"ABRAHAM. — The narrative of the patriarch Abraham is contained in Gn ll^'-25i', and, as it stands before us, consi-sts of a series of con- secutive stories or scenes from the patriarch's life. It make no pretence of being a complete biography. It may be doubted whether the compiler of the Ilex, had any intention of pre- serving all the extant traditions respecting A. His purpose seems rather to have been to select from the traditions current among the Hebrews such narratives as would best illustrate the origin of the Isr. nation, and would best set forth how the divine Providence had sliielded the infancy of the chosen race, and had predestined it both to inherit the land of Can. and to be a blessing among the nations of the earth. As would be natural under the circumstances, the traditions relating to A. have special reference to sacred localities in Pal. ; but unfortunately they do not alford any very precise dntn for determining the age in which he lived. The compiler gives us a picture of A. which he derived apimrently from three groups of tradition. We will (irst briefly summarise the narrative, and then indicate the
• Tho»f critics who (as Kolm, Jenu of Kat. v. 287-289 ; cf. IIi.1t/.inann. Uandkomm.\.'V»f.. Kinl.tiim yr>. |i.Hs«f.. with tliu refi-rencesi r.'Kard Mt 24'''-". Mk l;i>«". asnn InilcpiMiilunt .Ii-wlsli (or .Jewish rhrlslian) a|Kicalypsc> orlclnatlni: shortly bc- fort' A.i». "tt. which has bfon Inmritonitcd with our Lord's ills- course, can, of course. wlo|>t still more reailily llie same .■xplanatlon ; but It Is illDlcult to thint that even tln'Se verses, th<ini?h particular phrases nniy hove been nio<llllefl In the course of oral trnnsnilsslun, arc wtihoul a subslanttal basis In the words of Christ.
+ Uousset (/Vr AntUhriHl, ISOT, pp. 14. »S, 100 f, 141 f.). treating Mt ■J4i'i'(=Mk 1:)"') as purely eschatolotdcal, sup- poses the reference to be to the future Antichrist, who Is frequentlv (lescribeil (on the basis of ■-' 'I'h i') as slltlne In the Teliilile. anil recelvlni; divine honours {f.y. by Irenn-us. v. Ht. 1. .SO. 4 ; see further passajres In Uousset. p. 104 f.); but it may be doubted whether the view of Mt -.'4"*, up.ui which this ex- planation depends, is correct.
•• Convrinht. 1M»8, by
portions which belong to the separate sources of tradition, according to the generally accepted results of critical analysis.
Abiam, Nahor, and Haran are sons of Terah. Their home is in Ur of the Chaldees (Gn IT*--'), where Haran dies. A. marries Sarai, who was his half-sister (Gn 20'-). A. and his wife, with their nephew Lot, Ilaran's son, accompany Terah, who migrates from Ur of the Chaldees, and journeys to Haran, where Terah dies (Gn II*'- s^, Jos 24-). Terah is said to have had Canaan in view when he set out upon his journey (Gn 11*'). A. in Haran receives the divine command to quit his country and kindred, and accompanied by Lot enters the land of Can. He traverses the whole countrj' ; and we are told in particular of Shechem and Bethel being places at which he halted, and, as his custom was, built an altar to .1" (Gn 12'-^). Driven by a famine, A. journeys to Egj'pt, where, in cowardly fear for his own life, he says that Sarai is his sister, and does not acknowledge her as his wife. The princes of Egjpt bring the report of Sarai's beauty to I'haraoh king of Egj-pt, who sends to fetch her, has her placed in his own harem, and loads A. with presents on her account. The intervention of J" alone delivers the mother of the promised race from her peril. I'haraoh learns of the wrong he is doing, through the plagues which befall his house. In great dudgeon he summons A., justly rejjroaches him for the decep- tion, and dismisses him and his belongings from
E.gypt (1-J' '--")•
A. and Lot return from Egypt to the district of Bethel ; but their possessions in flocks and herd? have greatly increased. It proves impossible for two such large droves to keep close together. Constant disputes break out between the retainers of the two chiefs. It is evident that they must sei)arate. A., though the elder, proposes the separation, and offeis Lot the choice as to the region to which he shall go. Lot choo.scs the rich pasture-land of the Jordan valley, and departs. A. remains on the soil which has been promised him, and receives as a reward for his unselfishness a renewal of the divine prediction that his de- •scendants .shall inhabit it as their own (13). A. removes to Hebron (13'*) , and while he is encamped there war breaks out in the immediate neighbour- hood. The kings of the towns in the .lordan valley rebel against Chediu- - Laoiuer (Kudur- Lagamar), the great Elamite king. The king of Elam with his vassals, the kings of Shinar, Ella.sar, and Goyyim (?), march against the rebels, defeat them in a great battle, and retire, carrying off many prisoners and rich booly from Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot is one of the captives. A. is no sooner apprised of this than he arms his 318 retainers, and summons to his aid Mamre, Kshcol, and Aner, the three chieftains of the Hebron district, with whom he is confederate. The com- bined force overtakes the victorious army at Dan, in the N. of Canaan, sur])rises them by a night attack, routs them, and recovers Lot and the other prisoners, and all the booty. On the way back A. is met in the plain of Shavch by the king of Sodom, and Melchizeiiek king of Salem. Mel- chizedek solemnly bles.ses A. for his heroic deed ; and the Heb. patriarch, in recognition of Mil- chizcdek's priestly office, gives him a tenth of the spoil. On the other hand, he proudly declines the offer which the king of Sodom makes, that A. should receive the spoil for him.self ; he asks only for the share that would compensate his con- federates, Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner, and their men (14).