Abraham (Hebrew: אַבְרָהָם, Modern Avraham Tiberian ʾAḇrāhām, Arabic: إبراهيم, Ibrāhīm, ʾAbrəham) is the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Edomites, and the Midianites and kindred peoples, according to the book of Genesis. In the absence of extra-biblical evidence for his existence, influential scholars have long questioned the historicity of his narratives.[2][3]
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are sometimes referred to as the "Abrahamic religions" because of the progenitor role that Abraham plays in their holy books. In both the Jewish tradition and the Quran, he is referred to as "our Father".[4] Jews, Christians, and Muslims consider him father of the people of Israel. For Jews and Christians this is through his son Isaac,[5] by his wife Sarah; for Muslims, he is a prophet of Islam and the ancestor of Muhammad through his other son Ishmael, born to him by Sarah's servant, Hagar.
The Bible relates that Abraham was originally named Abram and was the tenth generation from Noah and the twentieth from Adam.[6] His father's name was Terah, and he had two brothers, Nahor and Haran. His wife was Sarah, and he was the uncle of Lot. Abraham was sent by God from his home in Ur Kaśdim and Haran to Canaan, the land promised to his descendants by Yahweh.
The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."[7]
God's promise to Abraham that through his offspring all the nations of the world would come to be blessed[8] is interpreted in the Christian tradition as a reference particularly to Christ. In Canaan, Abraham entered into a covenant: in exchange for recognition of YHWH as his God, Abraham would be blessed with innumerable progeny and the land would belong to his descendants.[9]
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San Jose Mercury News
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Abraham one of four patriarchs on the ceiling
