Abraham Ben Terah

• General Notes
  • # Note: Apollo in Greece, 'Akenere' Apopi in Egypt, Puzar-mana in Chaldaic-Ugaritic
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        Departed Haran in abt 2031B.C. [Gen 12:4] to go to the land of Canaan [Gen 12:5]. Abraham or Abram, biblical patriarch,according to the Book of Genesis (see 11:27-25:10), progenitor of the Hebrews, who probably lived in the period between 2000 and 1500 BC. Abraham is regarded by Muslims, who call him Ibrahim, as an ancestor of the Arabs through Ishmael. He was once considered a contemporary of Hammurabi, king of Babylon Because the biblical account of his life is based on traditions preserved by oral transmission rather than by historical records, no biography in the present sense can be written. Originally called Abram, Abraham was the son of Terah, adescendant of Shern, and was born in the city of Ur of theChaldees, where he married his half sister Saral, or Sarah. They left Ur with his nephew Lot and Lot's family under a devine inspiration and went to Haran. Receiving a promise that God would make him a "great nation," Abram moved on to Canaan, where he lived as a nomad. Famine led him to Egypt but he was driven out for misrepresenting Saral as his sister. Again in Canaan,after quarrels between Abram and Lot and their herdsmen, they separated, Lot remaining near Sodom and Abram continuing his nomadic life. He later rescued Lot from the captivity of King Cliedorhiomer of Elam and was blessed by the priest Melchinedek, king of Salem. Then God promised Abram a son by his wife Sarai,repeated his earlier promises, and confirmed these by a covenant. when this covenant was later renewed, the rite of circumcision was established, Abram's name became Abraham, and Sarai became Sarah. God subsequently repeated his promise of a son by Sarah by means of visiting angels. when God informed Abraham that he intended to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of the wickedness of their inhabitants, Abraham pleaded with him to spare the cities. Eventually it was agreed that God would spare the cities if he could find only ten righteous men. The ten men could not be found, and God destroyed both cities. Ismael, first son of Abraharn, whose mother was Hagar, an Egyptian slave, was born when Abraham was 86 years old. Isaac,born to Abraham by Sarah in his 100th year, was the first of his legitimate descendants. God demanded that Abraham sacrafice Isaac as a test of faith, but because of Abraham's unquestioning compliance, God permitted him to spare Isaac and rewarded Abraham with a format renewal of his promise. After Sarah died,Abraham married Keturah and had six son by her. He died at the biblical age of 175 and was buried beside Sarah in the Cave of Machpelah, in what is now Hebron, West Bank. Christians,Muslims, and Jews accept Abraham as an epitome of the man of unswerving faith, a view reflected in the New Testament.