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119-711: Abraham (originally Abram ) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions , including Judaism , Christianity , and Islam . In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews and God ; in Christianity, he is the spiritual progenitor of all believers, whether Jewish or non-Jewish ; and in Islam , he is a link in the chain of Islamic prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammad . As
238-554: A concubine named Keturah , by whom he had six sons: Zimran , Jokshan , Medan , Midian , Ishbak , and Shuah . According to the Bible, reflecting the change of his name to "Abraham" meaning "a father of many nations", Abraham is considered to be the progenitor of many nations mentioned in the Bible, among others the Israelites , Ishmaelites , Edomites , Amalekites , Kenizzites , Midianites and Assyrians , and through his nephew Lot he
357-527: A paradigm shift in biblical scholarship and archaeology, which gradually led scholars to no longer consider the patriarchal narratives as historical. Some conservative scholars attempted to defend the Patriarchal narratives in the following years, but this has not found acceptance among scholars. By the beginning of the 21st century, archaeologists had stopped trying to recover any context that would make Abraham, Isaac or Jacob credible historical figures. Although
476-537: A tamarisk grove in Beersheba and called upon "the name of the L ORD , the everlasting God." As had been prophesied in Mamre the previous year, Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham, on the first anniversary of the covenant of circumcision. Abraham was "an hundred years old", when his son whom he named Isaac was born; and he circumcised him when he was eight days old. For Sarah, the thought of giving birth and nursing
595-518: A Canaanite warlord who recruited mercenaries from among the Habiru . Labaya was the author of three Amarna letters ( EA 252 , EA 253 , and EA 254 ), and his name appears in 11 of the other 382 letters, referred to 28 times, with the basic topic of the letter, being Labaya himself, and his relationship with the rebelling, countryside Habiru. Shechem may be identical to the Sakama mentioned in an account dated to
714-568: A Palestinian tribe from the 13th century BCE, that of the Raham, of which mention was found in the stele of Seti I found in Beth-She'an and dating back to 'around 1289 BCE. The tribe probably lived in the area surrounding or close to Beth-She'an , in Galilee (the stele in fact refers to fights that took place in the area). The semi-nomadic and pastoral Semitic tribes of the time used to prefix their names with
833-408: A Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph ." John 4 ( John 4:15 ) mentions one of the women of Sychar going to Jacob's Well . Some scholars believe the location of Sychar is at the foot of Mount Ebal , but other scholars disagree because the proposed location is 1 km (0.62 mi) from Jacob's Well, which they think is not close enough for
952-439: A child, at such an old age, also brought her much laughter, as she declared, "God hath made me to laugh, so that all who hear will laugh with me." Isaac continued to grow and on the day he was weaned, Abraham held a great feast to honor the occasion. During the celebration, however, Sarah found Ishmael mocking; an observation that would begin to clarify the birthright of Isaac. Ishmael was fourteen years old when Abraham's son Isaac
1071-596: A few other languages, the transfer of the name from "Hebrew" to "Jew" never took place, and "Hebrew" (or the linguistic equivalent) remains the primary word used to refer to an ethnic Jew . With the revival of the Hebrew language in the 19th century and with the emergence of the Yishuv , the term "Hebrew" has been applied to the Jewish people of this re-emerging society in Israel or to
1190-569: A historical Abraham. It is largely concluded that the Torah , the series of books that includes Genesis, was composed during the early Persian period , c. 500 BC , as a result of tensions between Jewish landowners who had stayed in Judah during the Babylonian captivity and traced their right to the land through their "father Abraham", and the returning exiles who based their counterclaim on Moses and
1309-468: A link in the chain of prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammad via Ismail (Ishmael). Ibrāhīm is mentioned in 35 chapters of the Quran , more often than any other biblical personage apart from Moses . He is called both a hanif ( monotheist ) and muslim (one who submits), and Muslims regard him as a prophet and patriarch , the archetype of the perfect Muslim , and the revered reformer of
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#17328520160481428-464: A literary scholar, based his argument on archaeology and ancient texts. His thesis centered on the lack of compelling evidence that the patriarchs lived in the 2nd millennium BCE, and noted how certain biblical texts reflected first millennium conditions and concerns. Van Seters examined the patriarchal stories and argued that their names, social milieu, and messages strongly suggested that they were Iron Age creations. Van Seters' and Thompson's works were
1547-421: A man; his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the face of all his brethren." She was told to call her son Ishmael . Hagar then called God who spoke to her " El-roi ", ("Thou God seest me:" KJV). From that day onward, the well was called Beer-lahai-roi, ("The well of him that liveth and seeth me." KJV margin), located between Kadesh and Bered. She then did as she
1666-638: A memorial stone "under the oak that was by" in Shechem. The oak is associated with the Oak of Moreh where Abram had set up camp during his travels in this area. Shechem and its surrounding lands were given as a Levitical city to the Kohathites . Owing to its central position, no less than to the presence in the neighborhood of places hallowed by the memory of Abraham (Genesis 12:6, 7; 34:5), Jacob's Well (Genesis 33:18–19; 34:2, etc.), and Joseph's tomb (Joshua 24:32),
1785-559: A nation, "because he is thy seed". Early the next morning, Abraham brought Hagar and Ishmael out together. He gave her bread and water and sent them away. The two wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba until her bottle of water was completely consumed. In a moment of despair, she burst into tears. After God heard the boy's voice, an angel of the Lord confirmed to Hagar that he would become a great nation, and will be "living on his sword". A well of water then appeared so that it saved their lives. As
1904-465: A new city, Flavia Neapolis, was built by Vespasian 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) to the west of the old one. This city's name was eventually corrupted to the modern Nablus . Josephus , writing in about 90 CE ( Jewish Antiquities 4.8.44), placed the city between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Elsewhere he refers to it as Neapolis. In Emperor Hadrian 's reign, the temple on Mt. Gerizim was restored and dedicated to Jupiter . Like Shechem, Neapolis had
2023-527: A place named Haran ( Hebrew : חָרָן Ḥārān ), where Terah died at the age of 205. According to some exegetes (like Nahmanides ), Abram was actually born in Haran and he later relocated to Ur, while some of his family remained in Haran. God had told Abram to leave his country and kindred and go to a land that he would show him, and promised to make of him a great nation, bless him, make his name great, bless them that bless him, and curse them who may curse him. Abram
2142-551: A progenitor of nations, because after 10 years of living in Canaan, no child had been born. Sarai then offered her Egyptian slave, Hagar , to Abram with the intention that she would bear him a son. After Hagar found she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress, Sarai. Sarai responded by mistreating Hagar, and Hagar fled into the wilderness. An angel spoke with Hagar at the fountain on the way to Shur . He instructed her to return to Abram's camp and that her son would be "a wild ass of
2261-626: A prominent Samaritan center during the Hellenistic period . Traditionally associated with the city of Nablus , Shechem is now identified with the nearby site of Tell Balata in the Balata al-Balad suburb of the West Bank . Shechem's position is indicated in the Hebrew Bible : it lay north of Bethel and Shiloh , on the high road going from Jerusalem to the northern districts ( Judges xxi, 19), at
2380-597: A righteous nation, especially since Abraham had claimed that he and Sarah were siblings. In response, God told Abimelech that he did indeed have a blameless heart and that is why he continued to exist. However, should he not return the wife of Abraham back to him, God would surely destroy Abimelech and his entire household. Abimelech was informed that Abraham was a prophet who would pray for him. Early next morning, Abimelech informed his servants of his dream and approached Abraham inquiring as to why he had brought such great guilt upon his kingdom. Abraham stated that he thought there
2499-621: A schismatic temple was then erected on Mount Garizim and thus Shechem became the "holy city" of the Samaritans . The latter, who were left unmolested while the orthodox Jews were chafing under the heavy hand of Antiochus IV ( Antiquities , XII, v, 5, see also Antinomianism in the Books of the Maccabees ) and welcomed with open arms every renegade who came to them from Jerusalem (Antiq., XI, viii, 7), fell about 128 BC before John Hyrcanus , and their temple
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#17328520160482618-512: A short distance from Michmethath ( Joshua 17:7) and of Dothain ( Genesis 37:12–17); it was in the hill-country of Ephraim (Joshua 20:7; 21:21; 1 Kings 12:25; 1 Chronicles 6:67; 7:28), immediately below Mount Gerizim (Judges 9:6–7). These indications are substantiated by Josephus , who says that the city lay between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, and by the Madaba map , which places its Sykhem between one of its two sets of "Tour Gobel" (Ebal) and
2737-474: A social class found in every ancient Near Eastern society, which Hebrews could be part of. In the Hebrew Bible , the term Hebrew is normally used by foreigners (namely, the Egyptians) when speaking about Israelites and sometimes used by Israelites when speaking of themselves to foreigners, although Saul does use the term for his fellow countrymen in 1 Samuel 13:3 . In Genesis 11:16–26 , Abraham (Abram)
2856-408: A son also of her". Abraham laughed, and "said in his heart, 'Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear [a child]?'" Immediately after Abraham's encounter with God, he had his entire household of men, including himself (age 99) and Ishmael (age 13), circumcised. Not long afterward, during the heat of the day, Abraham had been sitting at
2975-515: A substantial oral prehistory (he is mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel and the Book of Isaiah ). As with Moses , Abraham's name is apparently very ancient, as the tradition found in the Book of Genesis no longer understands its original meaning (probably "Father is exalted" – the meaning offered in Genesis 17:5 , "Father of a multitude", is a folk etymology ). At some stage the oral traditions became part of
3094-454: A thousand pieces of silver to serve as Sarah's vindication before all. Abraham then prayed for Abimelech and his household, since God had stricken the women with infertility because of the taking of Sarah. After living for some time in the land of the Philistines, Abimelech and Phicol , the chief of his troops, approached Abraham because of a dispute that resulted in a violent confrontation at
3213-651: A very early Christian community, including the early saint Justin Martyr ; we hear even of bishops of Neapolis. On several occasions the Christians suffered greatly at the hands of the Samaritans. In 474 the emperor, to avenge what Christians considered an unjust attack by the Samaritans, deprived the latter of Mt. Gerizim and gave it to the Christians, who built on it a church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin . The city of Nablus
3332-499: A well. Abraham then reproached Abimelech due to his Philistine servant's aggressive attacks and the seizing of Abraham's Well . Abimelech claimed ignorance of the incident. Then Abraham offered a pact by providing sheep and oxen to Abimelech. Further, to attest that Abraham was the one who dug the well, he also gave Abimelech seven ewes for proof. Because of this sworn oath, they called the place of this well: Beersheba . After Abimelech and Phicol headed back to Philistia , Abraham planted
3451-564: A while in the Negev after being banished from Egypt and came back to the Bethel and Ai area, Abram's and Lot's sizable herds occupied the same pastures. This became a problem for the herdsmen, who were assigned to each family's cattle. The conflicts between herdsmen had become so troublesome that Abram suggested that Lot choose a separate area, either on the left hand or on the right hand, that there be no conflict between them. Lot decided to go eastward to
3570-455: Is among the most honorable and the most excellent men in sight of God. Ibrahim was also mentioned in Quran as "Father of Muslims" and the role model for the community. The Druze regard Abraham as the third spokesman ( natiq ) after Adam and Noah , who helped transmit the foundational teachings of monotheism ( tawhid ) intended for the larger audience. He is also among the seven prophets who appeared in different periods of history according to
3689-450: Is buried beside Sarah, it is Isaac who receives "all Abraham's goods" while the other sons receive only "gifts". Most scholars view the patriarchal age , along with the Exodus and the period of the biblical judges , as a late literary construct that does not relate to any particular historical era, and after a century of exhaustive archaeological investigation, no evidence has been found for
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3808-399: Is described as Avram Ha-Ivri which translates literally as "Abram the Hebrew." Hebrew, in this context, might refer to Abraham's descent from Eber. It might also refer to Abraham's primary language or his status as a migrant from the "other side of the river". Theologian Alexander MacLaren believes that Hebrew was a nickname for all migrants who migrated to Canaan from the other side of
3927-519: Is described as a descendant of Eber ; Josephus states "Eber" was the patriarch that Hebrew was named after proceeding from the Tower of Babel at the time of Eber's son Peleg , from which Hebrew would eventually become derived. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia the terms Hebrews and Israelites usually describe the same people, stating that they were called Hebrews before the conquest of
4046-514: Is known as "Father Abraham" and emphasizes the patriarch as the spiritual progenitor of Christians. Some Christian theologians equate the "three visitors" with the Holy Trinity , seeing in their apparition a theophany experienced by Abraham (see also the articles on the Constantinian basilica at Mamre and the church at the so-called " Oak of Mamre "). Islam regards Ibrahim (Abraham) as
4165-615: Is on the "Sunday of the Forefathers" (two Sundays before Christmas), when he is commemorated together with other ancestors of Jesus . Abraham is also mentioned in the Divine Liturgy of Basil the Great , just before the Anaphora, and Abraham and Sarah are invoked in the prayers said by the priest over a newly married couple. A popular hymn sung in many English-speaking Sunday Schools by children
4284-583: Is read in the weekly Torah reading portions, predominantly in the parashot : Lech-Lecha (לֶךְ-לְךָ), Vayeira (וַיֵּרָא), Chayei Sarah (חַיֵּי שָׂרָה), and Toledot (תּוֹלְדֹת). Hanan bar Rava taught in Abba Arikha 's name that Abraham's mother was named ʾĂmatlaʾy bat Karnebo. Hiyya bar Abba taught that Abraham worked in Teraḥ's idol shop in his youth. In Legends of the Jews , God created heaven and earth for
4403-519: Is specified in the Bible as a test; the other nine are not specified, but later rabbinical sources give various enumerations. In Christianity , Abraham is revered as the prophet to whom God chose to reveal himself and with whom God initiated a covenant (cf. Covenant Theology ). Paul the Apostle declared that all who believe in Jesus ( Christians ) are "included in the seed of Abraham and are inheritors of
4522-601: Is subsequently inherited by Isaac , Abraham's son, by his wife Sarah , while Isaac's half-brother Ishmael is also promised that he will be the founder of a great nation. Abraham purchases a tomb (the Cave of the Patriarchs ) at Hebron to be Sarah's grave, thus establishing his right to the land; and, in the second generation, his heir Isaac is married to a woman from his own kin to earn his parents' approval. Abraham later marries Keturah and has six more sons; but, on his death, when he
4641-575: Is that the text intends ivri as the adjective (Hebrew suffix -i) formed from ever (עֵבֶר) 'beyond, across' (avar (עָבַר) 'he crossed, he traversed'), as a description of migrants 'from across the river' as the Bible describes the Hebrews. It is also supported by the 3rd century BCE Septuagint , which translates ivri to perates (περατής), a Greek word meaning "one who came across, a migrant", from perao (περάω) "to cross, to traverse", as well as some early traditional commentary. Gesenius considers it
4760-458: Is too hard for God. Frightened, Sarah denied laughing. After eating, Abraham and the three visitors got up. They walked over to the peak that overlooked the 'cities of the plain' to discuss the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah for their detestable sins that were so great, it moved God to action. Because Abraham's nephew was living in Sodom, God revealed plans to confirm and judge these cities. At this point,
4879-547: The 3rd Intermediate Period of Egypt (11th century BCE) as Shasu of Yhw , while some scholars consider these two hypotheses compatible, Ḫabiru being a generic Akkadian form parallel to Hebrew ʿivri from the Akkadian equivalent of ʿever "beyond, across" describing foreign peoples "from across the river", where the letter ayin (ע) in Hebrew corresponds to ḫ in Akkadian (as in Hebrew zeroaʿ corresponding to Akkadian zuruḫ ). Alternatively, some argue that Habiru refers to
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4998-532: The Chalcolithic period (3500-3000 BCE). At that time agriculture was already practiced. During the Early Bronze Age , activity seems to have moved to the nearby area of Khirbet Makhneh el-Fauqa. Some publications claim that Shechem is mentioned in the third-millennium Ebla tablets , but this has been denied by archaeologists. The first substantial building activity at Shechem (Strata XXII-XXI) dates from
5117-766: The Coptic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East (with the full office for the latter), and on 9 October by the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod . In the introduction to his 15th-century translation of the Golden Legend 's account of Abraham, William Caxton noted that this patriarch's life was read in church on Quinquagesima Sunday . He is the patron saint of those in
5236-614: The Jews in general (as Strong's Hebrew Dictionary puts it: "any of the Jewish Nation ") or, at other times, specifically to those Jews who lived in Judea , which was a Roman province from 6 CE to 135 CE. However, at the time of early Christianity , the term instead referred to Jewish Christians , as opposed to the Judaizers and to the gentile Christians . In Armenian, Georgian , Italian, Greek, Kurdish , Serbian, Russian, Romanian, and
5355-632: The Kaaba in Mecca . Islamic traditions consider Ibrāhīm the first Pioneer of Islam (which is also called millat Ibrahim , the "religion of Abraham"), and that his purpose and mission throughout his life was to proclaim the Oneness of God . In Islam, Abraham holds an exalted position among the major prophets and he is referred to as "Ibrahim Khalilullah", meaning "Abraham the Friend of God ". Besides Ishaq and Yaqub , Ibrahim
5474-453: The Mosaic law —made him the prototype of all believers, Jewish or gentile ; and in Islam, he is seen as a link in the chain of prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammad . In Jewish tradition, Abraham is called Avraham Avinu (אברהם אבינו), "our father Abraham," signifying that he is both the biological progenitor of the Jews and the father of Judaism, the first Jew. His story
5593-786: The Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (around 1200 BCE). (See Papyrus Anastasi I .) During the Babylonian Captivity (606 to 536 BCE), those Judahites who remained in the Kingdom of Judah re-established the altar at Shechem to keep the Israelite worship system going when access to the Temple in Jerusalem was cut off. During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Shechem was the main settlement of
5712-589: The Samaritans , whose religious center stood on Mount Gerizim, just outside the town. In 6 CE, Shechem was annexed to the Roman Province of Judea . Of the Samaritans of Sichem not a few rose up in arms on Mt. Gerizim at the time of the Galilean rebellion (67 CE), which was part of the First Jewish–Roman War . The city was very likely destroyed by Sextus Vettulenus Cerialis , during that war. In 72 CE,
5831-597: The Shasu on the eve of the Late Bronze Age collapse . It appears 34 times within 32 verses of the Hebrew Bible . Some scholars regard "Hebrews" as an ethnonym , while others do not, and others still hold that the multiple modern connotations of ethnicity may not all map well onto the sociology of ancient Near Eastern groups . By the time of the Roman Empire , the term Hebraios ( Greek : Ἑβραῖος ) could refer to
5950-567: The Southern Levant in the 2nd millennium BCE . Likewise, some scholars like Daniel E. Fleming and Alice Mandell have argued that the biblical portrayal of the Patriarchs' lifestyle appears to reflect the Amorite culture of the 2nd millennium BCE as attested in texts from the ancient city-state of Mari , suggesting that the Genesis stories retain historical memories of the ancestral origins of some of
6069-465: The "Tour Garizin" (Garizim). The site of Shechem in patristic sources is almost invariably identified with, or located close to, the town of Flavia Neapolis ( Nablus ). Shechem was a very ancient commercial center due to its position in the middle of vital trade routes through the region. A very old " Way of the Patriarchs " trade route runs in the north–south direction. The oldest settlement in Shechem goes back to about five thousand years ago, during
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#17328520160486188-491: The "great tree of Moreh " at Shechem and offered sacrifice nearby. Genesis, Deuteronomy , Joshua and Judges hallow Shechem over all other cities of the land of Israel. According to Genesis (12:6–7) Abram "built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him… and had given that land to his descendants" at Shechem. The Bible states that on this occasion, God confirmed the covenant he had first made with Abraham in Harran, regarding
6307-510: The Bible anachronistically calls "the land of the Philistines ". While he was living in Gerar , Abraham openly claimed that Sarah was his sister. Upon discovering this news, King Abimelech had her brought to him. God then came to Abimelech in a dream and declared that taking her would result in death because she was a man's wife. Abimelech had not laid hands on her, so he inquired if he would also slay
6426-432: The Bible, for example in an Aramaic letter sent to the King of Persia in the Book of Ezra or in the Book of Nehemiah , sometimes rendered as Trans-Euphrates. Genesis 10:21 refers to Shem , the elder brother of Ham and Japheth , and thus the first-born son of Noah , as the father of the sons of Eber (עבר), which may have a similar meaning. Some authors such as Radak and R. Nehemiah argue that Ibri denotes
6545-700: The Druze faith. In Mandaeism , Abraham ( Classical Mandaic : ࡀࡁࡓࡀࡄࡉࡌ , romanized: Abrahim ) is mentioned in Book 18 of the Right Ginza as the patriarch of the Jewish people. Mandaeans consider Abraham to have been originally a Mandaean priest, however they differ with Abraham and Jews regarding circumcision which they consider to be bodily mutilation and therefore forbidden. Hebrews The Hebrews ( Hebrew : עִבְרִיִּים / עִבְרִים , Modern : ʿĪvrīm / ʿĪvrīyyīm , Tiberian : ʿĪḇrīm / ʿĪḇrīyyīm ; ISO 259-3 : ʕibrim / ʕibriyim ) were an ancient Semitic-speaking people . Historians mostly consider
6664-445: The Elamite army, who were already worn down from the Battle of Siddim . When they caught up with them at Dan , Abram devised a battle plan by splitting his group into more than one unit, and launched a night raid. Not only were they able to free the captives, Abram's unit chased and slaughtered the Elamite King Chedorlaomer at Hobah, just north of Damascus . They freed Lot, as well as his household and possessions, and recovered all of
6783-430: The Euphrates River (or the Jordan River), from the perspective of the 'long-settled' aboriginal inhabitants of Canaan. By the Roman period, "Hebrews" could be used to designate the Jews, who use the Hebrew language. The Epistle to the Hebrews , one of the books of the New Testament, was probably directed at Jewish Christians . A friend of mine in Warsaw told me about a Polish journalist who visited Israel for
6902-457: The Exodus tradition of the Israelites . The Abraham cycle is not structured by a unified plot centered on a conflict and its resolution or a problem and its solution. The episodes are often only loosely linked, and the sequence is not always logical, but it is unified by the presence of Abraham himself, as either actor or witness, and by the themes of posterity and land. These themes form "narrative programs" set out in Genesis 11:27–31 concerning
7021-399: The Hebrews as synonymous with the Israelites , with the term "Hebrew" denoting an Israelite from the nomadic era, which preceded the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah in the 11th century BCE. However, in some instances, the designation "Hebrew" may also be used historically in a wider sense, referring to the Phoenicians or other ancient Semitic-speaking civilizations, such as
7140-597: The Hebrews were the indigenous inhabitants of Canaan that joined Abraham's religion, after he settled in the region. He also believed that not all Hebrews joined Jacob's family when they migrated to Egypt and later, birthed the generation of Hebrews that endured the Exodus . Shechem Shechem ( / ˈ ʃ ɛ k ə m / SHEK -əm ; Hebrew : שְׁכֶם , romanized : Šəḵem ; Samaritan Hebrew : ࠔࠬࠥࠊࠝࠌ , romanized: Šăkēm ), also spelled Sichem ( / ˈ s ɪ k ə m / SIK -əm ; Ancient Greek : Συχέμ , romanized : Sykhém )
7259-409: The Israelites at Shechem and asked them to choose between serving the God of Abraham who had delivered them from Egypt, or the false gods which their ancestors had served on the other side of the Euphrates River , or the gods of the Amorites in whose land they now lived. The people chose to serve the God of the Bible, a decision which Joshua recorded in the Book of the Law of God, and he then erected
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#17328520160487378-402: The Israelites. The earliest possible reference to Abraham may be the name of a town in the Negev listed in a victory inscription of Pharaoh Sheshonq I (biblical Shishak ), which is referred as "the Fortress of Abraham", suggesting the possible existence of an Abraham tradition in the 10th century BCE. The orientalist Mario Liverani proposed to see in the name Abraham the mythical eponym of
7497-396: The Jewish people in general. The biblical term Ivri ( עברי ; Hebrew pronunciation: [ʕivˈri] ) is usually rendered as Hebrew in English, from the ancient Greek Ἑβραῖος and the Latin Hebraeus . The biblical word Ivri has the plural form Ivrim , or Ibrim . The definitive origin of the term "Hebrew" remains uncertain. The most generally accepted hypothesis today
7616-471: The Land of Canaan and Israelites afterwards. Professor Nadav Na'aman and others say that the conflation of Hebrew with Israelite is rare and is only used when Israelites are "in exceptional and precarious situations, such as migrants or slaves." Professor Albert D. Friedberg similarly argues that Hebrews refer to socioeconomically disadvantaged Israelites, especially in the context of the Book of Exodus and Books of Samuel . In Genesis 14:13 , Abraham
7735-442: The Middle Bronze Age IIA ( c. 1900 BCE ). It became a very substantial Canaanite settlement, and was attacked by Egypt, as mentioned in the Sebek-khu Stele , an Egyptian stele of a noble at the court of Senusret III (c. 1880–1840 BCE). Fortifications were made in the MB IIB (XX-XIX). In the Amarna Letters of about 1350 BCE, Šakmu (i.e., Shechem) was the center of a kingdom carved out by Labaya (or Labayu),
7854-419: The Shechemites that, if "every male among you is circumcised, then we will give our daughters to you and take your daughters to ourselves." Once the Shechemites agree to the mass circumcision, however, Jacob's sons repay them by killing all of the city's male inhabitants. Following the settlement of the Israelites in Canaan after their Exodus from Egypt, according to the biblical narrative, Joshua assembled
7973-491: The book. The Jewish Encyclopedia went as far as to state that Shechem is the only city to meet all the requirements for Bethulia's location, and stated: "The identity of Bethulia with Shechem is thus beyond all question". Shechem is mentioned in The Book of Acts ( Acts 7 , Acts 7:16 ). It is not known whether the Samaritan city of Sychar ( Ancient Greek : Συχαρ , Sykhar ) in the Gospel of John ( John 4:5) refers to Shechem or to another nearby village: "So he came to
8092-455: The boy grew, he became a skilled archer living in the wilderness of Paran . Eventually his mother found a wife for Ishmael from her home country, the land of Egypt. At some point in Isaac's youth, 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 told him of. He then commanded the servants to remain while he and Isaac proceeded alone into
8211-485: The city square. However, Abraham's nephew, Lot, met with them and strongly insisted that these two "men" stay at his house for the night. A rally of men stood outside of Lot's home and demanded that Lot bring out his guests so that they may "know" ( v. 5) them. However, Lot objected and offered his virgin daughters who had not "known" (v. 8) man to the rally of men instead. They rejected that notion and sought to break down Lot's door to get to his male guests, thus confirming
8330-467: The city was destined to play an important part in the history of Israel. Jerubbaal (Gideon) , whose home was at Ophrah , visited Shechem, and his concubine who lived there was mother of his son Abimelech ( Judges 8:31). She came from one of the leading Shechemite families who were influential with the "Lords of Shechem" (Judges 9:1–3, wording of the New Revised Standard Version and New American Bible Revised Edition ). After Gideon's death, Abimelech
8449-425: The descendants of the biblical patriarch Eber (Hebrew עבר), son of Shelah , a great-grandson of Noah and an ancestor of Abraham , hence the occasional anglicization Eberites . Others disagree, arguing that the Eberites and Hebrews were two different ethnicities, with the former specifically inhabiting Assyria. Nonetheless, the descent of Hebrews from Eber is acknowledged. Since the 19th-century CE discovery of
8568-403: The entrance of his tent by the terebinths of Mamre . He looked up and saw three men in the presence of God. Then he ran and bowed to the ground to welcome them. Abraham then offered to wash their feet and fetch them a morsel of bread, to which they assented. Abraham rushed to Sarah's tent to order ash cakes made from choice flour, then he ordered a servant-boy to prepare a choice calf. When all
8687-458: The fall of Jerusalem (587 BC; Jeremiah 12:5 ). The events connected with the restoration were to bring it again into prominence. When, on his second visit to Jerusalem, Nehemiah expelled the grandson of the high priest Eliashib (probably the Manasse of Josephus, Antiquities , XI, vii, viii) and with him the many Jews, priests and laymen, who sided with the rebel, these betook themselves to Shechem;
8806-515: The fiery furnace of Nimrod following his brave action of breaking the idols of the Chaldeans into pieces. During his sojourning in Canaan, Abraham was accustomed to extend hospitality to travelers and strangers and taught how to praise God also knowledge of God to those who had received his kindness. Along with Isaac and Jacob , he is the one whose name would appear united with God, as God in Judaism
8925-582: The final Pentateuch was based on existing traditions. In the Book of Ezekiel , written during the Exile (i.e., in the first half of the 6th century BCE), Ezekiel , an exile in Babylon, tells how those who remained in Judah are claiming ownership of the land based on inheritance from Abraham; but the prophet tells them they have no claim because they do not observe Torah. The Book of Isaiah similarly testifies of tension between
9044-583: The first time. On his return he reported with great excitement: “You know what I’ve discovered? In Israel, too, there are Jews!” For this Pole, Jews are people who wear a long black kaftan and a big black hat. [...] This distinction between Israelis and Jews would not have surprised any of us 50 years ago. Before the foundation of the State of Israel, none of us spoke about a “Jewish state”. In our demonstrations we chanted: “Free Immigration! Hebrew State!” In almost all media quotations from those days, there appear
9163-529: The goods from Sodom that had been taken. Upon Abram's return, Sodom's king came out to meet with him in the Valley of Shaveh , the "king's dale". Also, Melchizedek king of Salem ( Jerusalem ), a priest of El Elyon , brought out bread and wine and blessed Abram and God. Abram then gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything. The king of Sodom then offered to let Abram keep all the possessions if he would merely return his people. Abram declined to accept anything other than
9282-406: 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 9 October (for those churches which follow the traditional Julian Calendar , 9 October falls on 22 October of the modern Gregorian Calendar ), where he is commemorated together with his nephew "Righteous Lot". The other
9401-493: The invading Elamite forces. The Elamite army came to collect the spoils of war, after having just defeated the king of Sodom's armies. Lot and his family, at the time, were settled on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Sodom which made them a visible target. One person who escaped capture came and told Abram what happened. Once Abram received this news, he immediately assembled 318 trained servants. Abram's force headed north in pursuit of
9520-450: The land in opposition to those of the returning exiles. According to Nissim Amzallag , the Book of Genesis portrays Abraham as having an Amorite origin, arguing that the patriarch's provenance from the region of Harran as described in Genesis 11:31 associates him with the territory of the Amorite homeland. He also notes parallels between the biblical narrative and the Amorite migration into
9639-439: The mount. Isaac carried the wood upon which he would be sacrificed. Along the way, Isaac asked his father where the animal for the burnt offering was, to which Abraham replied "God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering". Just as Abraham was about to sacrifice his son, he was interrupted by the angel of the Lord, and he saw behind him a "ram caught in a thicket by his horns", which he sacrificed instead of his son. The place
9758-537: The name Abram and Abraham are Semitic names and can be found in Babylonian tablets dating to Middle Bronze Age (MBA), which is a period that most biblical scholars believe that the Biblical Patriarchs lived in, this does not prove the historicity of Abraham narrative as these are the common Semitic names that were used in the later periods as well. Abraham's story, like those of the other patriarchs, most likely had
9877-493: The name of the tribe; in the case of the Raham, it would have been Abu Raham, later to become Ab-raham, Abraham. Abraham's Journey from Ur to Harran could be explained as a retrospective reflection of the story of the return of the Jews from the Babylonian exile. Indeed, Israel Finkelstein suggested that the oldest Abraham traditions originated in the Iron Age (monarchic period) and that they contained an autochthonous hero story, as
9996-524: The namesake of the Abrahamic religions, Abraham is also revered in other Abrahamic religions, such as Druze Faith and Baháʼí Faith . The story of the life of Abraham as told in the narrative of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible revolves around the themes of posterity and land. He is said to have been called by God to leave the house of his father Terah and settle in the land of Canaan , which God now promises to Abraham and his progeny. This promise
10115-561: The oldest mentions of Abraham outside the book of Genesis ( Ezekiel 33 and Isaiah 51 ): do not depend on Genesis 12–26; do not have an indication of a Mesopotamian origin of Abraham; and present only two main themes of the Abraham narrative in Genesis—land and offspring. Yet, unlike Liverani, Finkelstein considered Abraham as ancestor who was worshiped in Hebron, which is too far from Beit She'an, and
10234-506: The oldest tradition of him might be about the altar he built in Hebron. Abraham is given a high position of respect in three major world faiths, Judaism , Christianity , and Islam . In Judaism, he is the founding father of the covenant, the special relationship between the Jewish people and God—leading to the belief that the Jews are the chosen people of God . In Christianity, Paul the Apostle taught that Abraham's faith in God—preceding
10353-618: The only linguistically acceptable hypothesis. The description of peoples and nations from their location "from across the river" (often the river Euphrates , sometimes the Jordan River ) was common in this region of the ancient Near-East: it appears as eber nari in Akkadian and avar nahara in Aramaic (both corresponding to Hebrew ever nahar ), the Aramaic expression's use being quoted verbatim in
10472-614: The patriarchs and matriarchs were either real individuals or believable composites of people who lived in the " patriarchal age ", the 2nd millennium BCE. But, in the 1970s, new arguments concerning Israel's past and the biblical texts challenged these views; these arguments can be found in Thomas L. Thompson 's The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives (1974), and John Van Seters ' Abraham in History and Tradition (1975). Thompson,
10591-431: The people of Judah and the returning post-Exilic Jews (the " gôlâ "), stating that God is the father of Israel and that Israel's history begins with the Exodus and not with Abraham. The conclusion to be inferred from this and similar evidence (e.g., Ezra–Nehemiah ), is that the figure of Abraham must have been preeminent among the great landowners of Judah at the time of the Exile and after, serving to support their claims to
10710-474: The plain of Jordan , where the land was well watered everywhere as far as Zoara , and he dwelled in the cities of the plain toward Sodom . Abram went south to Hebron and settled in the plain of Mamre , where he built another altar to worship God . During the rebellion of the Jordan River cities, Sodom and Gomorrah , against Elam , Abram's nephew, Lot, was taken prisoner along with his entire household by
10829-476: The possession of the land of Canaan. In Jewish tradition, the old name was understood in terms of the Hebrew word shékém – "shoulder, saddle ", corresponding to the mountainous configuration of the place. On a later sojourn, two sons of Jacob , Simeon and Levi , avenged their sister Dinah 's abduction and rape by " Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite , the prince of the land" of Shechem. Shimon and Levi said to
10948-561: The promise made to Abraham." In Romans 4, Abraham is praised for his "unwavering faith" in God, which is tied into the concept of partakers of the covenant of grace being those "who demonstrate faith in the saving power of Christ". Throughout history, church leaders, following Paul, have emphasized Abraham as the spiritual father of all Christians. Augustine of Hippo declared that Christians are "children (or "seed") of Abraham by faith", Ambrose stated that "by means of their faith Christians possess
11067-721: The promises made to Abraham", and Martin Luther recalled Abraham as "a paradigm of the man of faith." The Roman Catholic Church , the largest Christian denomination, calls Abraham "our father in Faith" in the Eucharistic prayer of the Roman Canon , recited during the Mass . He is also commemorated in the calendars of saints of several denominations: on 20 August by the Maronite Church , 28 August in
11186-405: The sake of the merits of Abraham. After the biblical flood , Abraham was the only one among the pious who solemnly swore never to forsake God, studied in the house of Noah and Shem to learn about the "Ways of God," continued the line of High Priest from Noah and Shem, and assigning the office to Levi and his seed forever. Before leaving his father's land, Abraham was miraculously saved from
11305-523: The second is that the Pentateuch was written to provide the criteria for determining who would belong to the post-Exilic Jewish community and to establish the power structures and relative positions of its various groups, notably the priesthood and the lay "elders". The completion of the Torah and its elevation to the centre of post-Exilic Judaism was as much or more about combining older texts as writing new ones –
11424-500: The second-millennium BCE inscriptions mentioning the Habiru , many theories have linked these to the Hebrews. Some scholars argue that the name "Hebrew" is related to the name of those semi-nomadic Habiru people recorded in Egyptian inscriptions of the 13th and 12th centuries BCE as having settled in Egypt . Other scholars rebut this, proposing that the Hebrews are mentioned in later texts of
11543-639: The share to which his allies were entitled. The voice of the Lord came to Abram in a vision and repeated the promise of the land and descendants as numerous as the stars. Abram and God made a covenant ceremony, and God told of the future bondage of Israel in Egypt. God described to Abram the land that his offspring would claim: the land of the Kenites , Kenizzites , Kadmonites , Hittites , Perizzites , Rephaims, Amorites , Canaanites , Girgashites , and Jebusites . Abram and Sarai tried to make sense of how he would become
11662-565: The sterility of Sarah and 12:1–3 in which Abraham is ordered to leave the land of his birth for the land YHWH will show him. Terah , the ninth in descent from Noah , was the father of Abram, Nahor , Haran ( Hebrew : הָרָן Hārān ) and Sarah . Haran was the father of Lot , who was Abram's nephew; the family lived in Ur of the Chaldees . Haran died there. Abram married Sarah (Sarai) . Terah, Abram, Sarai, and Lot departed for Canaan , but settled in
11781-477: The term "Hebrew" became popular among secular Zionists. In this context, the word alluded to the transformation of the Jews into a strong, independent, self-confident secular national group ("the New Jew") sought by classical Zionism. This use died out after the establishment of the state of Israel, when "Hebrew" was replaced with "Jew" or "Israeli". David Ben-Gurion , the first Prime Minister of Israel, believed that
11900-408: The term banū ("sons of"), so it is hypothesized that the Raham called themselves Banu Raham. Furthermore, many interpreted blood ties between tribe members as common descent from an eponymous ancestor (i.e., one who gave the tribe its name), rather than as the result of intra-tribal ties. The name of this eponymous mythical ancestor was constructed with the patronymic (prefix) Abū ("father"), followed by
12019-406: The two other visitors left for Sodom. Then Abraham turned to God and pleaded decrementally with Him (from fifty persons to less) that "if there were at least ten righteous men found in the city, would not God spare the city?" For the sake of ten righteous people, God declared that he would not destroy the city. When the two visitors arrived in Sodom to conduct their report, they planned on staying in
12138-481: The two words “Hebrew state”, almost never “Jewish state”. Uri Avnery , born in 1923. In some modern languages, including Armenian , Greek , Italian , Romanian , and many Slavic languages , the name Hebrews (with linguistic variations) is the standard ethnonym for Jews; but in many other languages in which both terms exist, it is currently considered derogatory to call Jews "Hebrews". Among certain left-wing or liberal circles of Judaic cultural lineage,
12257-412: The wickedness of the city and portending their imminent destruction. Early the next morning, Abraham went to the place where he stood before God. He "looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah" and saw what became of the cities of the plain, where not even "ten righteous" (v. 18:32) had been found, as "the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace." Abraham settled between Kadesh and Shur in what
12376-413: The word "Hebrew" is used as an alternatively secular description of the Jewish people (e.g., Bernard Avishai 's The Hebrew Republic or left-wing wishes for a "Hebrew-Arab" joint cultural republican state ). It is also used in some circles as a secular description of people of Judaic cultural lineage who practice other religions or none, including Hebrew Catholics . Beginning in the late 19th century,
12495-578: The written tradition of the Pentateuch ; a majority of scholars believe this stage belongs to the Persian period, roughly 520–320 BCE. The mechanisms by which this came about remain unknown, but there are currently at least two hypotheses. The first, called Persian Imperial authorisation, is that the post-Exilic community devised the Torah as a legal basis on which to function within the Persian Imperial system;
12614-422: Was 75 years old when he left Haran with his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and the substance and souls that they had acquired, and traveled to Shechem in Canaan. Then he pitched his tent in the east of Bethel , and built an altar which was between Bethel and Ai . There was a severe famine in the land of Canaan, so that Abram, Lot, and their households traveled to Egypt . On the way Abram told Sarai to say that she
12733-568: Was Islamicized in the Abbasid and Ottoman periods. In 1903 near Nablus, a German party of archaeologists led by Dr. Hermann Thiersch stumbled upon the site called Tell Balata and now identified as ancient Shechem. Nablus is still referred to as Shechem by Israeli Hebrew speakers, even though the original site of Shechem lies east of the modern-day city. Shechem first appears in the Hebrew Bible in Genesis 12:6–8, which says that Abraham reached
12852-490: Was also related to the Moabites and Ammonites . Abraham lived to see Isaac marry Rebekah , and to see the birth of his twin grandsons Jacob and Esau . He died at age 175, and was buried in the cave of Machpelah by his sons Isaac and Ishmael. In the early and middle 20th century, leading archaeologists such as William F. Albright and G. Ernest Wright and biblical scholars such as Albrecht Alt and John Bright believed that
12971-570: Was an ancient city in the southern Levant . Mentioned as a Canaanite city in the Amarna Letters , it later appears in the Hebrew Bible as the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel following the split of the United Monarchy . According to Joshua 21:20–21 , it was located in the tribal territorial allotment of the tribe of Ephraim . Shechem declined after the fall of the northern Kingdom of Israel . The city later regained its importance as
13090-482: Was born to Sarah. When she found Ishmael teasing Isaac, Sarah told Abraham to send both Ishmael and Hagar away. She declared that Ishmael would not share in Isaac's inheritance. Abraham was greatly distressed by his wife's words and sought the advice of his God. God told Abraham not to be distressed but to do as his wife commanded. God reassured Abraham that "in Isaac shall seed be called to thee." He also said Ishmael would make
13209-484: Was called Elohei Abraham, Elohei Yitzchaq ve Elohei Ya'aqob ("God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob") and never the God of anyone else. He was also mentioned as the father of thirty nations. Abraham is generally credited as the author of the Sefer Yetzirah , one of the earliest extant books on Jewish mysticism . According to Pirkei Avot , Abraham underwent ten tests at God's command. The Binding of Isaac
13328-463: Was destroyed ( Antiquities , XIII, ix, 1). The Book of Judith , which is considered scripture to the Roman Catholic , Eastern Orthodox and other Christian churches is set in a city called "Bethulia". Because there is no Bethulia, it is widely assumed that this is a pseudonym for another city. The most common theory is that the city of Bethulia is really Shechem, based on the geography described in
13447-536: Was his sister, so that the Egyptians would not kill him. When they entered Egypt, the Pharaoh's officials praised Sarai's beauty to Pharaoh , and they took her into the palace and gave Abram goods in exchange. God afflicted Pharaoh and his household with plagues, which led Pharaoh to try to find out what was wrong. Upon discovering that Sarai was a married woman, Pharaoh demanded that Abram and Sarai leave. When they lived for
13566-462: Was instructed by returning to her mistress in order to have her child. Abram was 86 years of age when Ishmael was born. Thirteen years later, when Abram was 99 years of age, God declared Abram's new name: "Abraham" – "a father of many nations". Abraham then received the instructions for the covenant of the pieces , of which circumcision was to be the sign. God declared Sarai's new name: " Sarah ", blessed her, and told Abraham, "I will give thee
13685-466: Was later named as Jehovah-jireh . For his obedience he received another promise of numerous descendants and abundant prosperity. After this event, Abraham went to Beersheba. Sarah died, and Abraham buried her in the Cave of the Patriarchs (the "cave of Machpelah"), near Hebron which he had purchased along with the adjoining field from Ephron the Hittite . After the death of Sarah, Abraham took another wife,
13804-421: Was made king (Judges 9:1–45). Jotham , the youngest son of Gideon, made an allegorical speech on Mount Gerizim in which he warned the people of Shechem about Abimelech's future tyranny (Judges 9:7–20). When the city rose in rebellion three years later, Abimelech took it, utterly destroyed it, and burnt the temple of Baal-berith where the people had fled for safety. The city was rebuilt in the 10th century BC and
13923-512: Was no fear of God in that place, and that they might kill him for his wife. Then Abraham defended what he had said as not being a lie at all: "And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife." Abimelech returned Sarah to Abraham, and gave him gifts of sheep, oxen, and servants; and invited him to settle wherever he pleased in Abimelech's lands. Further, Abimelech gave Abraham
14042-422: Was prepared, he set curds, milk and the calf before them, waiting on them, under a tree, as they ate. One of the visitors told Abraham that upon his return next year, Sarah would have a son. While at the tent entrance, Sarah overheard what was said and she laughed to herself about the prospect of having a child at their ages. The visitor inquired of Abraham why Sarah laughed at bearing a child at her age, as nothing
14161-549: Was probably the capital of Ephraim (1 Kings 4). Shechem was the place appointed, after Solomon 's death, for the meeting of the people of Israel and the investiture of his son Rehoboam as king; the meeting ended in the secession of the ten northern tribes, and Shechem, fortified by Jeroboam , became the capital of the new kingdom (1 Kings 12:1; 14:17; 2 Chronicles 10:1). After the kings of Israel moved, first to Tirzah ( 1 Kings 14:17 ) and later on to Samaria , Shechem lost its importance, and we do not hear of it until after
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