Introduction


Abraham Sacrificing Isaac (1650) by Laurent de la Hyre
Regarded as a holy patriarch by Jews, Christians, and Muslims, Abraham is acknowledged as the founder of the Israelites. His life is narrated in the Old Testament of the Bible in Genesis 11:25. Abraham, as the Old Testament narrative tells, was from the city of Ur in Mesopotamia when God called upon him to travel to Canaan. Abraham followed God’s instructions, and God made a covenant with him, promising to give Abraham land (the nation of Israel), a son though his wife Sarah, and a great nation. The covenant also specified that those who blessed Abraham and his family would be blessed and those who cursed them would be cursed.

Essential Facts

  1. According to Old Testament scholars, Abraham probably lived sometime between 2000 and 1800 BC. His original name was “Abram,” which was supposedly changed by God to “Abraham.” It is possible that the two names are varying etymological forms of the same word.
  2. Both Jews and Muslims can trace their lineage back to Abraham. With his wife Sarah, Abraham had a son Isaac, from whom the Jewish people are descended. Abraham had another son named Ishmael, whose mother was a servant named Hagar. Ishmael is considered to be the father of the Muslim people.
  3. In Genesis 15, God required Abraham to mark himself with the sign of the covenant—circumcision.
  4. When God promised Abraham a son, Abraham was already 75 years old. His son was finally born when he was approximately 100 years old.
  5. In Genesis 22, God tells Abraham to take his long-awaited son to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him. At the last moment, as Abraham has his knife in the air, God tells him to stop and provides a ram as a substitute sacrifice. The story is read in the Jewish liturgy during the High Holy days, and Christians consider the story to be a foreshadowing of the death of Christ.