Abraham: the Founding Patriarch of the Israelites

Abraham: the Founding Patriarch of the Israelites

Abraham (Hebrew: אַבְרָהָם, Modern Avraham Tiberian ʾAḇrāhām Ashkenazi Avrohom or Avruhom ; Arabic: إبراهيٮ‎, Ibrāhīm ; Ge'ez: አብርሃም, ʾAbrəham) features in the Book of Genesis as the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Midianites and Edomite peoples. He is widely regarded as the patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims and the founder of monotheism. According to Genesis 17:5, his name was changed by God from Abram (probably meaning "the father is exalted") to Abraham, a name which Genesis explains as meaning "father of many".

Abraham was the tenth generation from Noah and the 20th from Adam . His father was Terah, and his brothers were Nahor and Haran. According to Genesis, Abraham was sent by God from his home in Ur of the Chaldees to Canaan, the land promised to his descendants by Yahweh. There Abraham entered into a covenant: in exchange for recognition of YHWH as his God, Abraham will be blessed with innumerable progeny and the land would belong to his descendants. [2]

Judaism, Christianity and Islam are sometimes referred to as the "Abrahamic religions" because of the progenitor role Abraham plays in their holy books. In the Jewish tradition, he is called Avraham Avinu or "Abraham, our Father". God promised Abraham that through his offspring, all the nations of the world will come to be blessed (Genesis 12:3), interpreted in Christian tradition as a reference particularly to Christ. Jews, Christians, and Muslims consider him father of the people of Israel through his son Isaac (cf. Exodus 6:3, Exodus 32:13) 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 his second wife, Hagar. (Jews and Christians refer to Hagar as Sarah's servant). Abraham is also a progenitor of the Semitic tribes of the Negev who trace their descent from their common ancestor Sheba (Genesis 10:28).

Abraham's original name was Abram (Hebrew: אַבְרָם‎, Standard Avram Tiberian...

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