the coming judgment, and angels give Lot a chance to evacuate the city before the destruction comes. Reluctantly, Lot leaves with his wife and daughters (their fiancees stay behind). They escape with just their lives, except for Lot’s wife. Against the angel’s warning, she looks back while the destruction is happening and the account states that she turns into a pillar of salt.

Lot became the father of the Moabites and the Ammonites, nations who were sometimes friendly, sometimes antagonistic toward Abraham’s descendants.

Abram and Ishmael

Abram and Sarah prosper materially but have no children. Abram plans to leave his estate to a trusted servant, but God promises him a son and heir. When he is 86 years old, Sarah suggests and Abraham agrees that a practical way to have a child is through Sarah’s servant Hagar. Hagar conceives right away and in time Ishmael is born. This situation brings strife rather than happiness between Hagar and Sarah. Nevertheless, God sees Hagar’s suffering and promises that though this was not the child promised Abraham, he will nevertheless make Ishmael’s descendents into a great nation also, though Ishmael will be a wild, unfriendly man.

Abram to Abraham

In Genesis chapter 17: 4-6 Yahweh changes Abram’s name to Abraham, for Yahweh has told him that he has made Abraham into many great nations.

Abraham and Issac

Three visitors come to Abraham and say that he will have a son. Sarah believes she is too old to have a child and laughs. Yet she does conceive and in Genesis chapter 21: 1-7, Sarah has a baby named Isaac, which means laughter, just as the three visitors told her. Later, Abraham’s loyalty to Yahweh is tested when he is asked to give up Isaac as a sacrifice. The account in Genesis suggests that Abraham expected that Yahweh would give Isaac back to him somehow. A ram, caught in a thicket, is provided in lieu of Isaac.

Isaac and Rebekah

When Abraham was very old, and shortly after the death of Sarah, he sent his servant back to the clan of his nephew Bethuel to see whether he could find a wife for Isaac. The servant meets Rebekah at a water well outside of town and when he discovers she is a relative, he asks permission to take her as a wife for Isaac. Rebekah’s father Bethuel and brother Laban agree. So at age 40, Isaac marries Rebekah, who gives birth to twin sons Esau and Jacob twenty years later.

Jacob and Esau

Rebecca became the mother of twins. Though Esau was born first, God indicated that Jacob would be the one to receive the greater inheritance and would be the father of a nation. Jacob and Esau make an infamous bargain in which Esau sells his rights to extra inheritance as the firstborn son to Jacob for a bowl of stew. Combined with some deception, Jacob ends up getting his father’s blessing as if he were firstborn. This angers Esau so much that Jacob flees for his life to his uncle Laban. He meets and later marries Laban’s daughters Leah and Rachel. Jacob stays in Haran for 20 years and works for Laban before returning to his homeland.

Jacob became the father of the twelve tribes of Israel, and ultimately the kingdom of Israel (and later Judah, which split off).

Abraham and Keturah

After the death of Sarah, Abraham marries a woman named Keturah, who bears him six more sons – Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Imran and Shuah.

Death of Abraham

According to Genesis 25:7, Abraham died at the age of 175 years.

Family tree

The following is a family tree for the descendants of the line of Noah's son Shem, through Abraham to Jacob and his sons.

Noah

Shem

Ham

Japheth

Elam

Ashur

Arphaxad

Lud

Aram

4 sons

7 sons

Shelah

4 sons

Eber

Peleg

Joktan

Reu

13 sons

Serug

Nahor

Terah

Haran

Hagar

Abraham

Sarah

Keturah

Nahor

Milcah

Lot

Iscah

Ishmael

6 sons

7 sons

Bethuel

Moab

Ben-ammi

Isaac

Rebekah

Laban

Mahalath

Esau

Jacob

Leah

Rachel

12 sons

5 sons

Bilhah

Zilpah

Simeon

Judah

Zebulun

Gad

Dan

Joseph

Reuben

Levi

Issachar

Dinah

Asher

Naphtali

Benjamin