The subject of the faith of A. seems to have formed a stock subject of discussion in the Jewish synagogue. It is alhuled to in 1 Mac 2-'- ' Was not A. found faithful in temptation, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness ? ' The ' locus classicus' for the subject was (in 15"; and the question propounded by the Jewish teachers turned upon the nature of the faith which was counted to A. for righteousness. To Philo the whole history of A. was merely an allegory descriptive of the truly wise man whose inner nature is made one with the divine by teaching (SiSao-xaXfa), as Isaac's by nature (0iVis), and Jacob's by discipline ((5crK?)i7is). In Philo's treatment of the subject, ' faith,' which frees the soul from the dominion of the senses, was ' the queen of virtues ' (de Abrnh. ii. p. 39) ; and Philo refers to Gn 15" at least 10 times (see Lightfoot, Gal. p. 158, and Ryle, Philo ond Holy Scripture, p. 55) for the purpose of indicating the supreme excellence of A.'s faith.
Rabbinical Judaism did not adopt the symbolical and abstract explanation which satisfied the Alex, philosopher. It regarded A. as inseparable from A.'s seed, and the faith of A. as consisting in the fulfilment of the law.
Against this Rabbinic interpretation St. Paul directs his argument in Ro 4'-* and Gal 3. Faith with the apostle is the motive power of the whole spiritual life, and he lays stress on the fact that the mention of A.'s faith precedes the instituticm of circumcision. The faith of the patriarch was not due to the rite ; it was only ratified and con- firmed by it (cf. Ro 4*-'- and the notes of Sanday and Headlam). The same subject comes under discussion in the Ep. of St. James ; and there the apostle of the circumcision safeguards, as it were, the Christian position from a perversion of the Pauline teaching. With St. James 'the faith' of A. is not so much the motive power of spiritual life as the settled belief, the genuineness of which can only be tested by action (Ja 2", see Mayor, in loc).
Yet another reference to A.'s faith is found in He 11*-!', where the patriarch is described as having been ' enabled to work towards the fulfilment of
ABRAHAM
ABRAHAM'S BOSOM
God's counsel by his trust in the unseen' (Westcott, in loc). The three features of the patriarch's life which the writer of the Ep. selects for the illus- tration of this ' faith,' arc (1) self-surrender, in the departure from his home (v.") ; (2) patience, in the pilptiira's expectation of a future abiding place (vv,'-""); (3) influence, since his faith, affecting Sarah's faith, led to the fulfilment of the promise
(VV. ■!•").
Later Jewish teaching, dwelling on the same tlienie, says, ' In like manner thou findest that A. our father inherited this world and the world to come solely by the merit of faith whereby he believed on the Lord' (Mechilta on Ex 14^').
V. JEWISH TltADlTKix. — It was natural that Jewish tradition should be busy with regard to the great founder of the people of Israel. From the fact that A. received the divine call in Ur of the Chaldees, and ur in Heb. meant 'flame,' the strange storj' was invented of his having been cast into a fiery furnace by Ximrod. This legend appears in various forms. One of the best known is that which is recorded in the Targ. of Jonathan on (jn 11-* ' And it was when Nimrod had cast A. into the furnace of fire because he would not worship his idol, and the fire had no power to burn liiin, that llaran's heart became doubtful, saying. If Nimrod overcome, I will be on his side ; but if A. overcome, I will be on his side. And when all the people wlio were there saw that the fire had no power over A., they said i.i their hearts. Is not Haran the brother of A. full of divinations and charms, and has he not uttered spells over tlie tire that it should not burn his brother? Immediately there fell fire from the high heavens and consumed him ; and Haran died in sight of Terah his father, where he was burned in the land of his nativity, in the furnace of fire which the Chaldaians had made for A. his brother' (Etheridge's tr.).
Another version of the story appears i:i Bereshith Unhha, where A. refuses to obey Nimrod's command that he should worship fire ; and suggests that it would be more reasonable to worship water that quenches fire, or tlie clouds that give the rain, or the wind that drives the clouds ; finally, he exhorts Nimrod to worship the one God. Nimrod causes A. to be thrown into a fiery furnace ; but God delivers him from its Hanies. For other instances of the Habbinic treatment of A.'s life, see Weber, System der AltnynwiiKj. PalSntin. Tlirnlofile, Leipzig, 1880. In Pirk'e Ahlmlh (v. 4) it is said, ' With ten tempta- tions was A. our father tempted, and he withstood them all ; to show how great was the love of A. our father.' For the ways in which the Kabbins reckoned up these ten temptations, see Taylor, Saiiin'jt I if the. Jetrish Fathers, p. 04.