Skip to main content

Biblical Person · Old · Patriarchal · http://www – http://www

Abraham

Abraham

via Wikimedia Commons

Abraham, originally Abram, is the patriarch of the Israelite nation, called by God to leave his homeland and promised to be the father of many nations, foundational to the covenantal narrative.

AI-assisted summary — may contain inaccuracies.

From Wikidata

Biographical facts

Born
http://www
Died
http://www
More
Wikipedia →

Family

Parents
Terah (father)

Children
Isaac  ·  Ishbak  ·  Ishmael  ·  Jokshan  ·  Medan  ·  Midian  ·  Shuah  ·  Zimran

Key events

  • The Covenant of Circumcision c. 2067 BC — Gen 17:10
  • The Binding of Isaac (Aqedah) c. 2054 BC — Gen 22:2

Where Abraham appears

249 verses across 20 books.

Gen165×Heb10×Exod9×Rom9×Gal9×Acts8×Deut7×1Chr6×Matt6×Ps4×Isa4×Josh2×2Chr2×Jas2×Lev1×Num1×1Kgs1×2Kgs1×Neh1×Jer1×

Verses mentioning Abraham

  • 1Chr 1:27 — Abram; the same is Abraham.
  • 1Chr 1:28 — The sons of Abraham; Isaac, and Ishmael.
  • 1Chr 1:32 — Now the sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bare Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And the sons of Jokshan; Sheba, and Dedan.
  • 1Chr 1:34 — And Abraham begat Isaac. The sons of Isaac; Esau and Israel.
  • 1Chr 16:16 — Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac;
  • 1Chr 29:18 — O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this for ever in the imagination of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their heart unto thee:
  • 1Kgs 18:36 — And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art
  • 1Pet 3:6 — Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
  • 2Chr 20:7 — Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
  • 2Chr 30:6 — So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD
  • 2Cor 11:22 — Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.
  • 2Kgs 13:23 — And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them fro
  • Acts 3:13 — The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him
  • Acts 3:25 — Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
  • Acts 7:2 — And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran,
  • Acts 7:8 — And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.
  • Acts 7:16 — And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.
  • Acts 7:17 — But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
  • Acts 7:32 — Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.
  • Acts 13:26 — Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent.
  • Deut 1:8 — Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
  • Deut 6:10 — And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou build
  • Deut 9:5 — Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and
  • Deut 9:27 — Remember thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; look not unto the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin:
  • Deut 29:13 — That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
  • Deut 30:20 — That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land wh
  • Deut 34:4 — And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt
  • Exod 2:24 — And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
  • Exod 3:6 — Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
  • Exod 3:15 — And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this
  • Exod 3:16 — Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen
  • Exod 4:5 — That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee.
  • Exod 6:3 — And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
  • Exod 6:8 — And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.
  • Exod 32:13 — Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken
  • Exod 33:1 — And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying
  • Ezek 33:24 — Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.
  • Gal 3:6 — Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
  • Gal 3:7 — Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
  • Gal 3:8 — And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
  • Gal 3:9 — So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
  • Gal 3:14 — That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
  • Gal 3:16 — Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.
  • Gal 3:18 — For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
  • Gal 3:29 — And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
  • Gal 4:22 — For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
  • Gen 11:26 — And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
  • Gen 11:27 — Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
  • Gen 11:29 — And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
  • Gen 11:31 — And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of
  • Gen 12:1 — Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
  • Gen 12:4 — So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
  • Gen 12:5 — And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan
  • Gen 12:6 — And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
  • Gen 12:7 — And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
  • Gen 12:9 — And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
  • Gen 12:10 — And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
  • Gen 12:14 — And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
  • Gen 12:16 — And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.
  • Gen 12:17 — And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.
Voices from the tradition

The Church Fathers on Abraham

Patristic commentary on the Scriptures that name Abraham.

Let us be imitators also of those who in goat-skins and sheep-skins [Hebrews 11:37] went about proclaiming the coming of Christ; I mean Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel among the prophets, with those others to whom a like testimony is borne [in Scripture]. Abraham was specially honoured, and was called the friend of God; yet he, earnestly…

Abraham, styled "the friend," [Isaiah 41:8] was found faithful, inasmuch as he rendered obedience to the words of God. He, in the exercise of obedience, went out from his own country, and from his kindred, and from his father's house, in order that, by forsaking a small territory, and a weak family, and an insignificant house, he might…

Lay aside, therefore, the evil, the old, the corrupt leaven, and be ye changed into the new leaven of grace. Abide in Christ, that the stranger may not have dominion over you. It is absurd to speak of Jesus Christ with the tongue, and to cherish in the mind a Judaism which has now come to an end. For where there is Christianity there…

— Ignatius of Antioch (108) on Jas 2:23

For thus it had behoved the sons of Abraham [to be], whom God has raised up to him from the stones, and caused to take a place beside him who was made the chief and the forerunner of our faith (who did also receive the covenant of circumcision, after that justification by faith which had pertained to him, when he was yet in…

And teaching this very thing, He said to the Jews: "Your father Abraham rejoiced that he should see my day; and he saw it, and was glad." What is intended? "Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness." In the first place, [he believed] that He was the maker of heaven and earth, the only God; and in the next…

Abraham, accordingly, who through hearing believed the voice, which promised under the oak in Mamre, "I will give this land to thee, and to thy seed," was either elect or not. But if he was not, how did he straightway believe, as it were naturally? And if he was elect, their hypothesis is done away with, in as much as even previous to…

— Clement of Alexandria (215) on Rom 4:3

Isaac is another type too (he can easily be taken in this other sense), this time of the Lord. He was a son, just as is the Son (he is the son of Abraham; Christ, of God). He was a victim, as was the Lord, but his sacrifice was not consummated, while the Lord's was. All he did was to carry the wood of his sacrifice, just as the Lord…

— Clement of Alexandria (215) on Gen 22:6

Because, as is evident, if nature admits of change from evil to good in Matter, it can be changed from good to evil in God. Here some man will say, Then will "children not be raised up to Abraham from the stones? " Will "generations of vipers not bring forth the fruit of repentance? " And "children of wrath" fail to become sons of…

For this fact-that Gentiles are admissible to God's Law-is enough to prevent Israel from priding himself on the notion that "the Gentiles are accounted as a little drop of a bucket," or else as "dust out of a threshing-floor: " although we have God Himself as an adequate engager and faithful promiser, in that He promised to Abraham…

Abraham sets forth, as it were, moral philosophy, through obedience. For so great was his obedience and observance of the commandments that, when he heard: "Go forth from your land, and from your kindred, and from the house of your father," he did not delay, but did it at once … For hearing that he should sacrifice his son, not even…

— Origen of Alexandria (253) on Exod 3:6

"For the promise to Abraham, or to his seed, that he should be heir of the world, was not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." In this place it seems to me that the Apostle is arguing about the law of Moses, and asserting that the promise which was made to Abraham, that he himself or his seed should receive the…

— Origen of Alexandria (253) on Rom 4:13

Please note that the same Moses says in another passage that God appeared to Abraham. Yet the same Moses hears from God that no man can see God and live. If God cannot be seen, how did God appear? If he appeared, how is it that he cannot be seen? For John says similarly, "No one has ever seen God." And the apostle Paul says, "Whom no…