Abraham was the
first patriarch of the kingdom of Israel. He was first called "Abram",
but God changed it to "Abraham". (17:5)
Abram was the son of Terah. He had two brothers, Nahor
and Haran. (11:26-27) Abram had a wife named Sarai, who had no children. Nahor
had a
wife, named Milcah, who was Haran's daughter. (Nahor married his own niece!)
Haran had children of his own: they were Milcah (who married Nahor, her own
uncle), Lot, and Iscah. (11;29) The family lived in the city of Ur, in the kingdom of Chaldea.
(11:28) (Ur
was a city located in southern part of Chaldea. Chaldea was later renamed
Babylon. Archeologists have located the ruins of the city of Ur in southeastern
Iraq, about ten miles west of the Euphrates river. The ruins of Ur are still
there, but today the site is called Tell al-Mugayyar.)
Terah took Abram, Sarai, and Lot, and they left Ur to live somewhere
else. They intended to go to the land of Canaan. But they stopped in the city of
Haran, in the land of Mesopotamia, and settled there. (11:31) (This
might get confusing. The city of Haran is not to be confused with the person
Haran, Terah's son. Mesopotamia is the area between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers. By today's map, the area of Mesopotamia would be in southern Turkey,
northeastern Syria, and central Iraq. Archeologists have located the ruins of the
city of Haran
in southeastern Turkey. The ruins of Haran are still there, but today the site
is called Sultan Tepe.) While in the city of Haran, Terah died. (11:32)
God told Abram "Go to a land
that I will show you, and I will make you a great nation." Abram and his
family, including Sarai and Lot, left on this journey. God led them to the
land of Canaan. (Canaan was a land on the eastern shore of
the Mediterranean Sea. It was located between the Mediterranean Sea on its west
side, the Jordan river on its east side, Egypt on its south side, and Babylon on
its north side, in what would today be the country of Israel) Here, God
told Abram "Your descendants shall become a nation. I shall give them this
land." (12:1-7) At the time, the land was lived in by the Canaanites
(descendants of Canaan, the youngest son of Ham). (12:6)
There was famine in the land at the time, so Abram and
his family went to Egypt for a while. (12:10) (Egypt was located just
south of Canaan.) In Egypt, Abram was afraid that people would want his
wife Sarai, and would kill him to possess her. So he passed off Sarai as his
sister, rather than his wife. The Egyptian pharaoh took a liking to Sarai.
Abram acquired sheep, cattle, camels, and slaves. When the pharaoh found out
that Sarai was actually Abram's wife, he sent Abram and his family away. (12:20)
Abram and his family went to the edge of
Canaan. By now, both Abram and Lot had a lot of livestock, and there wasn't
enough land to accommodate all the livestock from both men. So Abram and Lot
decided to separate for a while. Lot and his men settled near the city of Sodom (a
city on the southern border of Canaan). (13:1-13) Abram
and his men settled in Mamre, a plain located near the city of Kiriatharba (which
was later called Hebron) in the land of Canaan. (13:18)
Meanwhile, there was a battle in the
land of Canaan. There were four kings: Amraphael (king of the land of Shinar),
Arioch (king of the city of Ellasar), Chedorlaomer (king of the city of Elam),
and Tidal (king of nations). Their leader was Chedorlaomer. Five kings had
served under Chedorlaomer for years. The five were Bera (king of the city of
Sodom), Birsha (king of the city of Gomorrah), Shinab (king of the city of Admah),
Shemeber (king of the city of Zeboiim), and the unnamed king of the city of Bela.
These five kings got together and revolted against Chedorlaomer and his three
allies. All of the armies got together in the valley of Siddim, and did battle.
Chedorlaomer's side won.
Chedorlaomer's soldiers rampaged through Sodom, stole
much of Lot's goods, and kidnapped Lot. One of Lot's men went to Abram for help. He
found Abram in the plain of Mamre, and told him what happened.
Abram had 318 armed servants. He also allied with three
Adomite chiefs: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre (whom the plain of Mamre was named
after). They all took up arms and attacked Chedorlaomer's men. They chased them
into the area of Hobah, and smote them. Lot was rescued, and his goods were
returned. The kings of Salem and Sodom rewarded Abraham. Abraham refused to take
any of the spoil, but let the three Adomite chiefs take their share. (chapter
14)
God decided to reward Abram for helping
Lot. Abram lamented that he had no children. If Abram died without having
children, then his servant Eliezer would be his heir. Abram preferred to have
a son be his heir. God promised Abram "You will have many children. I will
give to them a great land that stretches from the river of Egypt to the river
Euphrates." (chapter 15)
Abram's wife Sarai couldn't have children.
So she asked Abram to have children by her slave, Hagar. Abram agreed, and Hagar
became pregnant. She gave birth to Abram's son,
Ishmael. By this time, Abram was 86 years old. (chapter 16)
When Abram was 99, God told him: "I will make my
covenant between you and me. No longer shall you be called Abram. Your name
shall now be Abraham. You shall be the father of many nations. I will multiply
your descendants greatly, and they shall become a nation. The nation will be in
the land of Canaan, and I will be their god. Every man among you shall be
circumcised. Every one of your male descendants shall be circumcised when he is
eight days old, and your slaves shall be circumcised as well. An uncircumcised
man will be cut off from his people because he has broken my covenant. Your wife
Sarai shall now be called Sarah. She shall be the mother of nations."
Abraham laughed. "I am 100, and Sarah is 90. How can we have
children?" God says "Sarah will have a son. He shall be named Isaac. I
will establish my covenant with Isaac and his descendants. But I haven't
forgotten Ishmael. Ishmael shall have descendants and his own nation with twelve
princes. But my covenant shall be with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear next
year." Abraham circumcised himself, Ishmael, and his slaves. (chapter 17)
In the meantime, God told Abraham that he intended
to destroy the city of Sodom and the neighboring cities because of their
wickedness. Abraham protested "There may be some good men
there." But only Lot was good. Lot fled Sodom with his family before it
was destroyed. (18:20-33)
Abraham and Sarah visited the city of
Gerar (a city near the southern border of Canaan). The city was ruled by a tribe
of people known as the Philistines. There, again, Abraham feared that people would
want his wife Sarah, and would kill him to possess her. So again he passes off Sarah
as his sister, rather than his wife. The king of Gerar, Abimelech, took a
liking to Sarah. He kidnapped Sarah, and tried to have sex with her. God warned
Abimelech in a dream that Sarah was Abraham's wife. Abimelech confronted Abraham.
Abraham confessed "She is my wife." Abimelech gave Sarah back to Abraham. (chapter 20)
Finally Sarah bore a son. She named him Isaac. (21:1-8)
She had Abraham cast Hagar and Ishmael out of the family. 21:9-14) Meanwhile, Abraham and
Abimelech made a promise of loyalty to each other.
The place where they make this oath was the city of Beersheba. (21:22-32)
God told Abraham "Take your son
Isaac to the land of Moriah and offer him as a sacrifice to me." Abraham
didn't want to kill his son whom God had promised to him, but he reluctantly
agreed. He took Isaac to the land of Moriah, and built a sacrificial altar. He
was about to kill his son, when God stopped him. God said "I just wanted to be
sure that you were loyal to me." He caused a ram to get caught in a
thicket, and had Abraham sacrifice the ram instead. Abraham and Isaac returned to
Beersheba. There, Abraham was told that his brother Nahor now had children. (chapter 22)
Sarah died in the city of Kiriatharba,
in Canaan (The city of Kiriatharba was later renamed Hebron). Abraham bought a piece
of land from Ephron the Hittite. The land was called Machpelah. It was located east of Mamre, where Abraham had stayed before. Abraham
buried Sarah in a cave on the property. (chapter 23)
When Isaac became a young man. Abraham told
his servant to find a wife for Isaac, a non-Canaanite woman. The servant went to
Mesopotamia and found Rebekah. (chapter 24)
Abraham married again, to a woman named
Keturah. She bore him more children: Zimrah, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbok, and
Shuah. (25:1-4)
Abraham lived to be 175. (25:7)
After he died, he was buried in the cave of Machpelah, with Sarah. (25:9-10)
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