Misplaced Pages

#519480

87-579: God had promised Abraham that there would be a Promised Land for the nations to come out of his son, Isaac . The land of Canaan that the spies were to explore was the same Promised Land. Moses asked for an assessment of the geographic features of the land, the strength and numbers of the population, the agricultural potential and actual performance of the land, civic organization (whether their cities were like camps or strongholds), and forestry conditions. He also asked them to be positive in their outlook and to return with samples of local produce. When ten of

174-500: 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,

261-505: A great nation, and will be "living on his sword". A well of water then appeared so that it saved their lives. As 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

348-571: 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

435-497: 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

522-446: 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

609-529: 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

696-448: 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

783-598: 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

870-411: 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

957-455: 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

SECTION 10

#1732844915520

1044-499: 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

1131-564: 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

1218-400: Is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes . The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock , covey, or bevy. Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae , and New World quail are placed in the family Odontophoridae . The species of buttonquail are named for their superficial resemblance to quail, and form

1305-640: Is both the biological progenitor of the Jews and the father of Judaism, the first Jew. His story 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

1392-452: 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

1479-492: Is its fruit. But the people who live there are very powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there." Two of the spies — Joshua and Caleb — did not go along with the majority and tried to convince the Israelites that they could conquer the land: Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." However,

1566-516: 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

1653-615: 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

1740-571: 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

1827-601: 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

SECTION 20

#1732844915520

1914-586: 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 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

2001-574: Is that the post-Exilic community devised the Torah as a legal basis on which to function within the Persian Imperial system; 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

2088-635: 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

2175-459: 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,

2262-768: 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

2349-584: The Land of Israel . But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." And they spread a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there were of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked

2436-620: The Mishnah Taanit 4:6), the sin of the spies produced the annual fast day of Tisha B'Av . When the Israelites accepted the false report, they wept over the false belief that God was setting them up for defeat. The night that the people cried was the ninth of Av , which became a day of weeping and misfortune for all time. Rashi , commenting on Numbers 13:25 , notes that the journey was shortened by God, as God foresaw their downfall and subsequent proportionate punishment (1 day equaling 1 year). Abraham Abraham (originally Abram )

2523-505: The family Turnicidae in the order Charadriiformes . The king quail , an Old World quail, often is sold in the pet trade, and within this trade is commonly, though mistakenly, referred to as a "button quail". Many of the common larger species are farm-raised for table food or egg consumption , and are hunted on game farms or in the wild, where they may be released to supplement the wild population, or extend into areas outside their natural range. In 2007, 40 million quail were produced in

2610-584: The 10th century BCE. The orientalist Mario Liverani proposed to see in the name Abraham the mythical eponym of 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

2697-519: The 40 year wandering period, and was named successor to Moses as instructed by God. Joshua completed the task of leading the Israelites into the Promised Land and of taking possession of it. Joshua also was the leader in renewing the Mosaic covenant with their God. Caleb was from the tribe of Judah. He was also chosen to explore the land of Canaan, and he was (along with Joshua) the other man who said that

The Twelve Spies - Misplaced Pages Continue

2784-510: 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

2871-518: The Bible, among others the Israelites , Ishmaelites , Edomites , Amalekites , Kenizzites , Midianites and Assyrians , and through his nephew Lot he 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

2958-517: 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 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

3045-611: 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

3132-460: 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

3219-456: The Friend of God ". Besides Ishaq and Yaqub , Ibrahim 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

3306-657: The God of Israel could help the Israelite people to victory against the Canaanites. God promised Caleb and Joshua that they would receive the land which they had explored for themselves and their descendants. Caleb was also told that he would live to go into the Promised Land. The names of the twelve spies were: The Israelites' belief of the false report amounted to the acceptance of lashon hara (lit." "evil tongue" / "slander" in Hebrew) against

3393-590: The Iron Age (monarchic period) and that they contained an autochthonous hero story, as 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

3480-414: The Israelite community believed the majority's conclusions. All of the spies, except Joshua and Caleb, were struck down with a plague and died. Joshua was at first a fierce warrior. He was chosen as the representative from his tribe, Ephraim , to explore the land of Canaan, and was in agreement with Caleb that the Promised Land could be conquered. After the incident with the 12 spies, Joshua lived through

3567-429: The Israelites wandered in the wilderness, eating quail and manna . They were led into the Promised Land by Joshua; the victory at Jericho marked the beginning of possession of the land. As victories were won, the tracts of land were assigned to each tribe, and they lived peacefully with each other. God brought victories where needed, and his promise to Abraham was fulfilled. According to Rabbinic tradition (as seen in

The Twelve Spies - Misplaced Pages Continue

3654-425: The Jews , God created heaven and earth for 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

3741-534: 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 – 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

3828-448: The adjoining field from Ephron the Hittite . After the death of Sarah, Abraham took another wife, 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

3915-524: The ancient city-state of Mari , suggesting that the Genesis stories retain historical memories of the ancestral origins of some of 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

4002-455: 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 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

4089-435: The area). The semi-nomadic and pastoral Semitic tribes of the time used to prefix their names with 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

4176-688: 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, 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

4263-520: The chosen people of God . In Christianity, Paul the Apostle taught that Abraham's faith in God—preceding 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

4350-486: 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

4437-406: 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 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

SECTION 50

#1732844915520

4524-403: 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

4611-478: 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 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

4698-531: 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

4785-407: 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

4872-495: 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

4959-703: The larger audience. He is also among the seven prophets who appeared in different periods of history according to 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. Quail Quail

5046-415: The mount that God told him of. He then commanded the servants to remain while he and Isaac proceeded alone into 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

5133-580: 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

5220-460: 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 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

5307-476: 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

SECTION 60

#1732844915520

5394-519: 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

5481-722: 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

5568-408: The prophet tells them they have no claim because they do not observe Torah. The Book of Isaiah similarly testifies of tension between 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 ),

5655-547: The revered reformer of 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

5742-422: The same to them." This was considered a grave sin by God. Corresponding to the 40 days that the spies toured the land, God decreed that the Israelites would wander in the wilderness for 40 years as a result of their unwillingness to take the land. Moreover, the entire generation of men who left Egypt during the Exodus would die in the desert, save for Joshua and Caleb who did not slander the land. For 40 years,

5829-543: 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

5916-409: The spies saw fortified cities and resident giants, which frightened them and led them to believe that the Israelites would not be able to conquer the land as God had promised. Ten of the spies decided to bring back an unbalanced report, emphasizing the difficulty of the task before them. They gave Moses this account, "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here

6003-472: 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

6090-403: The territory of the Amorite homeland. He also notes parallels between the biblical narrative and the Amorite migration into 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

6177-433: The thought of giving birth and nursing 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

6264-656: 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 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,

6351-436: The twelve spies showed little faith in the negative reports they gave about the land, they were slandering what they believed God had promised them. They did not believe that God could help them, and the people as a whole were persuaded that it was not possible to take the land. As a result, the entire nation was made to wander in the desert for 40 years, until almost the entire generation of men had died. Joshua and Caleb were

6438-407: 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

6525-433: The two spies who brought back a good report and believed that God would help them succeed. They were the only men from their generation permitted to go into the Promised Land after the time of wandering. God had promised the Israelites that they would be able to conquer the land with its indigenous Canaanite nations. Moses instructed the spies to report back on the agriculture and lay of the land. However, during their tour,

6612-525: The way to Shur . He instructed her to return to Abram's camp and that her son would be "a wild ass of 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

6699-414: 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

6786-423: 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

6873-488: 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

6960-425: Was constructed with the patronymic (prefix) Abū ("father"), followed by 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

7047-483: Was fourteen years old when Abraham's son Isaac 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

7134-538: 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

7221-465: 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

7308-545: Was miraculously saved from 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

7395-513: 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

7482-423: 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

7569-456: Was worshiped in Hebron, which is too far from Beit She'an, and 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

#519480