Abraham

Abraham is one of the patriarchs of the nation of Israel. God orders him to leave his family and go to the land of Canaan. When Abraham is very old, he has a son called Isaac, in Canaan. This son is the fulfilment of God’s promise that Abraham will be the forefather of a great nation.

Abraham is initially called “Abram”. The name means “the (divine) father is exalted”. Later, he receives from God the name “Abraham” (Genesis 17:5). The name means “ancestor of many nations”.
Abram’s family leaves Ur, a city of the Chaldeans, to go to the land of Canaan. Part of the family stays behind in Haran. Only Abram travels on with his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot to Canaan.

Abram and Sarai have no children. Still God promises them that they will have many descendants. This is why they are given the new names, Abraham and Sarah.
Because Sarah has been infertile for a long time, she gives her servant Hagar to Abraham as his wife, to bear children for her. But Hagar’s son Ishmael is not the child that God has promised. When Abraham is 100 years old, he has a son with Sarah called Isaac.
According to Genesis 25:1-2, Abraham marries another wife, Keturah, after the death of Sarah. She bears him six more sons. Abraham sends these sons away with gifts, so that Isaac does not have to share his inheritance.

Isaac is the son that God has promised Abraham. However, God gives Abraham the command to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham decides to carry out this puzzling task, but just before he sacrifices Isaac, he hears a voice from heaven saying, “Don’t hurt the boy, or do anything to him. Now I know that you honour and obey God, because you have not kept back your only son from him” (Genesis 22:12). Then Abraham sees a ram, which he sacrifices instead of his son.

In the New Testament, Abraham is depicted as an example of all who believe. Paul sees in him an exemplary figure because of his faith in God (Romans 4:1-25; Galatians 3:6-29). Abraham was not saved because of his good deeds, but because he believed in God.