Abram • Father of a Multitude of Nations • Abraham the Hebrew • Father of the Faithful
Abraham our Father
Biblical EraAbraham our Father, the first of the three patriarchs and called by the sages "the father of the faithful", is the figure who opens the story of the people of Israel. In the Bible he first appears as Abram, son of Terah of the descendants of Shem son of Noah, born in the city of …
Biography
Abraham our Father, the first of the three patriarchs and called by the sages "the father of the faithful", is the figure who opens the story of the people of Israel. In the Bible he first appears as Abram, son of Terah of the descendants of Shem son of Noah, born in the city of Ur Kasdim. According to the reckoning of the years in the Torah he was born in the year 1948 from the creation of the world, that is 1813 BCE, and he is the twentieth generation from Adam. At the age of ninety-nine God changed his name to Abraham, "for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations", and the name of his wife Sarai to Sarah. He began his path in his father's house: Terah took him, and Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, to set out from Ur Kasdim for the land of Canaan, and they came as far as Haran and settled there. After his father's death God appeared to Abram and commanded him to leave his land and his birthplace and go to the land that He would show him, with the promise that a great nation would come from him and be a blessing to the world. At the age of seventy-five Abram went out from Haran to the land of Canaan with Sarah, with Lot and with "the souls they had made in Haran". Along the way he built altars to God at Shechem in Alon Moreh, between Bethel and Ai, and in the Negev; his main place of residence was Hebron, at the plains of Mamre. A heavy famine brought him down to Egypt, and there, fearing for his life, he asked Sarah to say that she was his sister. Pharaoh took her into his house, and after great plagues he returned her and all his wealth and sent them on their way. On his return to Canaan Abram parted from Lot, since the herdsmen of both could not dwell together; Lot chose to settle in the region of Sodom, and God promised Abram the whole land and offspring "as the dust of the earth". When Lot was taken captive in the war of the four kings against the five, Abram went out to rescue him with three hundred and eighteen of his household, pursued the kings as far as north of Damascus, and brought back the captives and the property. On his return he was blessed by Melchizedek, king of Shalem, "a priest of God Most High", and he refused the king of Sodom's offer to take of the spoil. Afterwards God made with him the covenant between the pieces, in which He announced four hundred years of servitude and the inheritance of the land from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates. Sarah was barren, and after ten years in the land she gave Abram Hagar her handmaid, who bore Ishmael; Abram was then eighty-six. At ninety-nine Abraham was commanded concerning circumcision, and in that same revelation he was told of the birth of Isaac from Sarah. At the entrance of his tent in the plains of Mamre he welcomed three guests, and from them heard the news of the son to be born; from there too he stood in prayer before God for the people of Sodom. Isaac was born when Abraham was a hundred, and after his birth Hagar was sent away with her son at Sarah's request. After Sarah's death Abraham bought the Cave of Machpela in Hebron from Ephron the Hittite for four hundred shekels of silver, and buried his wife there. In his old age he took Keturah, who according to the midrash is Hagar, and had six sons by her: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Yishbak and Shuach. In his last years he sent his servant to Aram Naharayim to find a wife for Isaac, and he brought Rebecca. Abraham died at the age of a hundred and seventy-five, "in a good old age, old and full", and Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the Cave of Machpela. Many of the teachings of the sages were woven around his figure: the story of "Abraham and the idols" in Bereshit Rabbah, of the one who stood up against the emptiness of idolatry and came to know his Creator; his rescue from Nimrod's fiery furnace; and the ten trials he withstood, the last of which was the binding of Isaac. Alongside the tradition, current biblical scholarship debates whether the patriarchal period was a historical era, and the traditions of Abraham are associated with the Hebron region; the various scholarly positions are gathered in the source article.
Life Story
Childhood
He was born in Ur Kasdim, to his father Terah, in the twentieth generation from Adam; the name of his mother is not mentioned in the Bible, and according to the Talmud she was Amatlai bat Karnevo. According to the midrash he grew up in a house sunk in idolatry, and already in his youth he saw through its emptiness, examined the beliefs around him and came to know his Creator; and when he refused to worship idols he came into conflict with his surroundings and with Nimrod king of Ur Kasdim.
Teachers
The Bible does not name a teacher from whom Abraham learned Torah. The sages describe him as discovering faith through his own contemplation of creation, the story of "Abraham and the idols", and as one who fulfilled the whole Torah before it was given, and so they saw in him the first of those who learn and who teach faith to the generations.
Students
Abraham spread the faith he had come to know: the midrash relates that he brought the men to faith and Sarah the women, and of the members of his household who learned with him it is said "and the souls they had made in Haran". His own household, three hundred and eighteen born in his house, went out with him to war, and from him they learned his way.
Family
His father Terah; his wife Sarah, who according to the sages is Yiscah daughter of Haran, and his half-sister; his brothers Nahor and Haran, and Lot son of Haran. His sons: Ishmael from Hagar, Isaac from Sarah, and the sons of Keturah, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Yishbak and Shuach. From Isaac came the people of Israel, and from Ishmael and the sons of Keturah the other nations; his grandsons were Jacob and Esau.
Key Events
His journey from Ur Kasdim to Haran and to the land of Canaan; the building of altars at Shechem, at Bethel and in Hebron; the descent to Egypt and the return; the parting from Lot; the war of the four kings and the rescue of Lot; the covenant between the pieces; the birth of Ishmael; circumcision and the change of names; the welcoming of the three guests and the news of Isaac; the prayer for Sodom; the birth of Isaac and the sending away of Hagar and Ishmael; the binding of Isaac; the purchase of the Cave of Machpela and the burial of Sarah; the marriage to Keturah; the sending of the servant to bring Rebecca; his death and burial.
Miracles
Abraham's life was accompanied by wonders: his rescue from the fiery furnace by Nimrod, according to the midrash and the Talmud; the birth of Isaac to Sarah in their old age, at a hundred and at ninety; the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah before his eyes; and the binding of Isaac, where his hand was stayed at the last moment by the call of the angel from heaven. The sages counted ten trials that Abraham withstood, and all of them were sealed in the binding of Isaac.
Influence
Abraham is the father of faith in one God: the sages saw in him the first who came to know his Creator and made the unity of God known in the world, and from him came the blessing "and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed". Isaac and Jacob continued his way, the Cave of Machpela that he bought became the burial place of the patriarchs and matriarchs, and the story of the binding of Isaac was engraved as one of the foundations of the faith of Israel. His figure became a model as well in Christianity and in Islam, where he is called "the father of the faithful".
Death
Abraham died at the age of a hundred and seventy-five, "in a good old age, old and full", and Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the Cave of Machpela in the field of Ephron the Hittite, that is Hebron. According to the Book of Jubilees the event took place on the festival of Shavuot; the Torah does not give a date.
Writings
Sefer Yetzirah
Tradition
By tradition the book is called after Abraham our Father, and in its closing it is said "the covenant of Abraham our Father".
His Way and Views
Torah Study
The sages held that Abraham fulfilled the whole Torah before it was given, both written and oral, and that he learned the way of God from creation itself. In the tradition he is the father of study, and from him onward the knowledge of the Creator passes from generation to generation.
Halacha
According to the sages Abraham fulfilled all the commandments, even the custom of eruv tavshilin, an expression of the view that the patriarchs already lived in the way of Torah and mitzvot, before the Torah was given.
Faith
Abraham's faith is the faith of God's unity: recognition of the one God who created all, the rejection of idolatry and complete devotion to the command of the Creator. Hence his name "the father of the faithful", and of him it is said "and he believed in the Lord, and He counted it to him for righteousness".
Ethics
Abraham is described in the qualities of kindness and hospitality, welcoming the three guests in the heat of the day, and in uprightness, charity and justice, for which he was chosen: "for I have known him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do charity and justice".
Customs
His practice was to raise an altar and call on the name of the Lord wherever he came, at Shechem, at Bethel and in Hebron, and to make his faith known publicly.
Character
Humility and contentment: he refused the spoil of the war, saying "not a thread nor a shoe-latchet", and he pleaded for mercy for Sodom out of the measure of justice and compassion.
Public Role
Abraham stood at the head of a great household and went out to war to rescue Lot, yet refused to grow rich from the kings; with his neighbours he made covenants, with Aner, Eshkol and Mamre, and with Abimelech king of Gerar.
Famous Quotes
""Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you" (Genesis 12:1)"
""And he believed in the Lord, and He counted it to him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:6)"
""For I have known him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do charity and justice" (Genesis 18:19)"
Famous Stories
Abraham and the idols: according to the midrash in Bereshit Rabbah, even in Ur Kasdim Abraham saw through the emptiness of idolatry. His father Terah once left him in charge of the shop of idols; Abraham came and smashed them all and placed the hammer in the hand of the largest idol, and when his father came and asked what had happened he answered, "Who broke them? Perhaps the largest of them?" And when the emptiness was exposed, Abraham left his father's house.
The fiery furnace: according to the midrash and the Talmud, because he refused to worship idols and would not be silent in his efforts to spread his faith, Abraham came into conflict with Nimrod king of Ur Kasdim, who sentenced him to death in a fiery furnace. Gabriel, the angel of fire, asked to go and save him, but the Holy One said that He would save him Himself, and Abraham came out of the furnace in peace.
The three guests: Abraham sat at the entrance of his tent in the plains of Mamre in the heat of the day and saw three passers-by, and he ran toward them, washed their feet and set before them bread, meat, butter and milk under the tree. Through one of them came the news, "I will return to you at this season, and behold, a son for Sarah your wife", and Sarah laughed within herself.
The prayer for Sodom: Abraham stood before the Lord and said, "Will You also sweep away the righteous with the wicked?", asking that the city be spared if fifty righteous were found in it; as the number fell he went on to ask for forty, thirty, twenty and even ten. Only when it was clear that ten could not be found were Sodom and Gomorrah overthrown.
The binding of Isaac: the tenth trial, when God commanded Abraham to offer Isaac his son as a burnt offering. Abraham rose in the morning, saddled his donkey and took Isaac, the wood for the offering and the knife, and the two of them went together. At the last moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and told him not to stretch out his hand against the boy, and a ram caught in the thicket behind him was offered up in place of his son.
Grave Site
Timeline
Born in Ur Kasdim, son of Terah
Departure from Haran for the land of Canaan at the command "go forth"
Birth of Ishmael from Hagar
Circumcision and the change of names, Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah
Birth of Isaac
The binding of Isaac and the purchase of the Cave of Machpela in Hebron
Death and burial in the Cave of Machpela
Legacy
Abraham our Father is the father of the nation and the father of faith in one God: from him came the blessing "and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed", and from him the chain continues to Isaac and Jacob and the twelve tribes. The Cave of Machpela that he bought in Hebron became the burial place of the patriarchs and matriarchs, and for some two thousand years it has been among the places holy to the people of Israel. The figure of one who stands in trials, who believes and follows the command, above all in the binding of Isaac, became a foundation of the faith of Israel for the generations, and the teachings of the sages about him are among the first foundations of the teaching of ethics and faith.