tions Abram (the original form of the name), Nahor and Ḥaran, sons of Terah, at the close of a genealogy of the sons of Shem, which includes among its members Eber the eponym of the Hebrews. Terah is said to have come from Ur of the Chaldees, usually identified with Mukayyar in south Babylonia. He migrated to Haran[1] in Mesopotamia, apparently the classical Carrhae, on a branch of the Ḥabor. Thence, after a short stay, Abram with his wife Sarai, and Lot the son of Ḥaran, and all their followers, departed for Canaan. The oldest tradition does not know of this twofold move, and seems to locate Abram’s birthplace and the homes of his kindred at Ḥaran (Gen. xxiv. 4, 7, xxvii. 43). At the divine command, and encouraged by the promise that Yahweh would make of him, although hitherto childless, a great nation, he journeyed down to Shechem, and at the sacred tree (cf. xxxv. 4, Josh. xxiv. 26, Judg. ix. 6) received a new promise that the land would be given unto his seed. Having built an altar to commemorate the theophany, he removed to a spot between Bethel and Ai, where he built another altar and called upon (i.e. invoked) the name of Yahweh (Gen. xii. 1-9). Here he dwelt for some time, until strife arose between his herdsmen and those of Lot. Abram thereupon proposed to Lot that they should separate, and allowed his nephew the first choice. Lot preferred the fertile land lying east of the Jordan, whilst Abram, after receiving another promise from Yahweh, moved down to the oaks of Mamre in Hebron and built an altar. In the subsequent history of Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abram appears prominently in a fine passage where he intercedes with Yahweh on behalf of Sodom, and is promised that if ten righteous men can be found therein the city shall be preserved (xviii. 16-33).
A peculiar passage, more valuable for the light it throws upon primitive ideas than for its contribution to the history of Abram, narrates the patriarch’s visit to Egypt. Driven by a famine to take refuge in Egypt (cf. xxvi. 1, xli. 57, xlii. 1), he feared lest his wife’s beauty should arouse the evil designs of the Egyptians and thus endanger his own safety, and alleged that Sarai was his sister. This did not save her from the Pharaoh, who took her into the royal harem and enriched Abram with herds and servants. But when Yahweh “plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues” suspicion was aroused, and the Pharaoh rebuked the patriarch for his deceit and sent him away under an escort (xii. 10–xiii. 1). This story of Abram and his increased wealth (xiii. 2) receives no comment at the hands of the narrator, and in its present position would make Sarai over sixty years of age (xii. 4, xvii. 1, 17). A similar experience is said to have happened to Abraham and Sarah at Gerar with the Philistine king Abimelech (xx. E), but the tone of the narrative is noticeably more advanced, and the presents which the patriarch receives are compensation for the king’s offence. Here, however, Sarah has reached her ninetieth year (xvii. 17). (The dates are due to the post-exilic framework in which the stories are inserted.) Still another episode of the same nature is recorded of Isaac and Rebekah at Gerar, also with Abimelech. Ethically it is the loftiest, and Isaac obtains his wealth simply through his successful farming. Arising out of the incident is an account of a covenant between Abimelech and Isaac (xxvi. 16-33, J), a duplicate of which is placed in the time of Abraham (xxi. 22-34, J and E). Beersheba, which figures in both, is celebrated by the planting of a sacred tree and (like Bethel) by the invocation of the name of Yahweh. This district is the scene of the birth of Ishmael and Isaac. As Sarai was barren (cf. xi. 30)[2] the promise that his seed should possess the land seemed incapable of fulfilment. According to one rather obscure narrative, Abram’s sole heir was the servant, who was over his household, apparently a certain Eliezer of Damascus[3] (xv. 2, the text is corrupt). He is now promised as heir one of his own flesh, and a remarkable and solemn passage records how the promise was ratified by a covenant. The description is particularly noteworthy for the sudden appearance of birds of prey, which attempted to carry off the victims of the sacrificial covenant. The interpretation of the evil omen is explained by an allusion to the bondage of the Israelites in Egypt and their return in the fourth generation (xv. 16; contrast v. 13, after four hundred years; the chapter is extremely intricate and has the appearance of being of secondary origin). The main narrative now relates how Sarai, in accordance with custom, gave to Abram her Egyptian handmaid Hagar, who, when she found she was with child, presumed upon her position to the extent that Sarai, unable to endure the reproach of barrenness (cf. the story of Hannah, 1 Sam. i. 6), dealt harshly with her and forced her to flee (xvi. 1-14, J; on the details see Ishmael). Another tradition places the expulsion of Hagar after the birth of Isaac. It was thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael, according to the latest narratives, that God appeared unto Abram with a renewed promise that his posterity should inhabit the land. To mark the solemnity of the occasion, the patriarch’s name was changed to Abraham, and that of his wife to Sarah.[4] A covenant was concluded with him for all time, and as a sign thereof the rite of circumcision was instituted (xvii. P). The promise of a son to Sarah made Abraham “laugh”, a punning allusion to the name Isaac (q.v.) which appears again in other forms. Thus, it is Sarah herself who “laughs” at the idea, when Yahweh appears to Abraham at Mamre (xviii. 1-15, J), or who, when the child is born cries “God hath made me laugh; every one that heareth will laugh at me” (xxi. 6, E). Finally, there is yet another story which attributes the flight of Hagar and Ishmael to Sarah’s jealousy at the sight of Ishmael’s “mocking” (rather dancing or playing, the intensive form of the verb “to laugh”) on the feast day when Isaac was weaned (xxi. 8 sqq.). But this last story is clearly out of place, since a child who was then fourteen years old (cf. xvii. 24, xxi. 5) could scarcely be described as a weak babe who had to be carried (xxi. 14; see the commentaries).
Abraham was now commanded by God to offer up Isaac in the land of Moriah. Proceeding to obey, he was prevented by an angel as he was about to sacrifice his son, and slew a ram which he found on the spot. As a reward for his obedience he received another promise of a numerous seed and abundant prosperity (xxii. E). Thence he returned to Beersheba. The story is one of the few told by E, and significantly teaches that human sacrifice was not required by the Almighty (cf. Mic. vi. 7 seq.). The interest of the narrative now extends to Isaac alone. To his “only son” (cp. xxii. 2, 12) Abraham gave all he had, and dismissed the sons of his concubines to the lands outside Palestine; they were thus regarded as less intimately related to Isaac and his descendants (xxv. 1-4, 6). The measures taken by the patriarch for the marriage of Isaac are circumstantially described. His head-servant was sent to his master’s country and kindred to find a suitable bride, and the necessary preparation for the story is contained in the description of Nahor’s family (xxii. 20-24). The picturesque account of the meeting with Rebekah throws interesting light on oriental custom. Marriage with one’s own folk (cf. Gen. xxvii. 46, xxix. 19; Judg. xiv. 3), and especially with a cousin, is recommended now even as in the past. For its charm the story is comparable with the account of Jacob’s experiences in the same land (xxix.). For the completion of the history of Abraham the compiler of Genesis has used P’s narrative. Sarah is said to have died at a good old age, and was buried in the cave of Machpelah near Hebron, which the patriarch had purchased, with the adjoining field, from Ephron the Hittite (xxiii.); and here he himself was buried. Centuries later the tomb became a place of pilgrimage and the traditional site is marked by a fine mosque.[5]
- ↑ The name is not spelt with the same guttural as Ḥaran the son of Terah.
- ↑ Barrenness is a motif which recurs in the stories of Rebekah, Rachel, the mother of Samson, and Hannah (Gen. xxv. 21, xxix. 31; Judg. xiii. 2; 1 Sam. i. 5).
- ↑ Abram’s connexion with Damascus is supplemented in the traditions of Nicolaus of Damascus as cited by Josephus (Antiq. i. 7. 2).
- ↑ Abram (or Abiram) is a familiar and old-attested name meaning “(my) father is exalted”; the meaning of Abraham is obscure and the explanation Gen. xvii. 3 is mere word-play. It is possible that rāhām was originally only a dialectical form of rām.
- ↑ See Sir Charles Warren’s description, Hasting’s Dict. Bible, vol. iii. pp. 200 seq. The so-called Babylonian colouring of Gen. xxiii. has been much exaggerated; see S. R. Driver, Genesis, ad loc.; S. A. Cook, Laws of Moses, p. 208.
