Abraham

"Avram" redirects here. For other uses, see Avram (disambiguation).

Abraham
An angel prevents the sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham and Isaac by Rembrandt
Born	Legendary figure - traditionally 2000 BCE-1500 BCE North Mexico or Middle Earth
Died	Legendary figure - traditionally 2000 BCE-1500 BCE Machpelah, Canaan
Occupation(s)	Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Abraham (Hebrew: אַבְרָהָם, Modern: Avraham, Tiberian: ʾAḇrāhām Ashkenazi Avrohom or Avruhom ; Arabic: ابراهيم, Ibrāhīm ; Ge'ez: አብርሃም, ʾAbrəham) features in the Book of Genesis as the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites and Edomite peoples. He is widely regarded as the patriarch of Jews and Arabs and the founder of monotheism. According to Genesis 17:5, his name was changed by God from Abram (probably meaning "the father is exalted) to Abraham, a name which Genesis explains as meaning "father of many".

Abraham was the tenth generation from Noah and the 20th from Adam. His father was Terah, and his brothers were Nahor and Haran. According to Genesis, Abraham was sent by God from his home in Ur of the Chaldees to Canaan, the land promised to his descendants by Yahweh. There Abraham entered into a covenant: in exchange for recognition of YHWH as the sole and supreme universal deity and authority, Abraham will be blessed with innumerable progeny and the land would belong to his descendants.

Judaism, Christianity and Islam are sometimes referred to as the "Abrahamic religions" because of the progenitor 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 particularly 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) by his wife Sarah. For Muslims, he is a prophet of Islam and the ancestor of Muhammad through his other son Ishmael - born to him by his second wife, Hagar. (Jews and Christians refer to Hagar as Sarah's servant). Abraham is also a progenitor of the Semitic tribes of the Negev who trace their descent from their common ancestor Sheba (Genesis 10:28).

Etymology

Abraham's original name was Abram (Hebrew: אַבְרָם, Standard  Avram Tiberian ʾAḇrām) meaning either "exalted father" or "my father is exalted" (compare Abiram). For the later part of his life, he was called Abraham, which the text glosses as av hamon (goyim) "father of many (nations)" [See Genesis 17:5]; however the name does not have any literal meaning in Hebrew.

Genesis narrative

Origins and calling

Abraham was born in the Chaldean City of Ur, Mesopotamia, to Terah, his father. At birth he was named Abram, but after God makes the covenant with Abram, his name was changed to Abraham. (Genesis 17:2–9)

Josephus, Islamic tradition, and Jewish authorities like Maimonides all concur that Ur of the Chaldees was in northern Mesopotamia — now southeastern Turkey - and identified with Urartu. Others identify Ur of the Chaldee as Urfa, or the nearby Urkesh.

Abram migrated to Haran, apparently the classical Carrhae, which lay on the Balikh river, a branch of the Euphrates. After a short stay, he, his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot (the son of Abram's brother Haran), and all their followers, departed for Canaan. Some commentators note that the names of Abram's forefathers Peleg, Serug, Nahor, and Terah, all appear as names of cities in the region of Haran, suggesting that these are eponymous ancestors of these communities.

Sarai and Pharaoh

See also: Wife-sister narratives in Genesis

Forced by a famine to seek refuge in Egypt (Genesis 12:10–20), and expressing fear that his wife's beauty should arouse evil designs of the Egyptians and thus endanger his own safety, Abram asks Sarai to pretend that she is his sister, to an unnamed Pharaoh of Egypt. They later make the same claim to Abimelech, the Philistine king of Gerar (Genesis 20). In the latter case, Abram explains that Sarai is only his half-sister, on his father's side (Genesis 20:12).

Indeed, the kinship pattern of the Semitic chiefs listed in Genesis followed an established protocol that involved betrothal to half-sisters, so Abram may not have lied when he said that Sarai was his sister. Like Abram, 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 died while she was traveling with his family. According to Genesis 12:5, Sarai accompanied her husband to the land of Canaan, which would have put her in this same position as suggested in the ancient tablets of Mari (an ancient Semite city of Abram's time) if she was not related to Abram — at the very least she would have parted from her mother's half of her family.

In any case, the deception did not save her from the Pharaoh. The latter took her into the royal harem and enriched Abram with herds and servants. But Yahweh "plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues" (Genesis 12:17). Pharaoh is next shown questioning Abram, and somehow cognizant of the fact that Sarai was Abram's wife. Pharaoh reunited the couple and sent them away with all of Abram's property (Genesis 12:20).

When Abram, along with Sarai and his nephew Lot left Egypt, they returned to Ai. Here they dwelt for some time, until strife arose between Abram's and Lot's herdsmen. 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 (Genesis 13).

Chedorlaomer and Melchizedek

Some years after this, Lot was taken prisoner by Chedorlaomer and his allies, who were then warring against the kings of Sodom, and the neighboring places. Abram, with his household, pursued the conquerors, then overtook and defeated them at Dan, near the springs of Jordan and retook the spoil, together with Lot.

At his return, while passing near Salem (supposed to be the city afterwards called Jerusalem), Melchizedek, 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 blessed bread and wine to him, as part of a sacrament of thanksgiving on Abram's behalf.

Ishmael

Main articles: Ishmael and Hagar (biblical)

After this, the Lord renewed his promises to Abram, with fresh assurances that his descendants would 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, a certain Eliezer of Damascus (Genesis 15:2). Abram, however, was promised one of his own flesh as heir.

Sarai, in accordance with custom, gave to Abram her Egyptian handmaid Hagar as his wife (Genesis 16:3). Sarai could not deal with Hagar having Abram's son, and she told Abram that he was the reason for her sorrow. He told her that she can deal with Hagar as she pleases, so Sarai did harsh things and forced Hagar to flee. God heard Hagar's sorrow and promised her that her descendants will be too numerous to count, and she returned.

Her son, Ishmael, Abram's firstborn, was born when Abram was 86 years of age (Genesis 16:15–16). Hagar and Ishmael were eventually driven permanently away from Abram by Sarai (Genesis 21:).

Covenant

Main article: Isaac

God made his covenant with Abram thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael, when Abram was 99 years old (Genesis 17:1–5). Abram's name was changed to Abraham and Sarai's to Sarah. The covenant was sealed by Abraham's circumcision (Genesis 17:11–14) and the first commandment relating to circumcision. Ishmael was also circumcised on that day, at the age of 13, as were the other men of Abraham's household.

The Lord said to Abraham “ go from the country and your kindred and your fathers house to the land that I will show you.” And I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. And by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves." 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 God, give them the land, and make a great nation and kings out of Abraham's line.

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 God appears to Abraham at Mamre (Genesis 18:1–15, ) and, when the child is born, cries "God has made me into laughter; every one that hears will laugh at me" (Genesis 21:6).

Sodom and Gomorrah

Main articles: Sodom and Gomorrah and Lot (Biblical)

Due to the enormous sins of Sodom, Gomorrah, and the neighboring cities, being now filled up, two 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, his wife, and their 2 daughters were preserved from the disaster, either because they were the only righteous, or because of Abraham's intercession on their behalf. Lot's wife was turned to salt on their escape from the destruction when she disobeyed God's command not to look back at the destruction.

Sarah and Abimelech

Main article: Abimelech

Before Sarah conceived (but after God had told her that she would), according to the divine promise, she and Abraham left the plain of Mamre and went south, to Gerar, where Abimelech reigned. Fearing that Sarah might be forced from him, and himself put to death, Abraham again called Sarah 'sister,' just as he had done in Egypt.
Abimelech took her to his house, with intentions to marry her. According to scripture, God informed Abimelech, through a dream, that Sarah was Abraham's wife. Abimelech returned Sarah to Abraham with great presents.

Beersheba

Main article: 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

Main article: 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 aged about 127, 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 find from Abraham's kindred a wife for his son Isaac. Eliezer went on his commission with prudence, and returned with Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, granddaughter of Nahor, and, consequently, Abraham's niece and Isaac's first-cousin. Many biblical commentators believe that Rebekah was still a child when she married Isaac (Genesis 24:14–16, 24:59) while Isaac was forty years of age. (Genesis 25:20)

Other children of Abraham

Abraham lived a long time after these events. After the death of Sarah, who died when she was 127 years of age, and while in bad health (Gen 24:1), he took another wife, a concubine named Keturah and she bore Abraham six sons, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. (Genesis 25:1–6)

Death

He died at the age of 175 years. (Genesis 25:7–8) 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.

He was buried by his sons Isaac (aged about 76 years) and Ishmael (aged about 89 years), in the Cave of the Patriarchs, where he had deposited the remains of his beloved Sarah. (Genesis 25:9–10)

Jacob and Essau, the sons of Isaac, were less than 16 years of age at the time of Abraham's death.

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, how the boundaries and relationships of peoples were established by Him, and how the Kingdom of God would be established through Abraham.

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 intermarriages on a 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.

In Christianity

Abraham Sacrificing Isaac by Laurent de La Hire, 1650 (Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans).

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).

17th century Russian icon of Abraham (Andrei Rublev Museum, Moscow).

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 imagery of a father sacrificing his son is seen as a type of God the Father offering his Son on Calvary.

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.

Liturgical commemoration

The Roman Catholic Church calls Abraham "our father in Faith," in the Eucharistic prayer of 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 those in the hospitality industry.

The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates him as the "Righteous Forefather Abraham", with two feast days in its liturgical calendar. The first time is on October 9 (for those churches which follow the traditional Julian Calendar, October 9 falls on October 22 of the modern Gregorian Calendar), where he is commemorated together with his nephew "Righteous Lot". The other on the "Sunday of the Forefathers" (two Sundays before Christmas), where he is commemorated together with other ancestors of Jesus. Abraham is also mentioned in the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great, just before the Anaphora. Abraham and Sarah are invoked in the prayers said by the priest over a newly married couple at the Sacred Mystery of Crowning (i.e., the Sacrament of Marriage).

In Islam

Main article: Islamic view of Abraham

File:Fresco Binding of Isaac muslim.jpg

Fresco with image of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son in Shiraz

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. Islam teaches that Ishmael was the son Abraham nearly sacrificed on Moriah. To support this view Muslims use various proofs, including the belief that at the time Ishmael was his only son. Abraham is revered by Muslims as one of the Prophets in 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). The number of repetitions of his name in the Qur'an is second only to Moses.

Abraham's footprint is displayed outside the Kaaba, which is on a stone, protected and guarded by Mutawa (Religious Police). The annual Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, follows Abraham, Hagar, and Ishmael's journey to the sacred place of the Kaaba. Islamic tradition narrates that Abraham's subsequent visits to the Northern Arabian region, after leaving Ishmael and Hagar (in the area that would later become the Islamic holy city of Mecca), were not only to visit Ishmael but also to construct the first house of worship for God (that is, the monotheistic concept and model of God), the Kaaba -as per God's command. 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. He also calls Ishmael the "founder" (κτίστης) of the "Arabians". 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 Mecca, who assimilated into the Arabs) to Adnan, said to be an ancestor of Muhammad, and have further equated Ishmael with A'raq Al-Thara, said to be ancestor of Adnan. Umm Salama, one of Muhammad'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.

See also

• 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
• Abraham's bosom
• Abrahamic religions
• Biblical criticism
• Brahama
• Bram
• Gathering of Israel
• Genealogies of Genesis
• Islamic view of Abraham
• Kabbalah
• List of founders of major religions
• Sons of Noah
• The Book of Genesis
• The Pearl of Great Price, Book of Abraham

References

• Rosenberg, David. Abraham: The First Historical Biography. Basic Books/Perseus Books Group, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2006. ISBN 0-465-07094-9.
• Holweck, F. G. A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. 1924.
• Latter-day Saint Bible Dictionary
• Nibley, Hugh W. Abraham's Temple Drama
• Vermes, Scripture and Tradition in Judaism
• Beer, Leben Abraham's
• Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, trans. Henrietta Szold (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1909)
• Book of Abraham LDS scripture Pearl of Great Price
• Bloch, Israel und die Völker (Berlin: Harz, 1922)
• Torcszyner, "The Riddle in the Bible," Hebrew Union College Annual 1 (1924)
• Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews
• Kohler, "The Pre-Talmudic Haggada," Jewish Quarterly Review 7 (July 1895): 587.
• André Flury-Schölch: Abrahams Segen und die Völker. Synchrone und diachrone Untersuchungen zu Gen 12,1-3 unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der intertextuellen Beziehungen zu Gen 18, 22, 26, 28, Sir 44, Jer 4 und Ps 72 (Forschung zur Bibel 115), Würzburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-429-02738-4

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)