Abraham (Bible)

Chaldean-born settler of the land of Canaan

• Born: c. 2050 b.c.e.
• Birthplace: Ur, Chaldea (now Muqaiyir, Iraq)
• Died: c. 1950 b.c.e.
• Place of death: Kirjath-Arba, Canaan (now Hebron, West Bank, Palestine)

Abraham occupies an important place in the history of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. According to Hebrew tradition and biblical record, he is the ancient ancestor of the people of Israel to whom God first promised territory, nationhood, and spiritual blessing. In the Qur՚an, he is one of the six prophets who received God’s law.

Early Life

The only historical record of the life of Abraham (AY-bruh-ham) is found in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, one of the two divisions of the Bible whose composition is traditionally attributed to Moses. The full story of Abraham’s life is contained in Genesis 11:27-25:11, although there are references to Abraham’s life scattered throughout the rest of the Bible. The dating of Abraham’s birth and early life is primarily informed guesswork, but archaeological consensus is that Abraham was born sometime around the twentieth century b.c.e. His father is identified as Terah in the biblical genealogy (Genesis 11:27). Evidently, Terah was a wealthy man who owned property and livestock and who worshiped the pagan gods of Chaldea. Chaldea, the ancient name for Babylonia, was a center of advanced culture and commerce in antiquity, and it is quite likely that Abraham was a highly educated, cosmopolitan citizen of this society, himself no doubt wealthy. Some archaeologists contend that it is possible that Abraham left written records of his journey to the ancient Near East that were incorporated into the Pentateuch. Most modern scholars accept the substantial historicity of these narratives.

The biblical record introduces Abraham as “Abram,” which means “father” in Hebrew; later in the narrative, Abram is renamed as the better known “Abraham,” which means “father of many.” Abram was called by God to leave his father’s house in Ur to journey to a land that God promises to him and his descendants. There is no indication in the narrative that Abram had been chosen for any particular merit or religious devotion, though later Old and New Testament writings present him as the archetypal man of faith, who serves as an example to all of the power of belief in God’s sovereignty. Accompanying him on the journey were his wife, Sarah, and nephew Lot and their families.

Most startling in this sequence of events is Abraham’s willingness to abandon the pagan deities of his family to embrace a seemingly new God—and thus become a declared monotheist in a decidedly polytheistic and pagan antiquity. The next episodes reported in the life of Abram trace his growing acceptance of this unique belief and center on his journey to Canaan, the land promised to him. His path takes him and his traveling companions through Egypt and the surrounding nations. In Egypt, Abram fears that his beautiful wife will be taken from him, so he claims that she is his sister and thus attempts to deceive Pharaoh and his princes. When God reveals her true identity to the Egyptian monarch, Pharaoh orders Abram and his entourage to leave. On leaving Egypt, Abram and his nephew decide to go their separate ways, Lot choosing the fertile land of Sodom and Gomorrah for settlement and Abram the northern country of Hebron. These choices become fateful in the lineage of both men.

Life’s Work

The life of Abraham as it unfolds in the book of Genesis encompasses the fulfillment of the promises God had announced to him before he left Ur. Important in the light of the birth of modern Israel is the fact that the land promised to Abraham is quite explicitly identified in the biblical record: God promises Abraham and his descendants possession of the whole land from the Euphrates River southwestward, an area, in fact, larger than the land area occupied by Israel since World War II.

The three most important episodes recounted in Genesis involve Abraham’s attempt to secure an heir to receive the inheritance of God’s promises, the institution of the covenant between God and Abraham sealed with the act of circumcision, and the judgment and destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah—Lot’s new homeland—because of their residents’ rampant rebellion and decadence. It is in these episodes that the character of Abraham as a man of faith as well as of action is established and becomes the pattern for later biblical and traditional portraits of his heroism and trust.

Soon after he and Lot part company, Abram is called on to rescue Lot; in so doing he proves himself both a good military strategist and also a devout, unselfish believer. Lot has found himself the captive of rival kings who have plundered the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abram raises an army and, in saving Lot, also manages to recover all of his lost possessions and captured kinsmen. In returning from these exploits, Abram encounters the mysterious King of Salem, Melchizadek, who pronounces a blessing on Abram for his faith and his canny defeat of the treacherous armies in the land about him. Melchizadek is also a priest of “the God Most High,” or “Yahweh,” the same God who has called Abraham out of Ur to a special blessing. Abram pays a tithe to Melchizadek, and, when the King of Salem praises him, Abram defers the praise to God, who had blessed him with victory.

The promises to Abraham in Genesis 12 were intended to foreshadow the tapestry of events in his life, and in Genesis 15 God reiterates them as Abram continues his quest for the land. He becomes skeptical and impatient of the likelihood of their fulfillment, however, given that he is still childless because of Sarah’s barrenness. Nevertheless, God renews his promise to Abram that his offspring will be as numerous as the stars in the sky and that the land and nation promised to him will indeed come to his descendants if he will only continue to trust. Thereafter, Abram is called Abraham by God, indicating the surety of His promises that he will be the father of many nations. Reluctant to wait for God’s timing, Abraham proceeds to father a son by Hagar, his maidservant. This son, named Ishmael, is rejected by God; Abraham is instead exhorted to await the rightful heir with patience and confidence. In Genesis 17, the covenant between God and Abraham is proclaimed once more, and God asks Abraham and all the males of his household to be circumcised as a sign of their commitment to the covenant. The act of circumcision is ever after a peculiar sign of God’s presence with the Hebrew people, not merely a hygienic practice but a religious symbol of dramatic proportion to every Hebrew family of God’s blessing as well.

In the midst of Abraham’s tribulations, he receives word that Lot’s city Sodom will be destroyed along with Gomorrah because of its wickedness. In a famous conversation, Abraham bargains with God over the city, pleading with Him to spare the cities if He can find even ten righteous men. He cannot, and the cities are destroyed, with Lot and his family spared. On their way out of the destruction, however, Lot’s wife—against the direct command of God—looks back at the fallen cities and is turned into a pillar of salt.

Because of their faith and righteousness, Abraham and Sarah are blessed with the birth of a son, Isaac—whose name meant “laughter,” a reference to Sarah’s incredulity at becoming pregnant at the age of one hundred. Some years later, Abraham faces the final test of faith in his life when God calls on him to sacrifice his son. Obedient to the end, Abraham and Isaac make the long trek to an altar far from their camp where Abraham once sacrificed animals. As he prepares to offer his son, he ties Isaac down and raises his knife, about to end the boy’s life. Just before the knife is plunged into Abraham’s only heir, God calls on Abraham to stop, for his faith has been shown to be full and unyielding. Because of his obedient heart, God promises him once more that he will have descendants as numerous as the grains of sand at the seashore.

Abraham eventually outlives Sarah and is blessed to see Isaac’s marriage to Rebekah. Isaac and Rebekah later become the parents of Jacob and Esau, and the historical saga of Israel’s development as a nation under the governance of God is initiated, a fulfillment of a divine promise to the itinerant man from Ur.

Significance

Abraham occupies a unique place in the three major monotheistic traditions that have emerged as the world’s dominant religions. For the Jews, it is difficult to overestimate the impact of the life of Abraham on Hebrew culture both in the ancient and medieval world and in the modern world. His acceptance of belief in one, true God, and its implications, sets him apart in the history of religions common to his time and place. It is the name of this God (Yahweh) that Moses, the champion of the Hebrews’ flight from Egyptian captivity, invokes in confronting Pharaoh and in leading his people from bondage. Further, the promises made by the God of the Old Testament to Abraham have remained a part of the political and social history of the land of Israel even to this day and have played an essential part in the formation of modern Israel after World War II. To be a Jew is to trace one’s ancestry back to Abraham and his sons, Isaac and Jacob. To adherents of Judaism, Abraham is the quintessential man of success, faith, and loyalty, whose stature overshadows nearly every other ancient Hebrew notable except Moses.

Abraham’s character as a man of trust and perseverance has heavily influenced both Christianity and Islam to the extent that both faiths regard the biblical record of Abraham as the starting point for their own systems of doctrine. In the Qur՚an, for example, Abraham (known as Ibrahim) is one of six major prophets who received the law of God, and he receives more mentions than any other prophet except Moses. Jesus Christ, according to the New Testament, claimed to be a descendant of Abraham—basing his teaching on the authority that this heritage bestowed on him—while at the same time claiming that his own life, as the eternal Son of God, is in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham that He would bless all nations through him and his descendants. Paul, the Christian convert who wrote most of the letters of the New Testament, cites Abraham as the man who exemplifies commitment and truth for Christianity, a man who was counted “righteous” not because of his works but because of his faith. Muḥammad, the prophet of Islam, claimed Abraham as his forerunner as well, proclaiming that he and his message stood in the same historical and intellectual genealogy as that of Abraham.

The story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his own son in response to the call of God has long interested artists and storytellers. In the modern age, it has come to be emblematic of the piercing moment of destiny and decision making in an individual’s life when he or she must make a choice that will set the pattern for the rest of his or her life. Abraham thus comes to represent to Jew and non-Jew alike the epitome of the “righteous man.” His covenant with God and his faithfulness animate inhabitants of both Western and Eastern cultures in their quest for security and hope in a troubled world.

Bibliography

Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. 1932. Reprint. Gloucester, Mass.: Peter Smith, 1971. A standard work on the archaeology of the ancient world that remains a comprehensive and informed overview of the historical data gleaned from the Middle East. Provides a sense of the world from which Abraham came and the one to which he traveled.

Alexander, David, and Pat Alexander, eds. Eerdmans’ Handbook to the Bible. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1987. A comprehensive handbook to biblical history and geography, with helpful charts and maps that trace Abraham’s journey and illuminate the specific episodes in his life drawn from the biblical text.

Bright, John. A History of Israel. 4th ed. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster Press, 2000. A thorough and compelling nontheological treatment of the history of Israel in print. Includes sections on the world of the patriarchs, ancient Chaldea, Egypt, and Israel that enlighten the story of Abraham and sustain the interest of both the common reader and the scholar with helpful anecdotal commentary on life in ancient times.

Feiler, Bruce S. Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of the Three Faiths. New York: W. Morrow, 2002. This biography seeks to show its subject as he is portrayed in the teachings of the three great Abramaic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The first half of the book discusses the Qur՚an and the Bible’s narratives regarding Abraham, his call to monotheism, and his sons Isaac and Ishmael. The second half examines each religious tradition and how the Abraham narratives relate to contemporary religious and political conflicts.

Klinghoffer, David. The Discovery of God: Abraham and the Birth of Monotheism. New York: Doubleday, 2003. Biography chronicles Abraham’s early years and his travels as preacher throughout the Middle East. Klinghoffer describes the many extant sites of events in the life of Abraham and depicts what they were like in ancient times; evoking details of the polytheistic culture, he shows how Abraham challenged the most fundamental beliefs of his contemporaries.

Schultz, Samuel J. The Old Testament Speaks. 4th ed. New York: Harper and Row, 1990. Written for the lay reader, this volume presents an objective, historical analysis of the lives of the patriarchs—including a major section on Abraham—and other characters in the evolution of ancient Israel and suggests their relevance to the study of both Christianity and Islam.

Thompson, J. A. Handbook to Life in Bible Times. Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1986. A colorful, lavishly illustrated reference tool with key sections on the domestic life, travel, family customs, and cultural preoccupations of the biblical world. This work illuminates the life and times of a person living in the twentieth century b.c.e. and thus is a helpful contextualizing volume for a study of Abraham.