Abraham

Abraham is the central patriarchal figure of the Abrahamic religions and occupies a foundational position in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Revered as a model of faith, obedience, and covenantal loyalty, he is presented in the biblical Book of Genesis as the progenitor of a divinely chosen lineage and as the recipient of promises concerning land and posterity. Jewish tradition regards him as the ancestor with whom God established the original covenant. Christianity interprets him as the spiritual forefather of all believers, while Islam identifies him—under the name Ibrāhīm—as a prophet in the line beginning with Adam and culminating in Muhammad. Abraham is also honoured in the Bahá’í Faith and within Druze tradition, underscoring the extensive cultural and religious influence of his narrative.

Narrative Structure and Themes

The biblical Abraham cycle forms a sequence of loosely connected episodes unified by recurring motifs of land and descendants. These motifs appear as narrative programmes introduced in the divine command for Abraham to leave his homeland and in the repeated affirmation of Sarah’s barrenness. The stories unfold as “obstacle narratives,” in which promises of progeny and territory are continually threatened by famine, conflict, infertility, and external dangers. Although the plot does not follow a single continuous arc, Abraham’s presence—whether as protagonist or witness—provides coherence to the larger cycle.

Origins and Calling

Genesis introduces Abraham, originally named Abram, as a descendant of Terah and the ninth generation after Noah. Terah’s family resided in “Ur of the Chaldees,” though later Jewish exegetes proposed alternative origins. Genesis recounts Terah’s journey with Abram, Sarai (later Sarah), and Lot toward Canaan, a journey halted when they settled in Haran. After Terah’s death, Abram, aged seventy-five, received a divine summons to depart for a land God would show him. The promises accompanying this call included blessing, renown, and the assurance that through him all nations would be blessed.
Abram travelled through Canaan, building altars at Shechem and later between Bethel and Ai. A famine forced him and his household into Egypt, where the episode concerning Sarai’s beauty led to her brief detention in Pharaoh’s household. Plagues on Pharaoh’s household exposed the truth, and Abram was expelled with his possessions.

Separation from Lot

Returning to the southern hill country, Abram and Lot found their flocks too numerous to share the same pastureland. To avoid conflict, Abram offered Lot the choice of territory. Lot gravitated toward the fertile plain of the Jordan, settling near the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abram remained in the region of Hebron at the oaks of Mamre, where another altar marked his continued relationship with God.

Conflict with Chedorlaomer

When Lot was taken captive during a coalition war involving eastern kings, Abram mobilised 318 trained retainers and pursued the captors as far as Dan. Employing a night attack, his forces rescued Lot and recovered the seized goods. Upon his return, Abram was greeted by two kings. Melchizedek of Salem offered bread and wine, blessing Abram and God Most High. Abram presented Melchizedek a tenth of everything. The king of Sodom then offered Abram the recovered goods, but Abram refused to benefit from him, insisting that only his allies receive their due share.

Covenant and Promise

Following these events, God appeared to Abram in a vision and reiterated the promises of land and innumerable descendants. The “covenant of the pieces” formalised this relationship through a symbolic ritual in which the future enslavement and eventual deliverance of Abram’s descendants were foretold. The land promised encompassed territories associated with a range of peoples, from the Kenites and Hittites to the Amorites and Jebusites.

Hagar and Ishmael

Sarah’s ongoing barrenness prompted her to offer her Egyptian maidservant Hagar to Abram as a surrogate. When Hagar conceived, tensions arose between the two women, leading Hagar to flee. At a spring on the road to Shur, an angel instructed her to return and foretold that her son, Ishmael, would live in tension with others yet become the ancestor of a great lineage. Hagar named God El Roi—“the God who sees me”—and returned to bear Abram a son. Abram was eighty-six at Ishmael’s birth.

Covenant of Circumcision and Name Changes

Thirteen years later, God established a new covenantal sign: male circumcision. Abram’s name was changed to Abraham, meaning “father of many nations,” and Sarai became Sarah, signifying her status as a bearer of promised nations and kings. The promise of a son through Sarah elicited Abraham’s incredulous laughter, and the name of the promised child, Isaac, reflected that response. Although Ishmael was assured divine favour, the covenant would continue through Isaac.

Posterity and Land

Abraham’s later life involved further consolidation of his family line. Sarah’s death led him to purchase the Cave of Machpelah at Hebron as a burial site, symbolically anchoring his family’s claim to the promised land. Abraham later arranged for Isaac to marry within their kin group, ensuring continuity of lineage. After Sarah’s death, Abraham married Keturah, fathering additional sons who received gifts but not inheritance. Isaac alone inherited Abraham’s estate, emphasising the covenantal lineage.

Historical and Scholarly Perspectives

Modern scholarship generally views the patriarchal narratives—including the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—as literary constructions rather than historical biographies. Many scholars propose that these narratives reached final form during the Persian period, shaped by debates within post-exilic Judean society. Landholding families who remained in the region traced their claims to Abraham, while returning exiles emphasised Moses and the Exodus. The merging of these traditions contributed to the shaping of the Pentateuch’s theological and narrative framework.

Abraham in Later Religious Traditions

Within Judaism, Abraham is the exemplar of faith and obedience, the model convert, and the ancestor through whom God’s covenantal purposes are enacted. Christianity adopts Abraham as the spiritual forefather of all who live by faith, regardless of ethnic origin, and interprets his trust in God as a precursor to Christian belief. Islam venerates Abraham as a prophet who upheld pure monotheism, rebuilt the Kaaba with Ishmael, and submitted wholly to God’s will.