I. ABRAHAM IN HOLY SCRIPTURE
For the determination of the period in which Abraham lived, recourse was usually had to the synchronism with Hammurabi, the Babylonian king who lived around 2000 B.C. and who was identified with 'Amraphel, king of Shinar, against whom Abraham fought (Gen. 14:9); but recent discoveries have made it possible to fix the date of Hammurabi’s reign between 1728 and 1685 B.C., so that the identification with 'Amraphel appears increasingly problematic. According to the data of the Bible, Abraham was born 1,200 years before the founding of the Temple, set at 968 B.C., i.e., in 2168 B.C. (cf. Gen. 21:5; 25:26; 47:9; Ex. 12:40; 1 Kings 6:1). The setting of the biblical narrative about Abraham finds correspondence and confirmation in the information we have about the post-apocalyptic East contemporary with him.Abraham’s family, which originated in Ur (q.v.), was idolatrous (Josh. 24:2; Judg. 5:7–9; cf. Gen. 31:19, 35), and some descendants of Terah bear in their names traces of the moon god Sin, whose cult had its central seat at Ur. Terah, who belonged to the Semitic nomadic tribes settled in Lower Mesopotamia, at the time of the disturbances following the fall of the 3rd Dynasty of Ur in 1940 B.C., moved northward to Haran or Harran, a transit station for passage into Canaan and a city devoted, like Ur, to the god Sin. Amid the polytheism and immorality of his homeland, Abraham had remained faithful to the Lord Yahweh, not without particular divine assistance. After his father’s death, God addressed to him the definitive invitation (He had already spoken to him at Ur, cf. Acts 7:2) to leave his kindred and his country to go to the land that He would show him. On this occasion, God blessed Abraham for the first time, granting him His favor and assistance, and promised him an immense posterity of great renown. Abraham would moreover be a source of blessing for all nations (Gen. 12:3), inasmuch as the Messiah, the Savior of the world, would be among his descendants.
At 75 years of age, Abraham, with his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot, son of his deceased brother Haran, left Haran, taking with him his wealth and his servants—some hundreds of people (cf. Gen. 14:14)—and journeyed southwestward to the land of Canaan, which he crossed from north to south, moving in various directions. He is found at Shechem, at the terebinth of Moreh in the heart of the land, in the gorge between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, then further south at Bethel, and finally in the extreme southern region of the Negeb. At the terebinth of Moreh the Lord appeared to him and promised to give to him and his descendants the land where he was, and Abraham built an altar there and at Bethel (Gen. 12:5–9). Because of a famine he was obliged to go down to Egypt, which the Nile saved from drought, and to prevent the king, noticing Sarah’s beauty, from taking her for his harem, he advised her to say she was his sister—since she was indeed a half-sister by the same father (Gen. 20:12)—but the Lord saw to it that the woman was not violated and that the incident redounded to Abraham’s advantage.
Returning to Canaan, to avoid disputes with his nephew Lot over the extensive pastures needed for their flocks, he separated from him, leaving him the territory of the Pentapolis. God then renewed His promises (Gen. 13:14–17). Abraham pitched his tents at the terebinth of Mamre near Hebron, where he dedicated an altar to the Lord, consecrating the place already devoted to Canaanite worship. A military expedition enabled Abraham to test his strength. After twelve years of tribute to the king of Elam, who at that time was preeminent in Mesopotamia and the Near East, the five kings of the Palestinian Pentapolis attempted to throw off the yoke, but against them marched four eastern kings: 'Amraphel king of Shinar (or Sin'ar), Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim. Among the prisoners they took was Lot, whom Abraham, after a long pursuit of the victorious troops, rescued in a swift night attack. Many attempts have been made to identify the names of the four eastern kings in contemporary documents, but the scarcity of these does not permit definitive conclusions.
On his return from the expedition Abraham met Melchizedek (q.v.), king of Salem and priest of “God Most High,” who offered to the exhausted troops and in sacrifice to the Lord bread and wine, blessing Abraham, to whom he gave a tenth of the spoils (Gen. 14:17–24). In a new theophany Abraham asked God that His promise be fulfilled in an heir, reaffirmed his boundless faith, and “God reckoned it to him as righteousness,” confirming His word with a solemn covenant concluded according to Babylonian custom: God, in the symbol of a burning torch, passed between the halves of the sacrificial victims (Gen. 15). Sarah, irredeemably barren, to obtain a son availed herself of the right granted by Babylonian law (cf. Code of Hammurabi, §§144–47) and offered Abraham her maidservant Hagar to bear him a son who would by right be considered the son of the mistress. At 86 years of age, Abraham thus had Ishmael (Gen. 16). When he was 99 years old, in an important apparition, God further specified the terms of the covenant made between Him and Abraham. The Lord repeated the promise of a most numerous posterity (Gen. 17:2, 4–6) and of a land (v. 8), while Abraham was to commit himself to worship Yahweh as the one true God (v. 7), to remain faithful to the standard of perfection He had established (v. 1), and to have faith in the stability of the promises (vv. 1, 17–19). It was a conscious adherence to God, toward Whom he oriented his entire life and in Whose hands he entrusted the future. The visible sign of the covenant is circumcision (q.v.) in the male (vv. 11–14), by which the descendants of Abraham become heirs to the promises made to the patriarch (v. 12). Finally, the Lord announced the imminent birth of a son to Sarah, who would be the direct heir of the divine promises. Ishmael too received his share of blessing (vv. 15–22). On that occasion Abraham circumcised himself, Ishmael, who was then thirteen, and all the men of his household, including a hundred foreign-born servants (vv. 25–27).
The new orientation of Abraham’s life was expressed in the change, willed by God, of the patriarch’s name and that of his wife. Abraham would no longer be 'Abhrām (the name is attested in Mesopotamia at the beginning of the 1st millennium in the forms A-ba-am-ra-ma, A-ba-ra-ma, A-ba-am-ram and probably means “He is great as the father,” i.e., of noble birth), but 'Abhrāhām, which the Bible (Gen. 17:5) interprets as “Father of a multitude of peoples” because of the assonance between the ending -hām and the Hebrew hamōn, “multitude.” Sarah, until then called Sarai (Assyrian Sa-ra-ai), had her name changed to the later form Sarāh, “princess,” corresponding to the Babylonian Sarraṭu, “queen.” Later, at the terebinth of Mamre, in a mysterious apparition of three men whom Abraham hosted, God confirmed to him the promise of an heir despite Sarah’s incredulity. On that occasion God confided to His friend His intention to destroy the sinful Pentapolis. Abraham’s generous intercession did not suffice to avert the scourge, from which only Lot escaped (Gen. 19:29). From Mamre, Abraham moved to the Negeb, settling in Gerar of the Philistines, where once again he succeeded in rescuing Sarah from the desires of King Abimelech, with whom Abraham formed a friendship (Gen. 20:1–18). When he was 100 years old, Abraham had the long-awaited heir: Isaac (Gen. 21:1–7). Regularly circumcised, his weaning was celebrated with great festivity (v. 8). Later the child aroused Sarah’s jealousy, and she demanded the expulsion of Ishmael from her house. Abraham, obeying the Lord, separated from his firstborn son (Gen. 21:1–21; cf. 25:12–16). In Philistia Abraham was respected and feared, and he secured, through a legal transaction, the right of ownership to the well
Bersabea, important for the prosperity of its flocks, lies 40 km in a straight line from Gerar. But God put Abraham’s faith to a severe test: He commanded him to go to a mountain in the “land of Moriah” to offer Isaac there as a sacrifice. Along the way, the innocent questions of his son tore at his heart, yet they did not shake his faith or his spirit of absolute obedience and love. By commanding the killing of his son, in whom the promises were bound up, God was asking Abraham for an act of heroic faith, and by preventing its completion—through the intervention of an angel—He condemned the practice of human sacrifice then in use among the Canaanites among whom Abraham lived. (v. ISAAC)
Sarah died at the age of 127 in Hebron. To bury her, Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah from the Hittites. The transaction is narrated with abundant precise details because it marked the first piece of land permanently owned by the Hebrews in Canaan (Gen 23:1–20). Another narrative, rich in Oriental folklore, recounts the negotiations conducted by Abraham’s faithful servant to choose a wife for Isaac. The chosen bride was a relative: Rebecca, the niece of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, for the patriarch, for ethnic and religious reasons, refused to allow a foreigner for his son (Gen 24). After Sarah’s death, Abraham took another wife named Keturah (Gen 25:1–6), by whom he became the forefather of various tribes dwelling to the south and southeast of Palestine in the steppes. He then, in accordance with the customs of the time, secured Isaac’s inheritance by distancing the other sons from II.
At the age of 175, Abraham “died at a ripe old age, an old man full of years,” and was buried by Isaac and Ishmael in the cave of Machpelah beside Sarah (Gen 25:7–11). The memory of Abraham remained alive throughout all the centuries of the history of the chosen people, who inherited from him the messianic promise.
In the New Testament, the Virgin Mary and Zechariah sing of God’s promises and covenant with Abraham (Luke 1:55–73), which are fulfilled in Jesus, the “son” of the patriarch (Matt 1:1; Luke 3:34). Jesus Himself gives this title to a sick woman and to Zacchaeus—titles of which the Jews were particularly proud (Luke 13:16; 19:9; Matt 3:9; Luke 3:8; John 8:39)—but He declares that it is not carnal descent but the imitation of Abraham’s works that avails (John 8:33–44). Abraham is in heaven (Luke 13:28), and Jews and Gentiles will rest in his “bosom” (Luke 13:28; 16:22–30).
Peter, Stephen, and Paul recall the Abrahamic promises (Acts 3:25; 7:2–8, 17; Heb 6:13; 2 Cor 11:22), which are fulfilled in Christ for all who, through faith, are children of the great patriarch (Rom 9:7–9; Gal 3:29; 4:22–31). Abraham is the exemplar of the economy of promise (ἐπαγγελία)—opposed to the bilateral Mosaic covenant—which finds its full realization in the New Testament (Gal 3:16–18). The exaltation of Abraham’s faith (Rom chap. 4; Gal 3:6–9; Heb 11:8–19; Jas 2:21–23) demonstrates the superiority of Christ’s priesthood over the Aaronic priesthood, based on the encounter between Abraham and Melchizedek (Heb chap. 7)—two classic chapters of Pauline preaching.
In the time of Pope Damasus (366–384), Abraham’s name was inserted into the Roman Canon of the Mass, and his memory has been marked in the martyrologies since the ninth century on October 9. He is also invoked in prayers for the dying.
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**ABRAHAM’S BOSOM** — In the well-known parable of the rich man and Lazarus, after his death the beggar Lazarus is carried by angels “into Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22–23). The expression, rare and ancient in rabbinic writings, is frequent in patristic literature, in the funeral liturgies of all rites, and in Christian inscriptions. With few exceptions, the early ecclesiastical writers understood it in a metaphorical sense Limbo (v.) of the patriarchs for the pre-Christian era and then to Paradise (St. Augustine, *Quaestiones evangeliorum*, II, 38: PL 35, 1353). St. Thomas justified this latter usage (*Summa Theologiae*, Supplement, q. 69, art. 4, corpus and ad 2).
According to modern exegetes, the metaphor may have a twofold meaning. Some hold that it refers to the celestial banquet at which Abraham is the host; one who sits at his right, reclining on a low couch and leaning on his left elbow, can easily lean back upon his breast: *in sinu* (John 13:23; Pliny, *Epistles* 4.22.4). Others prefer to see in resting in Abraham’s bosom the paternal protection and tenderness of the father of the faithful (Rom 4:16–17), who receives his children into eternal happiness, united to him in intimacy (cf. John 1:23; Luke 13:28; and the apocryphal 4 Maccabees 13:17, where, however, “the bosom” is likely a Christian interpolation).
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2. ABRAHAM IN THE AGGADIC LEGEND
According to this legend, Abraham’s father was a general in the army of Nimrod and took the initiative to seek the truth
Arriving at the knowledge of the uniqueness of God, Nimrod, king and astrologer, convinced in his own mind that he was God and foreseeing the birth of a child destined to dethrone him, gathered seventy thousand pregnant women and had their newborn infants killed; but ABRAHAM remained safe, hidden in a cave. When grown, ABRAHAM became a disciple of SHEM, from whom he learned the art of fixing the leap year. He did not participate in the sin of the Tower of Babel, but by renouncing the spoils of war after his victory over the kings of the Pentapolis, he sanctified the name of God. Since, according to his astrological predictions, he believed he would have no descendants, he was reproached by the Lord, who then indicated to him the four empires that would in the future enslave Israel. The blame for the incident must be ascribed to ABRAHAM, who had presented SARAH to the king of Egypt as his sister rather than as his wife. ABRAHAM loved the land of Canaan because he hoped that his descendants would be a people of farmers. The shepherds of LOT did not hesitate to graze their flocks in the fields of others, unlike the shepherds of ABRAHAM, whence the disagreements and the separation. The change of ABRAM’s name to ABRAHAM gives rise to various interpretations: father, elect, beloved, king, powerful, most faithful among the nations. The three angels who visited ABRAHAM were MICHAEL, RAPHAEL, and GABRIEL, who assumed human likeness to visit him. ABRAHAM chose the cave of MACPELAH as the place of his burial because there the lamb destined for the angels’ banquet had taken refuge; and there ADAM and EVE rested with extinguished torches beside their bed, while a sweet fragrance filled the entire cave.
Eugenio Zolli
10. Iconography
Cemetery art prefers to represent ABRAHAM in the sacrifice of ISAAC, according to various schemes: ABRAHAM brandishing the knife in his right hand while his left rests on ISAAC’s head or leads him by the hand; ISAAC, for his part, kneels beside the altar or carries the wood. Occasional examples show father and son at prayer or ABRAHAM pointing to the fire. A ram, the divine hand, or a group of doves completes the scene. Sculpture sometimes represents ISAAC on the air together with the angel. The theme already appears in the synagogue of Dura Europos (AD 245) and in mosaics, glass, lamps, rings, gems, spoons, and medals. If originally it adumbrated the idea of salvation, Constantinian art later made it a theme parallel to the scene of the Lord’s Passion, interpreting it therefore in a typological sense long in vogue. Finally, the basilican decoration of Ravenna lent it the well-known Eucharistic meaning. It is likely that the same meaning was adumbrated at Milan and Nola, as also in the first mosaic panel of S. Maria Maggiore in Rome, where the meeting of ABRAHAM and MELCHIZEDEK is depicted, followed by the historical scenes of the separation of LOT from ABRAHAM and the vision at MAMRE.Among the great Renaissance artists who treated the sacrifice of ABRAHAM, besides Gozzoli in the Campobasso and Sodoma in the Duomo of Pisa, are Titian in S. Maria della Salute in Venice, Tiepolo in the Archiepiscopal Palace of Udine, and Tintoretto (Galleria degli Uffizi); we may also recall the painting by C. Allori in the Pitti Gallery. The scene of ABRAHAM’s sacrifice was assigned as the theme for the competition (1402) for the second door of the Florentine Baptistery.
Among the works of foreign artists, those by Rembrandt and Rubens are noteworthy. — See Pl. VIII.
11. Popular poetry and theatre
The figure of ABRAHAM inspired a poem of 30 octaves, of which early-19th-century prints are known. In the theatre, mention should be made of a French medieval mystery play and a Rappresentatione di Abraham e Isac by Feo Belcari.12. Apocalypse of ABRAHAM
A Jewish apocryphon of the late 1st century AD, preserved in Slavonic. The first part (chaps. 1–8) contains the story of ABRAHAM and his father TERAH in accordance with Jewish legend (cf. B. Beer, Leben Abrahams nach Auffassung der jüdischen Sage, Leipzig 1859). The second part (chaps. 9–32) is an amplification of Gen. 15:1 ff.Jewish tradition—perhaps presupposed also in John 8:56—spoke of a revelation to ABRAHAM during his sacrifice (Gen. 15:9 ff.). The texts have been collected in H. Strack and P. Billerbeck, Das Evangelium nach Markus, Lukas und Johannes und die Apostelgeschichte, II, Munich 1924, pp. 525 ff. (cf. also I, 468; IV, 1065, 1115). The Apocalypse of ABRAHAM is a Jewish writing; e.g., the tree of knowledge in paradise is the vine (chap. 23) in conformity with Jewish beliefs (Strack-Billerbeck, op. cit., III, pp. 250, 609, 646); the angel AZAZEL is a figure of Jewish demonology (Strack-Billerbeck, op. cit., III, p. 781 ff.). The ring Iaoel (a kind of precursor of METATRON) alongside MICHAEL (as also in a devotional tablet from Pozzuoli of the 2nd–3rd century AD) shows a tendency toward Gnostic speculation. Toward the end (chap. 20), certain hints suppose revision by a Christian (Gnostic).
The Slavonic Apocalypse of ABRAHAM differs from the Book of ABRAHAM, also called “Apocalypse,” among the Esthian Gnostics (Epiphanius, Haer., 39, 5, I ed. Holl, II, p. 75, 1 ff.): the quotations from the Apocalypse of ABRAHAM among the Jews, given by Theodore bar Koni (C. H. Puech in Mélanges Cumont, Brussels 1936, pp. 951 ff.), reveal a quite different character.