Abraham

"Abram" redirects here.

"Abraham Sacrificing Isaac" by Laurent de LaHire, 1650

Abraham (אַבְרָהָם "Father/Leader of many", Standard Hebrew Avraham, Arabic ابراهيم Ibrāhīm) was the original patriarch of Judaism, recognized as the "father of faith" by Christianity, and an exptremely important prophet in Islam. The story of his life is told in the Book of Genesis and in the Qur'an.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are sometimes referred to as the "Abrahamic religions" because of the role Abraham plays in their holy books and beliefs. In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Abraham is described as a patriarch and prophet blessed by God, as well as the father of the Israelites through his son Isaac. The Qur'an claims Abraham's son Ishmael to be the father of the Arabs. In Islam, Abraham is considered to be the first [[Muslim}} and one of the most important prophets sent by Allah. In Christian belief, Abraham is a model of faith, and his intention to obey God by offering up Isaac is seen as a foreshadowing of God's offering of his son, Jesus.

His original name was Abram (אַבְרָם "Exalted father/leader", Standard Hebrew Avram), chaning his name to Abraham in later life at God's command. The historicity of Abraham is debated by modern scholarship and it is difficult to provide definite dates form. A general estimate would be that her probably lived between 2166 and 1991 B.C.E.

Biblical account

Map showing Abram's birthplace of Ur, near the mouth of the Euphrates. Haran is thought to lie in the northwest, between Ur and Ugarit.

According to the Book of Genesis Abraham's father Terah came from Ur of the Chaldees—usually identified with an ancient city in southern Mesopotamia. Terah migrated with his family to Haran, apparently the classical Carrhae, on a branch of the Habor River.

From there, God called Abram to go to "the land I will show you," and promised to bless him and make him (though hitherto childless) a great nation. Abram and his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, togther with the slaves and other followers, dutifully departed for Canaan.

Arrival in Canaan

Abram journeyed to Shechem, and at the sacred tree there(compare Gen. 25:4, Joshua 24:26, Judges 9:6) received a new promise that the land would be given to his or descendants. Having built an altar to commemorate God's appearance to him, he removed to a spot between Bethel and Ai, where he built another altar and called upon the name of Yahweh (Gen. 12:1-9). After this, he moved south, to the Negev.

Driven by a famine to take refuge in Egypt (12:10), Abram feared lest his wife's beauty should arouse the evil designs of the Egyptians and thus endanger his own safety. He therefore instructed Sarai to act as his sister.

File:Abraham-Lot.jpg

Lot parts ways with Abraham.

The Pharaoh then took her into the royal harem and showed his gratitude to Abram with gifts herds and servants. Later, Yahweh "plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues." The king then realized that Sarai was Abram's wife and sent them from his land greatly enriched.

Lot leaves for Sodom

Abram then returned to the Negev, and wandered with his herds until settling again Bethel and Ai. There he stayed for several years, until strife arose between his herdsmen and those of Lot. Abram proposed to Lot that they should separate, and allowed his nephew the first choice. Lot preferred the fertile land lying east of the Jordan River, while Abram, after receiving another promise from Yahweh, moved south to the oaks of Mamre in Hebron and building yet another altar.

After about eight years, a war developed among the kings of the region's several cities. When Sodom fell, Lot was taken captive. Abram heard of Lot's ill-fortune and came to his rescue with a force of 318 armed men. He liberated Lot and the other captives and recovered the spoils taken by Lot's captors.

File:Abram-melchizedek.jpg

Melchizedek blesses Abram in the name of Elyon El, "God Most High."

After this victory, Abram received the thanks of the king of Sodom and was honored with a sacramental meal of bread and wine by the mysterious Melchizedek, king of Salem (Jerusalem), identified as a "priest of God Most High,' In exchange, Abram offered Melechizek a tenth "of eveything." (14:20)

Abram's symbolic offering

Abram then received another revelation from Yahweh, who promised that his descendants will be as numerous as "the stars of heaven." Abram responded faithfully to this promise, but balked when God told him that he would also take possession of the land of Canaan. "How can I know that I will gain possession of it?" he demands.

God instructed him to offer a sacrifice consisting of "a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon." Abraham prepared this offering, cutting the animals in half, but not the birds. Birds of prey descended on the sacrifice, and Abram had to drove them away. Then a "dread darkness" fell on him, and he fell asleep. God appeared to him again with dire news:

Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years...In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here. (15:13-16)

The birth of Ishmael

File:Sarah-Hagar.jpg

Sarah offers Hagar to Abraham.

As Sarai was infertile, God's promise that Abram's seed would inherit the land seemed incapable of fulfillment. His only heir was his servant Eliezer of Damascus, who was over his household (15:2). In accordance with Mesopotamian custom, Sarai gave to Abram her Egyptian handmaid Hagar as a second wife. When Hagar became pregnant, she presumed upon her position to the extent that Sarai, unable to endure the reproach of barrenness, abused her and forced her to flee (16:1-14). However an angel appeared to Hagar and commanded her to return and submit to Sarai, promising Hagar that her descendants will be too numerous to count. Her son Ishmael thus was Abram's firstborn.

The name Abraham was given to Abram (and the name Sarah to Sarai) at the same time as the covenant of circumcision (chapter 17) when Abram was 99 years old. At this time Abraham was promised not only many descendants, but descendants through Sarah specifically. God's covenant with Abraham was to be fulfilled through Isaac, though God promised that Ishmael, too would be blessed to become a great nation.

In Genesis 18, Abraham and Sarah provide hospitality for three visitors who turn out to be "Yahweh." Their promise of a son to Sarah made Abraham "laugh," which would later figure in the naming of the son of promise, Isaac. Sarah herself also "laughed" at the idea (18:1-15). Informed of God's plan to destroy the great city of Sodom, Abraham pleaded with God (in the form of three visistors) not to destroy the city, whe Lot currently lived. God agreed that he would not destroy the city if there were 50 righteous people in it. Abraham bargained God down to 45, then 30, 20, even ten righteous people. Unfortunately, not even ten righteous men were found. Although Lot and his daughters escaped both Sodom and its sister city, Gomorrah, were obliterated.

In Genesis 20, Abraham and Sarah again pose as brother and sister, this time in the Philistine city of Gerar.The storyline is almost identitcal to that of Gen. 12. Here the king is warned in a dream that Sarah is actually Abraham's wife after God had caused the women of the city to cease bearing children. The text makes it clear that the king, Abimelech did not have sexual relations with Sarah.

After this episode, Sarah finally became pregnant and gave birth to Isaac, causing her once again to "laugh." Trouble arose, however, when Hagar's son Ishmael, now a teenager, acting inappropriate toward the much younger Isaac a feast held to celebrate Isaac's weaning. Sarah demanded that Abraham banish her Hagar and Ishmael, and God commanded Abrham to follow her advice. The handmaid and her son were consequently exiled to the wilderness, where they nearly died of thrist before being recused by God. Soon, Abimelech of Gerar reappeared and made a treaty with Abraham at Beersheba.

The offering of Isaac

Some time after the birth of Isaac, Abraham was commanded by God to offer his son up as a burnt sacrifice in the land of Moriah. Abraham made all the necessary preparations, even going so far as to build a pyre, bind Isaac, and raise the knife to slay his son before burning him. He was prevented at the last minute by the Angel of the Lord, who said:

"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." (22:12)

Instead of offering Isaac, Abraham then sacrificed a ram which he found on the spot. As a reward for his obedience he received another promise of a numerous seed and abundant prosperity. Then he returned to Beersheba.

Sarah died at age 127 at Hebron, where Abraham reportedly purchase the Cave of Machpelah near Mamre from Hittite landowners. The spot became a family burial site and today is known as the Cave of the Patriarchs.

Later life

After Sarah's death, Abraham commissioned his servent Eleazar to find a wife for Isaac among Abraham's relatives in Haran. Eleazar returned with the lovely Rebekah, who turned out to be a perfect match for Isaac. "So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death." (24:67)

Although a very old man, Abraham now took another wife for himself, Keturah. She bore him six sons, to whom he bequeathed lands while he still lived. These sons are traditionally believed to be the progenitors of several tribes living on the outskirts of Canaan, including the Midianites. The text also refers to other "concubines" who bore him sons. Upon his death, however, "Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac." He reportedly died at the ripe old age of 175. Isaac and Ishmael were re-united for his funeral and buried him next to Sarah at the cave of Machpelah. (25)

Legacy in Judaism

Abraham is considered the father of the Jewish nation, as their first Patriarch, and having a son (Isaac), who in turn begat Jacob, and from there the Twelve Tribes. To father the nation, God "tested" Abraham with ten tests, the greatest being his willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac. God promised the land of Israel to his children, and that is the first claim of the Jews to Israel.

Judaism ascribes a special trait to each Patriarch. Abraham's was kindness. Because of this, Judaism considers kindness to be an inherent Jewish trait.

Jewish tradition teaches the origins of Abraham's monotheism. His father Terah owned a store that sold idols. Abraham, at the age of three, started to question their authenticity. This culminated in Abraham destroying some idols.

Abraham was then brought to the king, and sentenced to death, along with his brother Haran, unless they recanted their position. Abraham did not, and was thrown into a fire. When Abraham exited unscathed, Haran also would not recant, and was thrown into the fire. Haran, who did not truly believe, died in the fire. This is hinted at in Genesis 11:28.

Abraham then went to the city of Haran with his father and brother. His father died there. God spoke to Abraham for the first time, and told him of great things He would give him if he would leave Haran. Abraham did. He was seventy-five during this time.

Abraham started a school for teaching his beliefs in God, and some say he wrote the Sefer Yetzirah.

Abraham in Christianity

Abraham stands out prominently as the recipient of the promises of God(Gen. 12:2-7, 13:14-17, 15, 17, 18:17-19, 22:17-18, 24:7). In the New Testament Abraham is mentioned prominently as a man of faith (see e.g., Hebrews 11), and the apostle Paul uses him as an example of salvation by faith (in e.g. Galatians 3).

Authors of the New Testament cite Abraham to support belief in the resurrection of the dead. "But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?" He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken." (Mark 12:26-27) "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense." (Hebrews 11:17-19)

The Orthodox view in Christianity is that the chief promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12 is that through Abraham's seed, all the people of earth would be blessed. This promise was fulfilled through Abraham's seed, Jesus. It is also a consequence of this promise that Christianity is open to people of all races and not limited to the Jews.

The Roman Catholic Church calls Abraham "our father in Faith," in the Eucharistic prayer called Roman Canon, recited during Mass.

Christian tradition sees Abraham as a figure of God, and Abraham's attempt to offer up Isaac is a foreshadowing of God's offering of his Son, Jesus (Gen. 22:1-14; Heb. 11:17-19). Just as Isaac carried wood for the sacrifice up the mountain and willingly submitted to being offered, so Jesus carried his Cross up the hill and allowed himself to be crucified.

Abraham in Islam

Abraham (called Ibrahim in Islam) is very important to Islam, both in his own right as prophet and as the father of the prophet Ismail (Ishmael), his firstborn son, who is considered the Father of the Arabs. Abraham is considered one of the first and most important prophets of Islam, and is commonly termed Khalil Ullah, Friend of God. (Islam regards most of the Old Testament "patriarchs" as prophets of God, and hence as Muslims.) While most Muslims believe that Adam, the first man, was the first Muslim, they universally agree that Abraham was a prophet of God.

One must accept him as a prophet to be a true believer in Islam. The direction in which Muslims face when praying is towards a structure Prophet Ibrahim built with his son Ismail, which is the Kabaa of the Holy Mosque in Mecca. Abraham also takes an important role in the one of the Pillars of Islam, the Hajj, which is a pilgrimage to the Holy Mosque. A part of the Hajj is a commemoration of the sacrifice of the wife of Abraham, Hagar, for her son Ismail, when Abraham had settled his wife and son in the valley of Mecca by God's order to pioneer a civilization. (It was from this civilization that the final prophet of Islam, Muhammad, was later born)

Muslims have a specific dua that (in some traditions) they recite daily which asks God to bless both Abraham and Muhammad. Islamic prayer, Salat, that occurs five times a day, also includes several parts that ask God for his blessings upon Abraham. According to Islamic tradition, he is buried in Hebron. In the Masjid al Haram in Mecca, there is an area known as the "station of Ibrahim" (Maqam Ibrahim مقام), which bears an impression of his footprints.

There are numerous references to Abraham in the Qur'an. According to Quran, Abraham is the spritual father of all the believers. He is mentioned as an upright person who was neither a polytheist nor a Christian or a Jew (Quran 3:67). An example is like the one below:

O , ye who believe! Bow down and prostrate yourselves , and worship your Lord , and do good , that haply ye may prosper And strive for Allah with the endeavor which is His right . He hath chosen you and hath not laid upon you in religion any hardship ; the faith of your father Abraham ( is yours ) . He hath named you Muslims of old time and in this ( Scripture ) , that the messenger may be a witness against you , and that ye may be witnesses against mankind . So establish worship , pay the poor due , and hold fast to Allah . He is your Protecting Friend . A blessed Patron and a blessed Helper. (Qur'an 22.78)

According to the Qur'an, Abraham reached the conclusion that anything subject to disappearance could not be worthy of worship, and thus became a monotheist (Quran 6:76-83). As in Jewish belief, Abraham's father (named Azar in Islam) was an idol-maker, and Abraham broke his idols, calling on his community to worship God instead. They then cast him into a fire, which miraculously failed to burn him (Quran 37:83-98). The well-known but wholly non-canonical Qisas al-Anbiya (Ibn Kathir) records considerably more detail about his life, which are commonly referred to in Islamic accounts of his life[1].

Traditionally, Muslims believe that it was Ishmael rather than Isaac whom Abraham was told to sacrifice. In support of this, Muslims note that the text of Genesis, despite specifying Isaac, appears to state that Abraham was told to sacrifice his only son ("Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac," Jewish Publication Society translation, Genesis/Bereshit 22:2) to God. Since Isaac was Abraham's second son, it is arguable there was no time at which he would have been Abraham's "only son", and that this supports the Muslim belief that there was an original text that must have named Ishmael rather than Isaac as the intended sacrifice. The Qur'an itself does not specify by name which son Abraham nearly sacrificed saying only that it was his only son (Quran 37:99-111). Isaac (Ishaq in Islam) is also considered a prophet in Islam.

Also, unlike Jewish belief, Muslims note that nowhere in the Qur'an does God say that it was He who told Abraham to sacrifice his son nor does God say He gave Abraham the dream of the sacrifice. The Qur'an teaches that God never advocates evil. Thus, it is said that for a father to slaughter his son, is an evil that cannot be coming from God; it can only come from Satan. Furthermore, Muslims state that God would not contradict Himself and, therefore, would not order Abraham to commit what he prohibited, even as a test. Since Abraham thought the dream was from God and he proceeded to sacrifice his son Ismail, God sent him the lamb to be sacrificed instead, and to save Ismail and the father-son sacred relationship. Furthermore, Muslims believe that God promised to protect His righteous believers from Satan's tricks, and he saved Abraham and his son, Ismail, from this exact test. It is believed that Ibrahim's dream is a test from God. And when Ibrahim told his dream to Ismail, it is Ismail who convinced Ibrahim to fulfill God's order. So this is test for both Ibrahim, which had longed for a son for so long time, and unto Ismail. When devil teased them before sacrifice, Ibrahim and Ismail throw stone at the devils. This reincarnated as jumrah, one of rite on Hajj.

This entire episode of the sacrifice is regarded as a trial that Abraham had to face from God. It is celebrated by Muslims on the day of Eid ul-Adha. Muslims also believe that Abraham, along with his son Ishmael, rebuilt the Kaaba in Mecca (Quran 2:125).

Abraham in philosophy

Abraham, as a man communicating with God, inspired philosophers, like the existentialists, such as Kierkegaard and Sartre. The "stress of Abraham" was a concept invented by Kierkegaard and later processed by Sartre like this: God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son. How does Abraham know that the voice he hears is really the voice of his God and not of someone else or even the product of a mental condition? Thus, Sartre concludes, even if there are signs in the world, it is to us, humans, to decide how to interpret them and so we are abandoned in our freedom, which is the core of existentialism. This of course makes sense within the context of rationalism but not inside mysticism, the foundation of every religion.

Abraham and his descendants (Biblical Perspective)

For a full account of the historicity of Abrahamic stories in the book of Genesis, see Historicity of the Patriarchs.

Biblical narratives represent Abraham as a wealthy, powerful and supremely virtuous man, but humanly flawed, and when afraid for himself, miscalculating, and a sometimes deceiver and an inconsiderate husband. But his central importance in the book of Genesis, and his portrait as a man favored by God, is unequivocal. Abraham's generations (Hebrew: toledoth, translated to Greek: "Genesis") are presented as part of the crowning explanation of how the world has been fashioned by the hand of God, and how the boundaries and relationships of peoples were established by him.

As the father of Isaac and Ishmael, Abraham is ultimately the common ancestor of the Israelites and their neighbours. As the father of Ishmael, whose twelve sons became desert princes (most prominently, Nebaioth and Kedar), along with Midian, Sheba and other Arabian tribes (25:1-4), the book of Genesis gives a portrait of Isaac's descendents as being surrounded by kindred peoples, who are also oft-times enemies. It seems that some degree of kinship was felt by the Hebrews with the dwellers of the more distant south, and it is characteristic of the genealogies that the mothers (Sarah, the Egyptian Hagar, and Keturah) are in the descending scale, perhaps of purity of blood, or as of purity of relationship, or of connectedness to Sarah: Sarah, her servant, her husband's other wife (or concubine). The Bible says of the Hebrew people: "Your father was a wandering Syrian".

As stated above, Abraham came from Ur in Babylonia to Haran and thence to Canaan. Late tradition supposed that the migration was to escape Babylonian idolatry (Judith 5, Jubilees 12; cf. Joshua 24:2), and knew of Abraham's miraculous escape from death (an obscure reference to some act of deliverance in Isaiah 29:22). The route along the banks of the Euphrates from south to north was so frequently taken by migrating tribes that the tradition has nothing improbable in itself. It was thence that Jacob, the father of the tribes of Israel, came, and the route to Shechem and Bethel is precisely the same in both. A twofold migration is doubted by some, but from what is known of the situation in Canaan in the 15th century B.C.E., not at all impossible.

Further, there is yet another parallel in the story of the conquest by Joshua, partly implied and partly actually detailed (cf. also Joshua 8:9 with Gen. 12:8, 13:3), whence it would appear that too much importance must not be laid upon any ethnological interpretation which fails to account for the three versions. That similar traditional elements have influenced them is not unlikely; but to recover the true historical foundation is difficult. The invasion or immigration of certain tribes from the east of the Jordan; the presence of Aramean blood among the Israelites; the origin of the sanctity of venerable sites — these and other considerations may readily be found to account for the traditions.

Noteworthy coincidences in the lives of Abraham and Isaac, noticed above, point to the fluctuating state of traditions in the oral stage, or suggest that Abraham's life has been built up by borrowing from the common stock of popular lore. More original is the parting of Lot and Abraham at Bethel. The district was the scene of contests between Moab and the Hebrews (cf. perhaps Judges 3), and if this explains part of the story, the physical configuration of the Dead Sea may have led to the legend of the destruction of inhospitable and vicious cities.

Arab connection

Although historians have no non-religious evidence for Abraham's connection to the Arabs, and the historicity of Biblical accounts is questioned by academics (see The Bible and history), some believe that the area outlined as the final destination of Ishmael and his descendants (from Havilah to Assyria) refers to Northern Arabia. The earliest known record of the connection of Abrahams son, Ishmael, to the Arabs is by the Jewish historian Josephus, who approximately 2000 years after such events, asserted that Ishmael was the father of the "Arab nation" [2]. Little other information exists to understand the basis for Josephus' statement or his understanding of what he meant by "Arab nation", although one line in the Book of Jubilees (20:13) also mentions the tradition.

This has led to the notion of identifying Abraham as the father of the Arabs through Ishmael. In addition, Abraham's next wife, Keturah, is said to have borne him a son named Midian who became father of the Midianites[3]. The Midianites are also identified with the Arabs as they are said to have settled east of the Jordan River.^{[citation needed]} In recent times some Christian polemical writers have insisted these claims are spurious and entirely made up by Muslims, although, they existed long before Islam arrived. Some have claimed that all of Ishmael's descendants in fact died out; and that most Arabs are descended from Joktan. The subject continues to be a source of controversy.

Slavery

In Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), one of the characters states that the Bible approves bondage because Hagar was the bond servant of Sarah, and this fact is not condemned in the Bible.

Historical criticism

Writers have regarded the life of Abraham in various ways. He has been viewed as a chieftain of the Amorites, as the head of a great Semitic migration from Mesopotamia; or, since Ur and Haran were seats of Moon-worship, he has been identified with a moon-god. From the character of the literary evidence and the locale of the stories it has been held that Abraham was originally associated with Hebron. The double name Abram/Abraham has even suggested that two personages have been combined in the Biblical narrative; although this does not explain the change from Sarai to Sarah. But it is important to remember that the narratives are not contemporary, and that the interesting discovery of the name Abi-ramu (Abram) on Babylonian contracts of about 2000 B.C.E. does not prove the Abram of the Old Testament to be an historical person, even as the fact that there were Amorites in Babylonia at the same period does not make it certain that the patriarch was one of their number. One remarkable chapter associates Abraham with kings of Elam and the east (Genesis 14). No longer a peaceful sheikh but a warrior with a small army of 318 followers, he overthrows a combination of powerful monarchs who have ravaged the land. The genuineness of the narrative has been strenuously maintained, although upon insufficient grounds.

On the assumption that a recollection of some invasion in remote days may have been current, considerable interest is attached to the names. Of these, Amraphel, king of Shinar (i.e., Babylonia, Genesis 10:10), has been in the past identified with Hammurabi, one of the greatest of the Babylonian kings (ca. 2000 B.C.E.), and since he claims to have ruled as far west as the Mediterranean Sea, the equation has found considerable favour. Apart from chronological difficulties, the identification of the king and his country is far from certain, and at the most can only be regarded as possible. Arioch, king of Ellasar, has been connected with Eriaku of Larsa — the reading has been questioned — a contemporary with Hammurabi. Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, bears what is doubtless a genuine Elamite name, Kudur-Lagamer. Finally, the name of Tid'al, king of Goiim, may be identical with a certain Tudhulu, the son of Gazza, a warrior, but apparently not a king, who is mentioned in a Babylonian inscription, and has been connected by others with Tudhaliya, a predynastic Hittite king. Goiim (the Hebrew for "gentiles" or "nations") may also stand for Gutim, the Guti being a people who lived to the east of Kurdistan. Nevertheless, there is as yet no monumental evidence for the genuineness of the story, and the most that can be said with certainty is that the author (of whatever date) has derived his names from a trustworthy source, and in representing an invasion of Canaan by Babylonian overlords, has given expression to a possible situation. It may be that only the bare outlines are historical. If it is a historical romance (cf., e.g., the book of Judith), it is possible that a writer who lived in the post-exilic age, and was acquainted with Babylonian history, decided to enhance the greatness of Abraham by exhibiting his military success against the monarchs of the Tigris and Euphrates, the high esteem he enjoyed in Canaan, and the practical character displayed in his brief exchange with Melchizedek. The historical section of the article Tithe provides more evidence on the historicity of the meeting with Melchizedek.

Several minimalist professors of archaeology claim that many stories in the Old Testament, including important chronicles about Abraham, Moses, and others, were actually made up by scribes hired by King Josiah (7th century B.C.E.) in order to rationalize monotheistic belief in Yahweh. Mimimalists claim that the neighboring countries that kept many written records, such as Egypt, Assyria, etc., have no writings about the stories of the Bible or its main characters before 650 B.C.E., and vehemently dispute the validity any evidence to the contrary. Such claims are detailed in "Who Were the Early Israelites?" by William G. Dever, (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI, 2003). Another such book by Neil A. Silberman and colleagues is "The Bible Unearthed," (Simon and Schuster, New York, 2001). Of course, the historical annals and tributes to "great kings" are not well-served by preserving great defeats by their enemies (in this case, the Hebrews), and therefore, such records are understandably scanty. Also, many great kings did not long survive great defeats, as it was a sign to their followers that these "great leaders" had lost the favor of their God, gods and goddesses, and the kings were quickly assassinated and replaced.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• The 1911 Encyclopedia.
• Genesis

See also

• Abraham in all three Abrahamic faiths
• Abraham's sacrifice: an Islamic perspective
• GospelTruth — God's promises to Abraham according to Christian belief
• Biblical Archeology — Bible-related article about Abraham
• The Legacy of Abraham — Time magazine cover story
• Children of Abraham — episode of the weekly Minnesota Public Radio show Speaking of Faith
• Abraham from the Columbia Encyclopedia

• Abrahamic religions
• Abraham's bosom
• List of founders of major religions

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

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