The Bible is a sacred book for adherents of the Christian direction in religion. The meaningful meaning of the stories described, the moralistic background and eternal relevance make biblical stories interesting for generations of any era. The chapters of the Old and New Testaments are reread by Christians from time to time, since the message embedded in them is rarely revealed immediately and acquires new colors over time.

History of appearance

The parable describing the sacrifice of Isaac by father Abraham tells how a biblical character, as a token of love for God, gave him the most valuable thing in life. The significance of this legend cannot be overestimated. Abraham was the first to speak to God after the Flood. The father of many nations and spiritual ancestor made a covenant that helped save humanity. From the moment Abraham is mentioned in the Bible, the patriarchal period begins, which lasts until the moment when the last Jew left Egypt.

Today, sacrifices seem savagery, although for the Old Testament times it was a necessary action and a normal occurrence. Innocent souls sacrificed were considered the most precious gift from humanity. The description of the nuances that exist in reality adds a special relevance to the plots. For example, Mount Moriah, where Abraham slaughtered a ram instead of his son, is in fact the location of the Temple in Jerusalem. erected it in honor of the Lord.

Theologians associate the parable of Abraham with the sacrifice of Jesus. A peculiar type of the salvation of mankind lies in the act of the prophet. Like him, God sacrificed his son, who did not resist the will of his father.

Abraham's action is also viewed from a different angle. They see it as a way to get what they want from God, despite the time of waiting for the promised. According to the logic of believers, it will be granted in a timely manner. God must know that a person is ready to give the most precious thing as a token of love for him. Divine mercy is revealed to biblical heroes and followers of Christianity in an individual way, and this is worth remembering when rereading the lines of sacred texts.

Abraham in religion

Abraham's date of birth is 1812 BC. According to legend, the hero lived for 175 years and found peace in 1637 BC. The meaning of the character's name is "father of the multitude". His story is a legend about the life of a patriarch who had a dialogue with the Lord after the Flood. A true God-lover was ready to do anything for the sake of faith.

The biography of the character is contained in the Book of Genesis. Abraham was born in the ancient Sumerian state, Ur of the Chaldees, located in the present territory of Iran. The character had two brothers: Aran and Nahor. Terah, the father of the hero, died at the age of 205. Abraham was married to Sarah, who was incapable of procreation. Together with her and her nephew, he went on the instructions of the Lord to the land, which the Almighty should point to. God promised Abraham that he would become the progenitor of a great nation, receive the blessing of the Lord, and forever keep his name through the ages.

At the age of 75, Abraham and his family left Harran and went to Canaan, where God appeared to him, bequeathing the land to the offspring of the hero. In honor of this good deed, the man erected an altar in the city in the name of the Lord. Then Abraham went east, and subsequently south, reaching Egypt. The scripture separately tells that Sarah, the wife of Abraham, was taken to the house of the pharaoh, for which the Egyptian ruler suffered punishment. Having become rich in Egypt, Abraham returned to one of the points of his route, leading people and cattle. The travelers met with obstacles in the face of people who lived before them in this area, and decided to look for other lands.

The issue of procreation was resolved by Abraham with the help of Sarah's servant, whose name was Hagar. The first-born was named Ismail (or Ishmael). When Abraham was 99 years old, he made a covenant with the Lord. The first-born from Sarah God ordered to name Isaac. The rules of the covenant were to apply to the descendants of Isaac, not to the children of Ishmael. God's friend promised to circumcise the boys of their family in exchange for the land of Canaan and the veneration of Abraham's descendants. Many events are described in Scripture, telling about the life of Abraham, but the main point of his biography is that he kills his son Isaac. The sacrifice made to God becomes his only heir.

The “burnt offering” was offered by Abraham without hesitation. At the moment of bringing the knife over his son on the altar, which was located on Mount Moriah, Abraham saw an angel. He said that the prophet's faith was confirmed, and the sacrifice was not needed.

This action of a man is explained by his boundless faith and fidelity. Abraham was convinced that if the Lord promised to produce offspring from Isaac, then Providence would find a way to resurrect his beloved son.

Abraham died at 175 years old. The burial place of the biblical character is the Machpele Cave, where his wife Sarah also rests.

• Abraham is a hero whose name is often mentioned in the Old and New Testaments. Only Moses enjoys the same popularity. The ancestor of Jesus has become a symbol through which the audience realizes the divinity of Jesus Christ and his sublimity. The birth of Christ is the fulfillment of the covenant Abraham made with God. At the same time, his death repeats the sacrifice made by his father in the name of faith. In the New Testament, Abraham is considered the bearer of faith and the teacher who broadcasts its main principles. By his example, he is a model of righteousness and piety.

• Abraham is a character that appears in different religions. In the Koran, he is the prophet of Islam, bearing the name Ibrahim. His biography is similar to the biography from the Bible. It is curious that in the Jewish midrash Abraham owns the idea of ​​monotheism, monotheism. According to legend, the hero is the first to understand that God is one. At the age of three, he received his sight, realizing that the idols of his ancestors were not those who were worthy of his faith, and became a follower of the Lord. In the tradition of Jewish beliefs, Abraham is considered the creator of the Book of Creation. This literary source turned out to be the basis of the Kabbalistic direction.
• The hero's sacrifice is interpreted by scholars and philosophers in different ways. Scholars of biblical texts adhere to the idea that the sacrifice of the innocent Isaac becomes an example of the refusal to give to the Lord in the form of human life. There is an opinion that over time the Bible has undergone changes and modifications. It is likely that in the original version of the plot, Isaac was killed, but after the cancellation of the sacrifices, the text was edited.

• Initially, the name of the hero was Abram, which means "high father." His wife's name is Sarah, which means lady. The Lord commanded the couple to change their names at the moment when he announced that their role for the future of mankind is significant. Subsequently, the interlocutor of God was called Abraham. The name is interpreted as "father of the multitude". The name of the prophet's wife was Sarah, "the lady of the multitude." This technique in literature and the plot twist in writing testify to the exaltation of the character in the eyes of believers and in religion.

About why indications of the age of persons about whom the Bible narrates are so important, that little Abram answered Nimrod, what events are connected with the places where he stopped, about “good” and “evil” old age, “Chaldean fire” and “stolen saints” ” says Archpriest Oleg Stenyaev, continuing to analyze the Book of Genesis, chapter 12.

The meaning of age

“And Abram went, as the Lord told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran."(Gen. 12:4).

Some clarification for bible lovers. If the Bible says the age of a person, then, as a rule, the Bible praises him.

« Get out of your land, says the Lord. Our land, that is, our body, before baptism was the land of the dying, but after baptism it became the land of the living. This is what the psalmist says about her: But I believe I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living(Ps. 26:13). Through baptism, as I said, we have become a land of the living and not of the dead, a land of virtues and not of vices—unless, by being baptized, we return to the quagmire of vices; unless, having become the land of the living, we do not do the shameful and destructive deeds of death. [And go] to the land that I will show you, says the Lord. And it is true that we will then gladly enter the land that the Lord will show us when, with His help, we first expel sins and vices from our land, that is, our body, ”writes Caesar of Arles.

The words: “and Lot went with him” should be understood in such a way that Lot did not follow God, but his uncle, that is, “for the company.”

It says here that Abram is 75 years old. Usually people think that 50 years, 60 - and that's it, life is already ending. Avram's life is just beginning! He will live 175 years! All life ahead - a whole century!

Jews believe that he should have lived 180 years. Why do they insist on it? After all, the Scripture directly says that he died at 175! Because it is said that Abraham died in a “good old age” (Gen. 15:15). What is meant? His son Ishmael, the eldest son born of Hagar, led a life of crime. But towards the end of his life, he experienced repentance and conversion to God. And when it is said about the burial of Abraham, it is said: “And Isaac and Ishmael, his sons, buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar, the Hittite, which is against Mamre” (Gen. 25: 9). And the fact that the name of Isaac comes first, and Ishmael - the second, means that Ishmael recognized the spiritual primacy of Isaac, as he experienced repentance. Indeed, this is a good old age. But where does the five years, about which the Jews sometimes argue?

If after us there are bad grandchildren, ill-bred children, this means: an unkind old age

At this time, a boy named Esau was running in Abraham's family. He was young (15 years old). Esau and Jacob are the children of Isaac, the son of Abraham. The Jews say: “Esau – oh, he was a nice, kosher, pretty boy! Understanding what is permitted and what is not permitted. It hasn't gone bad yet! But if it had gone bad and grandfather Abraham saw it, it would have been bad old age!" That is, if we die and after us there are bad grandchildren, ill-bred children, this is what it means: an unkind old age. But if we die and our loved ones bury us with prayer, with reverence, with zeal, this is a good old age, which can be expected for every person.

As I said, if the Bible gives a person's age, it wants to praise him. For example, when the Bible speaks of the circumcision of Ishmael, the son of Hagar, it is said that he was 13 years old (see: Gen. 17:25). And the commentators asked the question: why did Moses specify that he was exactly 13 years old? what can this teach us?

At the age of 13, he could be frightened of what was happening, he could run away - they circumcised all men! But he, as an adult, stood in line, and Abraham circumcised him. And to praise him, this clarification is given: “He was thirteen years old when his foreskin was circumcised” (Genesis 17:25). So every digit of Scripture and every letter and word is of great importance to us, just as Christ said: “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle will pass from the law until all is fulfilled. » (Matthew 5:18).

“Not one iota or one tittle shall pass from the law until all– by comparison with this letter (י) it is shown that even that which seems to be the smallest in the law is full of spiritual mysteries and everything will be condensedly repeated in the Gospel,” writes Blessed Jerome.

What god do you believe in?

And Abram, who was a man to whom it was prophesied that in him all the tribes of the earth would be blessed, came out of Haran. In the Book of Genesis, Abram is the ancestor of the Jews, the first Jew, together with his father Terah, wife Sarah and nephew Lot went to Canaan (see: Gen. 11: 31).

Farrah ( Terah) died on the way to Haran. There, God commanded Abram to leave the country, promising to make his offspring a great nation.

Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran (see Gen. 12:4). A Farre ( Terahu) was 70 years old when Abram was born (see: 11:26). So Terah was 145 years old when Abram left Haran, and he still had many years to live. Why does Scripture speak of Terah's death before Abram's departure? So that everyone would not know about this, so that they would not say that Abram did not fulfill the duty of honoring his father, left him in his old age and left. Therefore Scripture speaks of him as dead. It must be understood that he was spiritually dead, that is, he remained a pagan. Therefore, Abram could leave him; cf.: “And immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him” (Matt. 4:22); and again: “And whoever leaves houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for the sake of my name, will receive an hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life” (Matthew 19: 29).

Abraham, then a 75-year-old man, went to Canaan with Sarah and Lot. Near Shechem, God appeared to him again and promised the whole country as an inheritance to his descendants (see: Gen. 12:1-9). It was not just an exodus, but rather it looked like an escape, an exile.

How does this exile take place?

This is not described in the Bible, but legends have been preserved about this event, which are the same for different ethnic and religious groups. Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike tell about the flight of Abram, referring to the ancients. These are stories about Abram's childhood, very interesting stories. We find something similar in the Facial Vault of John IV the Terrible (XVI century), in the Blessed Jerome and in the Tolkova Paley (XI-XII centuries), in St. Demetrius of Rostov in his wonderful “Kelein Chronicler”.

When Abram was a little boy, his father Terah (Terah) was engaged in selling idols: he made them and sold them. And so little Abram once sat, looked out the window and thought about God: “Which of the gods to choose, who to worship?” He saw the stars, the moon. What a beauty! And he thought: “Here is my god - the moon! The stars will help her!

But the moon and stars had set, and Abram said:

“I don’t like gods that come in!”

The sun appeared - the ancient Egyptians revered the sun as the god Ra, the Slavs, our ancestors, revered the sun as the god Yarilo. But the sun has set...

And then the little boy understood what many could not understand, how can we read it from; the inner voice of conscience suggested to this little boy the idea of ​​the unity of God. Young Abram realized that God is the One who created the sun, the stars, the moon, and the earth.

And he destroyed in his father's shop, while he was not at home, all the idols. There was also a large idol that Abram could not move. And when the father returned, looked at the mess he had made, and sternly asked little Abram: “Who did this?” Abram replied:

- This big one killed all the little ones!

The father then exclaimed:

- Are you laughing at me? He can't walk!

- To which Abram, this servant of God, reasonably remarked:

- And what, father, do you worship him, if he cannot even walk?

There was a scandal: the inhabitants of Ur of the Chaldees learned about what had happened. According to ancient tradition, the ruler of Ur of the Chaldees was then none other than Nimrod, the builder of the Tower of Babel. And so he called Abram for interrogation.

Little Abram stands before the tyrant, and he asks him:

- In which God do you believe? Answer child!

And Abram said:

“I believe in a God who gives life and takes it away.

Then Nimrod says:

- So it's me! I give life when I abolish execution, and I put to death when I pronounce the death sentence!

The boy looked at this pagan monster and said to him:

And then the boy said to the ruler: “The sun rises in the east. Command it to rise in the west!”

- The sun rises in the east. Command it to rise in the west!

And this ruler became terribly angry and ordered to kindle the hearth that he had, and threw Abram into this furnace.

The fact is that the word "ur" can mean "fire", and this name Ur Kazdim (Ur of the Chaldees) can mean "Chaldean fire". And when the Scripture says that he left Ur of the Chaldees, it can be translated so that he fled from there, fleeing the fire.

St. Demetrius of Rostov wrote in the “Secret Chronicler”: “... the Chaldeans were angry with Abram for the destruction of their idols and threw him into the fire, but he came out of there, preserved by the power of God unharmed from the fire.”

And now this tyrant looks at Abram, Abram, like those three youths in the oven in the days of the prophet Daniel (see: Dan. 3: 92), walks, prays, glorifies the one Lord ... Then Nimrod calls him from there and says:

- Get out with your family so that you are not here!

Blessed Jerome wrote: “Thus, the tradition of the Jews, about which I said above, is true, that Terah went out with his sons from the “Chaldean fire” and that Abram, being in the midst of the Babylonian fire, because he did not wish him (the fire - the deity of the Chaldeans. - prot. O.S.) to worship, was released thanks to God's help; and from the time when he confessed the Lord ... the days of his life and age are calculated.

“And from the time when he confessed the Lord, the days of life and age are numbered”

That is, it does not matter how old you are - 15 or 70 - true life begins when ("the days of his life and age are numbered"), when a person turns from the darkness of unbelief to the Divine light ("from the time when he confessed the Lord").

I remember when I was a child my grandmother called me to the church gatehouse:

Let's go have tea with the girls.

I happily agreed. We go into the gatehouse, and there are only grandmothers of 70-80 years old. And I asked:

- Where are the girls?

Grandma said:

Everything is in front of you! - And pointed to the old women.

One of them says:

We are all girls here! I became a believer ten years ago, someone else is younger.

We cannot buy eternal life at the price of temporal life. We cannot buy imperishable life at the price of a perishable life, no matter how well we live here! We cannot buy life in Heaven at the cost of life on earth! These are incommensurable and incomparable things! Therefore, whether there were exploits of Abram, were there not these exploits - God chose this man! And this man followed Him.

A few words about the "stolen saints"

By the way, the Russian people most of all love those saints who have not been stolen from us. I will explain what I mean. I completely agree with Professor A.I. Osipov, who says that when the lives of the saints were compiled in the 17th century, many texts were copied from Catholic sources, where there were many incredible fantasies. And as a result, now we have stolen saints. What does "the stolen saint" mean? Here Simeon the New Theologian writes (I did not dare to quote his text without abbreviations):

I was a killer - listen to everyone! ...
I was, alas, an adulterer in my heart...
I was a fornicator, a magician ...
The user of oaths and the money-grubber,
Thief, liar, shameless, kidnapper - woe is me! -
Offender, brother-hater,
filled with envy
Money-lover and doer
Any other kind of evil.
Yes, believe me, I'm telling the truth about it.
Without pretense and without deceit!

I read it and think: I should read his biography - when did he manage to do it? I open his biography: “From childhood, he attended a monastery, flourished with the greatest piety, reached the heights of spiritual life, was transferred to another monastery ... there he reached an even greater height and was returned to his monastery, where he labored in piety until death.”

Or, for example, I read Macarius the Great: “Everyone considers me holy and righteous, I am already many years old, and still lustful passions overcome me ...”

Saints have been stolen from us! This is a very serious problem. And the people feel it. Previously, in Russia, a book was read every day during the service, which was called the "Prologue". In this book, the life of a saint of one day or another was read. The Russian people now do not read anything from the Prologue, except for just one life! This is the life of St. Mary of Egypt. Because nothing was stolen here, she is what she was. And such a life can inspire a sinful person to ask himself the question: “Why am I standing still? Why am I not doing anything to change my life?”

"And all the people they made"

And Abram took Sarah with him his wife, Lot , his brother's son (His brother is dead. - prot. O.S.), and all the property that they acquired, and all the people that they had in Haran"(Gen. 12:5).

Here, from Hebrew, you need to translate literally like this: "and all the people they made in Haran." And how to understand this: "made in Haran"?

If they say about a person: “He makes money”, this does not mean that he is a counterfeiter, right? He just knows how to earn them. And the words: “they took all the people they made in Harran” should be understood as follows: Abram preached Monotheism to men, faith in one God, and Sarah preached to women.

“This holy pair, coupled with flesh and spirit, Abraham and Sarah, was among the unfaithful generation like a creen in thorns, like a spark in ashes, and like gold between blat. While all the peoples turned into idolatry and lived godlessly, committing unspeakable evil and impious iniquities, they both knew the one God and believed in Him and faithfully served Him, pleasing them with good deeds. They glorified and preached His holy name to others to whom they could, instructing them in the knowledge of God. For the sake of this, God led them from one place to another.

And they, Abram and Sarah, created a religious community. And the word "Jew", indeed, in its original meaning does not mean a nation, but a religious affiliation. And Christians have never taken the word "Jew" or "Jew" as a designation of nationality.

The Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Romans writes: “For it is not the Jew who is such in outward appearance, nor the circumcision which is outwardly in the flesh; but that Jew who is such inwardly, and that circumcision which is in the heart, according to the spirit, and not according to the letter: his praise is not from men, but from God” (Rom. 2:28-29). And the ancient prophets called on the so-called ethnic Jews (Jews): "Circumcise yourself for the Lord, and remove the foreskin from your heart" (Jer. 4: 4). Yes, they were circumcised—thus the outward form was kept—but their hearts were not circumcised for God.

In the land of Canaan

“And they went out to go into the land of Canaan; and came to the land of Canaan. And Abram went through this land [along its length] to the place of Shechem, to the oak forest of Sea. In this land then [lived] the Canaanites.(Gen. 12:5–6).

Abram seemed to be praying for places in which significant, and sometimes extremely dangerous events for his descendants then took place.

If we carefully write down all the stations of Abram, where he made altars, where he simply stopped for a while, and see where these places are found in the Bible, we will see that he, as it were, painted places in which some kind of very significant, and sometimes extremely dangerous events for his descendants.

Here is Seachem. In Shechem, nine-year-old Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, was raped when she went to see how the inhabitants of this area live. The prince of Shechem fell in love with this little Dinah, took her to him, abused her, but then he was frightened because of what he had done, and negotiations began.

Dinah's brothers Levi and Simeon, who were her brothers both by father and mother, found out what had been done to the nine-year-old Dina and decided to take revenge. They said to the inhabitants of Shechem: “We cannot do this, to marry our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for it is dishonorable for us” (Gen. 34:14).

And all the inhabitants of Shechem were circumcised. And when a person is circumcised, due to the peculiarities of physiology, he lies in a fever for three days, it is very difficult for him to move around. And when the circumcised inhabitants were in a fever, Levi and Simeon, the brothers of this girl, massacred all the men of Shechem. And then they gave the whole city to be plundered by their other brothers (see: Gen. 34:18-31).

Of course, they had the right to take revenge on the rapist for their sister, but without this extreme cruelty! Later, the patriarch Jacob will say about them: “Cursed is their anger, for it is cruel, and their fury, for it is fierce” (Gen. 49: 7).

Shechem is also the "Oak Forest of the Sea", a place between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Upon entering the Promised Land, the descendants of Abraham cursed sinners on Mount Ebal and blessed on Mount Gerizim (Deut. 11:29).

And Abram stops at Shechem, he's God's prophet.

“And Abram went through this land [along its length] to the place of Shechem, to the oak forest of Sea. In this land then [lived] the Canaanites.(Gen. 12:6).

And why does Moses use this phrase: "there were Canaanites [living] in this land"?

Now, if, for example, we go out into the street, and I say: “But Uzbeks and Chechens recently stood here,” what does this mean? This means they are gone! And when Moses writes that the Canaanites were still living on that land, it means that they still continued to live when Moses wrote these words.

By this, the writer of everyday life Moses shows that the Canaanites captured this land. Remember how the Book of Acts says: “From one blood (that is, from the blood of Adam. - prot. O.S.) He (that is, the Lord. - prot. O.S.) made the whole human race to dwell on all the face of the earth, appointing predetermined times and limits for their dwelling ”(Acts 17: 26)? And this land, the holy land, was intended for the descendants of Shem, Eber and Abraham. That is why it is said here: "The Canaanites then lived in this land" - that is, they lived illegally.

“And the Lord appeared to Abram and said [to him], I will give this land to your offspring. And [Abram] built there an altar to the Lord who appeared to him.”(Gen. 12:7).

An altar is being built in Shechem to the Lord, and the Lord says that He will take care of Abram's offspring: "I will give this land to your offspring." That is, later I will give it back when I drive strangers off it.

“From there he moved to the mountain, east of Bethel; and pitched his tent so that from it Bethel was to the west, and Ai to the east; and built there an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.”(Gen. 12:8).

The words: "his tent" - must be understood in such a way that first he put up his wife's tent, then his own. In the spelling אָהֳלֹה, the letter ה " hat» at the end of a word instead of ו « wav" means: "her tent." First he pitched his wife's tent, and then his own. This is a lesson for husbands: take care of your wife first, then yourself. It is said: “Likewise, you husbands, treat your wives wisely, as with a weaker vessel, showing honor to them, as heirs together with the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered” (1 Pet. 3: 7). It turns out that if someone does not give way to a woman, for example, on a bus or subway, his prayers are imperfect.

Interesting lessons of family life were left for us by these two righteous men - Abraham and Sarah!

The earth was settled again, and wickedness spread again among people, and they began to forget God, they replaced the veneration of Him first with the veneration of the luminaries of heaven, and then, descending lower and lower with spiritual understanding, they fell to gross idolatry.

But the same long-suffering Lord, "not wanting the death of a sinner," watching over his salvation, never departing from him, always staying with those who remember Him, did not leave them in communion with them and through them supported the faith in other people in His covenant, supported salvation of the spiritual life of mankind. Such an instrument of God, the greatest and most famous progenitor of the offspring from which the Savior of the human race was to come, was chosen Abram, the son of Terah, a descendant of Eber from the God-blessed family of Shem. And the descendants of Abram were determined to prepare the way for the One in Whom all the peoples of the earth were to be blessed.

The faith of the Old Testament chosen one of God, Abram, which by its strength was even imputed to him as righteousness, was revealed successively in the following circumstances of his life: when idolatry and wickedness spread so widely that they threatened to completely drown out faith in the True God and thus interrupt the only connection between mankind and the Divine , then Abram alone retained that faith in the One invisible God, which replaced the Old Testament mankind's faith in God Incarnate, by which alone the New Testament people are saved.

And, seeing the faith of Abram, God chose him, and separated him from the tribe, and commanded him to go to a strange, unknown land, promising him at the same time to produce from him a numerous offspring and to give that blessed land to him as an inheritance. And the 75-year-old elder did not doubt what was announced to him, left his fatherland - the city of Ur (in Chaldea or Mesopotamia) and moved to the land of Canaan, indicated to him by God, with his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot. Here, surrounded on all sides by idolaters, he continued to keep his faith in the True God, and he himself was miraculously preserved by God who “by faith obeyed the call to go to the country that he had to receive as an inheritance, and went, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the promised land as in a foreign land, and dwelt in tents... for he looked forward to a city that has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

(Heb. 11:8-10)

From the book of Genesis it is known that when Abram moved to the land of Canaan, “Abram was very rich in cattle, and silver, and gold. And (his nephew) Lot, who walked with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. And the land was not large enough for them to live together, for their property was so great that they could not live together.”

“And there was a dispute between the shepherds of Abram's cattle and between the shepherds of Lot's cattle; and the Canaanites and Perizzites dwelt then in that land. And Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife between you and me, and between my shepherds and your shepherds, for we are kindred; Is not the whole earth before you? separate yourself from me: if you are to the left, then I am to the right; and if you are to the right, then I am to the left. Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the region around the Jordan, that before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, all the way to Segor, it was watered with water, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt; and Lot chose for himself all the region around the Jordan; and Lot moved towards the east. And they separated from each other.

Abram began to live in the land of Canaan; and Lot began to live in the cities of the region and pitched his tents as far as Sodom.

The inhabitants of Sodom were evil and very sinful before the Lord.

And the Lord said to Abraham, after Lot had parted from him, Lift up your eyes, and from the place where you are now, look to the north and to the south, and to the east and to the west; for all the land that you see I will give you and your offspring forever, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the earth; if anyone can count the sand of the earth, then your offspring will be numbered; Arise, walk through this land in longitude and in its breadth, for I will give it to you (and to your offspring forever).

And Abram moved his tent, and went and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which is in Hebron; and built there an altar to the Lord.”

(Gen. 13, 2, 5-18)

At this time, the king of Elam, Kedorlaomer, who conquered the Jordan Valley and subjugated five local cities to his power, launched a war against the five kings of the areas he conquered, who refused to continue paying tribute to the winner.

Joining with other kings in the valley of Siddim, the king of Elam put those who rebelled against him to flight. “In the valley of Siddim there were many tar pits. And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, having taken flight, fell into them, and the rest fled into the mountains.”

“The overcomers took all the property of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their supply and left. And they took Lot, Abram's nephew, who lived in Sodom, and his property, and departed.

And one of the survivors came and informed (of that) Abram the Jew, who then lived near the oak forest of Mamre, ”and his allies, with whom Abram had already managed to enter into friendly relations, since he enjoyed general respect. Abram, hearing that Lot, his kinsman, was taken prisoner, “armed his servants, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued the enemies to Dan; and dividing himself, he attacked them by night, himself and his servants, and struck them down, and pursued them as far as Hoba, which is on the left side of Damascus; and brought back all the property, and Lot his kinsman, and his property he brought back, also the women and the people. When he was returning after the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him, and Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine - he was the priest of the Most High God - and blessed him, and said: Blessed is Abram from God Most High , Lords of heaven and earth; and blessed be the Most High God, who delivered your enemies into your hands. Abram gave him a tenth of everything."

“And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the people, and take the possessions for yourself. But Abram said to the king of Sodom: I raise my hand to the Lord God Most High, the Lord of heaven and earth, that I will not even take a thread and a belt from shoes from all yours, so that you do not say: I enriched Abram; besides what the youths ate, and besides the share belonging to the people who went with me.”

(Gen. 14:10-24)

“After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision at night, and it was said: Do not be afraid, Abram; I am your shield your reward will be very great. Abram said: Sovereign Lord! what will you give me? I remain childless; the steward of my house is this Eliezer from Damascus. Behold, You have not given me offspring, and behold, my household is my heir.

And the word of the Lord came to him, and it was said: He will not be your heir, but he who comes from your loins will be your heir. And he brought him out and said: look at the sky and count the stars, if you can count them. And he said to him: so many offspring will you have. Abram believed the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness.

And he said to him: I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land for your possession. Know that your descendants will be aliens in a land not their own, and will enslave them, and will oppress them for four hundred years, but I will execute judgment on the people to whom they will be in enslavement; after this, they will come out here with much property, and you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried in a good old age; in the fourth generation they will return here.

On this day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.

(Gen. 15, 1-7, 13-16, 18)

For a long time the promise of offspring to Abraham was not fulfilled, Abraham's faith was tested for a long time, but he did not waver in it. And so, again the Lord visited Abraham. “And the Lord appeared to him at the oak forest of Mamre, when he was sitting at the entrance to his tent (his), during the heat of the day.”

“He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood opposite him. Seeing, he ran to meet them from the entrance to his tent and bowed to the ground, and said: Master! if I have found favor in Your eyes, do not pass by Your servant; and they will bring some water and wash your feet; and rest under this tree, and I will bring bread, and you will refresh your hearts; then go (on your way); as you pass by your servant.

They said: do as you say. And Abraham hurried to the tent to Sarah and said (to her): quickly knead three sats of the best flour and make unleavened bread.

And Abraham ran to the flock, and took a tender and good calf, and gave it to the boy, and he hastened to prepare it.

And he took butter, and milk, and a calf that had been cooked, and set it before them, and he himself stood beside them under a tree. And they ate. And they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? He answered: here, in the tent.

And one of them said: I will be with you again at the same time (next year), and Sarah your wife will have a son. And Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, behind him. Abraham and Sarah were old and advanced in years. Sarah laughed inwardly, saying, Shall I, when I am old, have this consolation? and my lord is old. And the Lord said to Abraham: Why did Sarah laugh (in herself)? Is there anything difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will be with you next year, and Sarah will have a son.

And those men got up and went from there to Sodom (and Gomorrah); Abraham went with them to see them off. And the Lord said: Will I hide from Abraham (My servant) what I want to do!

A great and strong people will certainly come from Abraham, and all the peoples of the earth will be blessed in him, for I chose him so that he would command his sons and his house after him to walk in the way of the Lord, doing justice and judgment; and the Lord will fulfill upon Abraham (all) that he said concerning him.

And the Lord said: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very heavy; I will go down and see whether they are doing exactly what the cry against them is, ascending to Me, or not; find out.

And the men turned from there and went to Sodom; Abraham was still standing before the Lord. And Abraham came up and said: Will You destroy the righteous with the wicked (and it will be the same with the righteous as with the wicked)? maybe there are fifty righteous people in this city? will you destroy and not spare the whole place for the sake of the fifty righteous (if they are) in it? it cannot be that You did so that You would destroy the righteous with the wicked, so that it would be the same with the righteous as with the wicked; can't be from you! Will the judge of all the earth do wrong?

The Lord said: If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, then I will spare (the whole city and) the whole place for their sake.

Abraham said in response: behold, I decided to speak to the Lord, I, dust and ashes: maybe up to fifty righteous people will lack five, will you destroy the whole city for lack of five? He said: I will not destroy if I find forty-five there.

Abraham continued to speak to Him and said: Perhaps forty will be found there? He said: I will not do this even for the sake of forty.

And Abraham said: May the Lord not be angry, what will I say: maybe there will be thirty there? He said, I won't do it if there are thirty there. Abraham said: behold, I decided to speak to the Lord: maybe there are twenty there? He said: I will not destroy for the sake of twenty. Abraham said: May the Lord not be angry, what will I say one more time: maybe there will be ten there? He said: I will not destroy for the sake of ten.

And the Lord went, ceasing to speak with Abraham; Abraham returned to his place."

(Gen. 18:1-11, 13-14, 16-33)

Is this striking and touching in its lofty simplicity the conversation of man with God not a model communication souls with the Creator? And not only is it accessible to every soul, but it is its inalienable advantage, the highest gift of God. Is it not so, from century to century, pure uncorrupted souls converse with their Heavenly Father, calling to Him with the simplicity of children and always receiving a Divine response to their human appeal. If only they called! And the response will be heard and felt by the whole being of a sincerely believing soul.

The Lord will not be silent before those who call upon Him. The evidence for this is innumerable in all the lives of the saints. And who in his life himself has not experienced in the most difficult moments how the Lord immediately responds to prayer with his beneficial suggestions, admonition and reassurance.

“And those two angels came to Sodom in the evening, while Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. Lot saw, and rose to meet them, and bowed his face to the ground, and said, My lords! go into your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet, and rise in the morning and go on your way. But they said: no, we spend the night on the street.

He begged them strongly; and they went to him and came to his house. He made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

(And) those men said to Lot: Who else do you have here? son-in-law, whether your sons, whether your daughters, and whoever you have in the city, bring everyone out of this place, for we will destroy this place, because the cry is great against its inhabitants to the Lord, and the Lord sent us to destroy it.

When the dawn broke, the angels began to hasten Lot, saying, Get up, take your wife and your two daughters that you have, so that you do not perish for the iniquities of the city. And as he hesitated, then those men (angels), by the mercy of the Lord to him, took his hand and his wife, and his two daughters, and brought him out and set him outside the city.

The sun rose over the earth, and Lot came to Segor.

And Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he stood before the Lord, and looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah and all the area around and saw: behold, smoke rises from the earth, like smoke from a furnace.

And it came to pass, when God was destroying (all) the cities of this region, that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of destruction, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.

And Lot went out of Segor and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him, for he was afraid to dwell in Segor. And he dwelt in a cave, and with him his two daughters.

(Gen. 19, 1-3, 12, 13, 15, 16, 23, 27-30)

“Abraham went up from there to the south and settled between Kadesh and between Sur.

And the Lord looked upon Sarah, as He said; And the Lord did to Sarah as He had spoken. Sarah bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the time of which God spoke to him; And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, Isaac; And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son on the eighth day, as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac his son was born to him.

The child has grown and weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac (his son) was weaned.”

(Gen. 20:1; 21:1-5, 8)

Meanwhile, Ishmael also grew up, the son of Abraham and Hagar the Egyptian, a former servant in the house, whom Abraham loved and cried out to God about him, so that he would live before the face of the Lord.

“God said to Abraham: And about Ishmael I heard you: behold, I will bless him, and I will bring him up, and greatly, greatly multiply; twelve princes will be born from him; and I will make of him a great nation. But I will establish My covenant with Isaac as an everlasting covenant, that I will be a God to him and to his offspring after him.”

(Gen. 17, 18, 20-21, 19)

Meanwhile, the consequences of the violation of the unity of the marriage union, which had long become a custom in those days when Abraham lived, were revealed in this case as well by family discord and discord.

“And Sarah saw that the son of Hagar the Egyptian was mocking her son Isaac, and she said to Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of this bondwoman will not inherit with my son Isaac. And this seemed to Abraham very unpleasant for the sake of his son Ishmael.

But God said to Abraham: do not grieve for the sake of the lad and your servant; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her voice, for in Isaac your seed will be named. And from the son of the slave I will make a great nation, because he is your seed.

Abraham got up early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave Hagar, laying on her shoulders, and the lad, and let her go.

She went and got lost in the desert of Beer-sheba; and there was no water in the bottle, and she left the lad under one bush and went, sat down at a distance, at a distance of one shot from her bow. For she said: I do not want to see the death of the lad. And she sat down at a distance opposite him, and raised a cry, and wept.

And God heard the voice of the lad from where he was; and an angel of God called from heaven to Hagar, and said to her: What is the matter with you, Hagar? don't be afraid; God heard the voice of the boy from where he is; Arise, lift up the boy and take him by the hand, for I will make of him a great nation. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of living water, and she went and filled the bottle with water and gave the boy to drink. And God was with the lad; and he grew up and lived in the wilderness, and became an archer.

He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother took him a wife from the land of Egypt.”

(Gen. 21:9-21)

The strongest of all people in faith faced the most difficult test, the only one from the beginning to the end of the existence of people on earth ...

When the heir of Abraham, the son of Isaac, was born, and he grew up, and the heart of the father rejoiced, seeing in his son a vessel of promises and divine blessings from generation to generation, then the Lord tempted the faithfulness of His servant with the last test. God said to Abraham: “Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac; and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will tell you about.”

“Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, took with him two of his youths and Isaac his son; he chopped wood for the burnt offering, and getting up he went to the place about which God had told him.

On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. And Abraham said to his youths: you stay here with the donkey, and I and the son will go there and worship, and we will return to you. And Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; took fire and knife in hand, and both went together. And Isaac began to speak to Abraham his father, and said, My father! He answered: Here I am, my son. He said, Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham said: God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering, my son. And they both went on together. And they came to the place that God had told Abraham about; And Abraham built an altar there, arranged the wood, and, having bound his son Isaac, laid him on the altar on top of the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took a knife to kill his son.

But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said: Abraham! Abraham! He said: here I am. The angel said: do not raise your hand against the lad and do nothing with him, for now I know that you are afraid of God and have not spared your son, your only one, for Me.

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw: and, behold, behind a ram, entangled in the thicket with its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering instead of Isaac his son.

And the second time the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven and said: I swear by me, says the Lord, that since you have done this work and have not spared your son, your only one for Me, I will bless you and multiply and multiply your seed, as the stars of heaven and like the sand on the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the cities of their enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice. And Abraham returned to his youths, and they got up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham lived in Beersheba.

(Gen. 22:15-19)

For love, piety, fear of God and obedience, God loved Abraham. He chose the righteous Abraham to preserve the true faith through his offspring for all mankind. “I will make of you a great nation,” God said to Abraham. (Gen. 12:2)

In this nation, in time, the promised Savior of the world will be born, Who will bless all nations. And just as the Old Testament prophets Moses and David called Abraham to intercede before God, so the New Testament Church appeals to God for mercy for the sake of His beloved forefather Abraham. Jesus Christ Himself, in His parable of the rich man and Lazarus, points to Abraham as the inhabitant of a blessed habitation in His Kingdom of Heaven (see Luke 16:19-31).

At the conclusion of His covenant with Abram, the Lord also said to him: “And you will no longer be called Abram, but your name will be: Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations; and Sarah your wife, do not call Sarah, but let her name be Sarah; I will bless her and give you a son by her; I will bless her, and nations will come from her, and kings of nations will come from her” (Genesis 17:5, 15-16).

Abraham stayed in Canaan for several years, calling people to God, until a famine forced him and Sarah to go to Egypt. The pharaoh - the despotic ruler of that country - was known for his desire to possess married women. Christian-Jewish sources claim that Abraham married Sarah to his sister in the hope of saving himself from a merciless ruler. For this, Pharaoh honored Abraham, but nevertheless took Sarah into the harem. When the house of the pharaoh began to suffer one disaster after another, he learned that Sarah was the wife of the prophet Abraham and, as a punishment, expelled them from Egypt.

The Quran tells a different story. Abraham knew that Sarah would attract the attention of the pharaoh, so he told her to call herself his sister. As soon as they set foot on the territory of his kingdom, the pharaoh wished to know about the relationship between Sarah and Abraham. Abraham introduced himself as her brother. Pharaoh, although slightly disappointed, nevertheless took Sarah. But the Lord does not abandon true believers. He stayed with Sarah and saved her from the base desires of the treacherous pharaoh. When he wanted to get closer, she turned to God with a prayer to protect her, and the body of the pharaoh froze like a stone. Out of surprise and pain, the pharaoh prayed that Sarah asked God for his salvation, and promised to release her. Sarah did so, but the pharaoh could not keep his words and wanted to approach her again. Sarah again called to the Almighty, and the body of the pharaoh again turned into stone. This was repeated three times, until the wicked gave up, and, realizing the special essence of this woman, let her go to her imaginary brother.

Sarah brought the great news to the pharaoh and the rest of the pagans of Egypt.

Abraham was praying when his wife returned with gifts from Pharaoh, one of which was his own daughter Hajjar (Hagar). Christians and Jews believe that Hagar was a servant.

Abraham, Sarah and Hagar returned to Palestine. The Lord promised to give Abraham a son, but he continued to be childless. Sarah, according to the custom of those times, gave her husband her slave Hajar to continue the family. According to one of the Christian scholars, Abraham married Hajjar. According to Jewish and Babylonian tradition, the child of the concubine was considered the child of the former mistress of the concubine and received appropriate care, upbringing and inheritance. Be that as it may, soon Hajar gave birth to a son, Ismail.

Abraham in Mecca

Ishmael was still a baby when the Lord wanted to test Abraham's faith again. He ordered that his son and Hajar be taken to the desert valley of Bakka, more than 1,000 kilometers southeast of the province of Hebron. Later this land will be called Mecca.

Such a difficult test befell Abraham at the moment when he finally found the long-awaited heir and enjoyed every moment spent with him. Now he had to leave his son in a pitiless wilderness.

The Bible tells the story a little differently. Sarah's anger caused Hajjar and Ismail to be expelled. Abraham gave a great feast on the day Sarah weaned Ishak from her breast. Then she saw (or it seemed to her) that Ismail was mocking his younger brother. Enraged by this behavior of Ismail, she asks Abraham to expel Hagar and Ismail. According to Jewish traditions, the age of excommunication is 3 years, which means that Ismail was then about 17 years old. As Christian legends describe, all the long way Hajjar carried her son on her shoulders and lowered her to the ground, only reaching the land called Faran. It is not entirely clear here how a woman could carry a 17-year-old boy on her shoulders. The fact is that the verses of the Bible describing this moment call Ismail a baby, while during the exile they spoke of him as a young man.

Thus, Abraham took Hajar and Ismail into the wilderness and left them with a vessel of water and a waterskin filled with dates. Seeing Abraham leaving, Hajjar caught up with him with the words : "O Ibrahim, where are you going, leaving us in this valley, where there is no one and nothing?" Abraham silently quickened his pace.

Finally, the woman asked: “Did Allah tell you to do this?” Suddenly Abraham stopped, turned around and answered: "Yes".

This answer calmed the agitated woman. She asked again: "Who are you leaving us for?"

"I commit you to the Lord", Abraham said.

"Then He won't leave us!" - said Hajar and returned to Ismail.

“Our Lord, truly, I settled part of my offspring in a valley where nothing grows, near Your reserved house. Our Lord, let them offer prayer, and incline the hearts of (some) people to them and give them fruits so that they give thanks (to You)!” (Quran 14:37)

Soon the dates ran out, and the vessel of water was empty. Hajjar's despair grew. Unable to suppress the feeling of thirst and feed her child, Hajjar rushed to look for water. Leaving Ismail in the shade of a tree, she began to climb the rocky slope of a nearby hill, hoping to see a caravan passing by. Seven times she ran between the hills of Safa and Marwa in search of water and help. Subsequently, overcoming these seven paths between the hills will become one of the rites of the Hajj (pilgrimage) among Muslims.

Hajar was exhausted and ready to lose her mind from grief when she heard a voice, but could not understand where it came from. She looked down and saw an angel next to Ismail (the angel Jabrail (Gabriel) - in Islamic sources). The angel kicked the ground and water gushed out. A miracle happened! Hajjar began to fence off the spring while filling her fur. The angel told her: “Do not be afraid of death, for, truly, here will be the House of Allah, which this boy will build with his father, and Allah does not abandon those close to Him!” This spring, called Zam-zam, beats to this day in the city of Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula.

Some time later, the tribe of Jurhum passed by this area. The attention of people was attracted by a bird hovering over the valley. This meant that there was water there. Subsequently, they settled in Mecca, and Ismail grew up among them.

The Bible tells a similar story (Genesis:21), although there are a few differences. For example, Hagar moved away from the baby so as not to see him die, and not at all in search of help. When the baby began to cry heavily from thirst, she asked God not to let her see the torment and death of her son. The appearance of the source appears not as an answer to the plea of ​​Hagar, but as an answer to the weeping of Ismail. Also, the Bible does not mention Hagar's attempts to find help, and states that the source was in the wilderness of Paran, where they later settled. Christian Jewish scholars believe that Paran is located somewhere in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, because of the reference to Mount Sinai in Deuteronomy 33:2. Modern biblical archaeologists, however, say that Mount Sinai is located in what is now Saudi Arabia, which means that Paran is also there.

In contact with

The first of the three biblical patriarchs who lived after the Flood.

According to the book of Genesis, the first Jew and the founder of the entire Jewish people. Descendant of Eber (Eber), great-grandson of Shem (Shem), the first son of Noah.

In the scriptures

In the Old Testament

The story of the life and work of Abraham is contained in the book of Genesis (11:26-25:10).

Abraham, whose original name was Abram (אַבְרָם), was born in the Sumerian city of Ur in the 21st-20th century BC. e. (in the Bible "Ur Kasdim" - "Ur-Chaldean"), one of the oldest and most important cities in southern Mesopotamia.

There he married his half-sister Sarah (Saray) (Gen. 20:12), whom God later gave the name Sarah (Sarah). Abram's father Terah (Terah) left Ur and, taking with him his children: Abram and Nahor, Sarah and Lot (his grandson from the early deceased brother Aran), went to Canaan as God told him (Gen. 12: 4). On the way, in the city of Haran (Northern Mesopotamia), Terah died.

After that, God told Abram to leave his father's house and follow where he indicated. God also promised that he would make a great nation from Abram, bless and exalt Abram himself and through him all the peoples on Earth. Then Abram, who at that time was 75 years old, together with his wife Sarah, nephew Lot, with all the property and people that he had, left Haran for the land of the Canaanites.

Jozsef Molnár (1821–1899), Public Domain

The Lord said that he would give this land to the descendants of Abram. Raising altars to God, Abram continued to move south, but there was a famine in that land, and therefore, wanting to avoid it, Abram went to Egypt. Approaching this state, he ordered his wife Sarah to call herself a sister, fearing that because of her beauty, people who were seduced by Sarah could kill him. The Egyptian nobles really considered Sarah very beautiful and reported this to the pharaoh. Pharaoh took her as his wife, and thanks to this, Abram "was fine: he had large and small cattle, donkeys, male and female slaves, mules and camels." However, God struck down Pharaoh and his house because of Sarah. Pharaoh called Abram to him and asked why he did not tell that Sarah was his wife. Then he let Abram go with all his property, Sarah and Lot, and Pharaoh's people saw them off (Gen. 11-12).

unknown , Public Domain

Abram and Lot were so rich in cattle, silver, and gold that there was not enough room for their possessions. Therefore, so that there would be no contention between their shepherds, they divided. Lot went east - to the Jordanian region - and Abram began to live in the land of Canaan. After that, God once again confirmed that he would give these lands to Abram and his descendants, of which there would be a huge number (a lot, “like the sand of the earth”).

Abram settled at the oak forest of Mamre in Hebron (Gen. 13). One day, Abram was informed that Sodom, where Lot lived at that time, was attacked by the combined army of Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam and his allied kings, who plundered and took the Sodomites into captivity. Then Abram immediately armed 318 of his slaves, that is, servants, caught up with the enemy and attacked him at night, defeating and pursuing to Hoba, thanks to which he rescued Lot from captivity, and returned his and his property, as well as women and people.

Dieric Bouts (circa 1420-1475), Public Domain

Returning from the campaign, Abram received the blessing of Melchizedek (Malki-Tzedek, Heb.), King Salem (Shalem) and "priest of the Most High God." When the king of Sodom suggested that Abram take all the spoils of war for himself, Abram refused so that no one could say that he enriched Abram. However, he gave the shares belonging to his people to Aner, Eshkol and Mamri (Gen.14).

After these events, God once again confirmed his promise to give Abram a numerous offspring, to whom the land from the “river of Egypt” to the Euphrates river would be given, and which would be first enslaved, but then freed and rich. Abram, at the request of God, sacrificed to him a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old goat, a three-year-old ram, as well as a turtledove and a young dove. All of them, except for the birds, were cut in half (Gen.15). However, Sarah was barren and gave her husband her slave, the Egyptian Hagar. Hagar, who became pregnant by Abram, began to despise her mistress, and Sarai accused Abram of this. Then Abram gave his wife the right to do whatever she wanted with the maid. Hagar fled from the oppression that began after that, into the desert, and at the source she met an angel who told her to return, and also said that God had heard her suffering, that Hagar would give birth to a son and call him Ismail. When Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, Abram was 86 years old (Gen. 16).

Thirteen years later, God appeared to Abram to establish a covenant with Abram. God renamed Abram into Abraham and again promised - now to Abraham - that he would become the father of many descendants (and nations), that kings would come from him, and that God would give them the land of Canaan as an eternal possession and be their God. God commanded that every male be circumcised on the eighth day from birth, including babies born in the home and bought for silver from foreigners. The soul of those who do not circumcise, according to God, will be destroyed. The ninety-year-old Sarah was renamed Sarah by him. God also promised that Sarah would give birth to Abraham's son, Isaac. Abraham obediently did the will of God. All male members of the household, both born in the house and purchased, were circumcised. Abraham was 99 years old when his foreskin was circumcised (Gen. 17).

Abraham and the Three Angels, James Tissot, 1896-1902 James Tissot (1836–1902), Public Domain

Shortly after circumcision, God appeared to Abraham in the form of three traveling husbands. Abraham asked for the opportunity to serve God, since he was his slave, offered to wash the feet of their husbands, bring bread, butter and milk, cook a calf. God said that in a year he would again appear to Abraham and give a son to Sarah. Sarah, hearing Abraham's conversation with God, did not believe, because she was already too old to conceive, and laughed. God asked Abraham why Sarah was laughing, and Abraham told her that she was barren. However, God confirmed that at the appointed time he would be with Sarah and give her a son. After that, God shared his plans with Abraham: about the election of Abraham to command his sons to do the will of the Lord, and that God wants to know if Sodom and Gomorrah are doing exactly as they say about their sins.

And the two men went to Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham began to bargain with God, not wanting the righteous to perish in those cities along with the unrighteous. Having reduced the number of the righteous, at which these cities will be spared, from fifty to ten, the Lord left (Gen.18).

Abraham Sees Sodom on Fire, James Tissot (1836-1902) James Tissot (1836–1902), Public Domain

After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and Lot's departure from Sodom, Abraham passed through the city of Gerar. And again, out of fear that he would be killed in order to possess his wife, he called Sarah his sister. Sarah again got to the local king - Abimelech - as a wife, and again God appeared to Abimelech in a dream and said that he would kill the king - Abimelech - since he married a woman who has a husband. However, Abimelech did not touch Sarah and was innocent. Sarah herself called Abraham her brother. Therefore, God ordered Abimelech to return the wife to her husband, threatening otherwise with death. Waking up, King Abimelech called Abraham and asked why he brought a great sin on his state and acted as they do not act. Abraham confessed that he thought that there was no fear of God in this city and that he would be killed for his wife. Also, Sarah is indeed Abraham's sister, as she is his father's daughter by another woman. And they agreed to hide behind this in their travels at the behest of God. Then the king of Gerar gave Abraham many slaves, cattle and a thousand shekels of silver, returned his wife to him and justified her before everyone, and also allowed him to live freely on his land. Abraham prayed to the Lord, and God restored the ability of the generation of Gerar to bear children (Gen. 20).

The Lord kept his word and Sarah conceived and gave birth to a son, despite the fact that she was already old. Hundred-year-old Abraham named his son Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day from his birth. On the day that Isaac was weaned from his mother, his father gave a great feast. However, Ismail - the son of Abraham from Hagar - mocked Isaac. Seeing this, Sarah told Abraham to drive out the slave girl along with her son. This seemed very unpleasant to Abraham, but God confirmed the words of Sarah. And Abraham gave Hagar bread and a skin of water and let her go with Ishmael.

Gheorghe Tattarescu (1820–1894), Public Domain

After that, Abraham made an alliance with Abimelech about a well in Beersheba, giving him small and large livestock, planted a grove near Beersheba and wandered for a long time in the Philistine land (Gen. 21).

Rembrandt (1606–1669), Public Domain

After that, God decided to test Abraham's obedience and told him to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham, together with Isaac and two more youths, took firewood chopped for a burnt offering and sat on his donkey, went to the land of Moriah, where God directed him - to the mountain. Arriving there on the third day of the journey, Abraham left the donkey and the youths and together with his son went up the mountain, saying that he would bow there and return back with Isaac. On the way to the mountain, when his son asked where the lamb for the burnt offering was, Abraham answered that God would indicate, but on the spot At the top of the mountain, Abraham gathered an altar, spread out the firewood and, having tied Isaac, laid it on top of the firewood. When he raised his hand with a knife to stab his son, an angel called to him from heaven. Through him, God informed Abraham that he now knew of his fear of God, and also repeated his promises to Abraham of many descendants and blessings, also promising them military victories. After these events, Abraham returned to (Gen. 22).

Sarah died at the age of 127 in Kiryat Arba (Kiryat Arba), near. For her burial, Abraham asked the Hittite to own Efron (Efron) (“double cave”) near Hebron. The Hittites recognized Abraham as the prince of God and sold him this cave with a field for four hundred shekels of silver (Gen.23).

Having grown old, Abraham sends his elder slave to his relatives in northern Mesopotamia in search of a bride for Isaac in order to avoid marriage ties with the Canaanites. A slave messenger with ten camels and treasures given by Abraham, near the city of Nahor, met a virtuous girl who gave him and all the camels a drink. This girl turned out to be Rebecca (Rivka) - the daughter of Abraham's nephew Bethuel (Bethuel). The slave bowed to God, who led him to the right place. In the house where Rebecca lived, the slave told about the life of Abraham and why he had come. Rebecca's relatives said that this was from the Lord, and they gave Rebecca without objection. The slave made rich gifts to her, her brother and mother, and the next day took her to Abraham and Isaac. Having met Rebecca, Isaac married her. Having received a beloved wife, Isaac was comforted in sorrow for his mother (Gen. 24).

In extreme old age, Abraham married Khetturah (Kturah), who bore him several more children: Zimran, Yokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. All of them, like the eldest son of Abraham - Ishmael - became the founders of various Arab tribes, which explains the meaning of the name Abraham, as "the father of many tribes" (Gen.17:5). Abraham gave everything he had to his son Isaac, and gave gifts to the sons of the concubines that he had and sent them to the east. Abraham died at the age of 175, elderly and full of life, and was buried by Isaac and Ishmael next to his wife Sarah in the cave of Machpelah in Hebron (Gen. 25).

In the New Testament

In the New Testament, Abraham, along with Moses, is the most frequently mentioned Old Testament righteous man. The genealogy of Jesus is traced back to Abraham, the progenitor of all Jews: Genealogy of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham(Matthew 1:1). In the birth of Jesus, Christian tradition sees the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham that in his seed (which, according to the apostle Paul, is Christ (Gal. 3:16)) all the nations of the earth will be blessed (Gen. 22:18).

In the Gospel of John, and later in the Christian theological tradition, references to Abraham are used to justify the divinity of Jesus Christ. Chapter 8 describes Jesus' dispute with the Pharisees, who doubt that he was sent from God. The Pharisees call themselves "the seed of Abraham"(John 8:33) and claim that they do not need "liberation" through the knowledge of the truth, which, in his own words, Christ brings. Jesus recognizes their bodily origin from Abraham (John 8:37), but denies the spiritual: the Pharisees do not fulfill the precepts of the patriarch, intending to kill a person proclaiming the word of God (John 8:39); because of this, they do not have the right to be called the children of Abraham, their father is the devil, whose “lusts” they fulfill (John 8:44). Angry Pharisees consider Jesus to be possessed by a demon (John 8:48) and accuse him of "glorifying himself" and placing himself above the long-dead and revered patriarch Abraham (John 8:53). To this Jesus replies: (John 8:56) - that is, according to the theological interpretation, he knew about the coming coming of Christ the Messiah. The Pharisees are perplexed, having understood these words in such a way that Jesus, who “is not yet fifty years old”, as if lived at the same time as Abraham (John 8:57). To this Jesus says: "Before Abraham was, I am"(John 8:58), thereby asserting that he existed forever.

Meister des Codex Aureus Epternacensis, Public Domain

Abraham's bosom is mentioned in the parable of " Richer and Lazarus”, told by Jesus Christ (Luke 16:22). After this, a dialogue takes place between Abraham and the rich man, who asks to send Lazarus to his house to warn his brothers about the punishment of sinners:

“Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen. He said: No, Father Abraham, but if anyone from the dead comes to them, they will repent. Then he said to him: if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, then if someone rose from the dead, they will not believe.
(Luke 16:29-31)

In the episode with the evangelist, Luke describes the condemnation of Jesus for entering the house of a publican, who was considered a sinful person. Zacchaeus repents and Christ tells him: "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is the son of Abraham"(Luke 19:9).

Abraham is mentioned by John the Baptist in his sermon of repentance: “Bring forth fruit worthy of repentance, and do not think to say within yourselves, Abraham is our father, for I tell you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.”(Luke 3:8). John with these words reminds his compatriots that the mere fact of belonging to the descendants of Abraham will not save them from God's wrath if they do not repent. That "not all the children of Abraham, who are of his seed"(Rom. 9:7), writes the apostle Paul.

In a letter to the Christian community of Galatia, which consisted of former pagans, Paul says that “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, foretold to Abraham: in you all nations will be blessed.”(Gal. 3:8). Abraham's blessing extends to the Gentiles through Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:14). According to Paul, the promises were made to Abraham and his seed, "Which is Christ...but if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise"(Gal. 3:16-29). Based on the Old Testament story about Abraham, whose faith was reckoned to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6) before receiving the covenant of circumcision, Paul in the Epistle to the Romans puts the righteousness of faith above the righteousness of the law:

“And he received the sign of circumcision, the seal of righteousness through faith, which is in uncircumcision, so that he became the father of all believers in uncircumcision, so that righteousness would be reckoned to them, and the father of the circumcised, not only circumcision, but also walking in the footsteps of the faith of our father Abraham, which is uncircumcised. For the promise was not a law to Abraham, or to his seed, to be an heir of the world, but the righteousness of faith. If those who establish themselves in the law are heirs, then faith is vain, the promise is ineffectual; for the law produces wrath, because where there is no law, there is no crime. Therefore, according to faith, so that according to mercy, so that the promise may be unchangeable for all, not only according to the law, but also according to the faith of the descendants of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
(Rom.4:11-17)

At the same time, in the Epistle of the Apostle James, it is on the example of Abraham that it is proved that “ faith without works is dead»:

“Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Do you see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the word of Scripture was fulfilled: "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God." Do you see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone?
(James 2:21-24)

In the Quran

In the Qur'an, Abraham appears under the name of Ibrahim, the 14th sura of the Qur'an, sent down in Mecca (except for the Medina verses 28 and 29) after the Nuh sura and consisting of 52 verses, is named after him. It got its name because of the mention in it of the prayer of the prophet Ibrahim to Allah. In Islam, Ibrahim is one of the greatest prophets (rasul) of Allah, about whom the Qur'an says: “ Is there anyone more beautiful in his faith than that virtuous one who completely surrendered to Allah and followed the faith of Ibrahim Hanif? But Allah made Ibrahim a friend» (4:125).

unknown, photo: Evgenia Kononova , CC BY-SA 3.0

The Quran's story about Ibrahim partially repeats the biblical story in its details (Sarra's barrenness, the Egyptian king's encroachment on her, the birth of a son from the maid Hagar, etc.). The Koran describes in particular detail the struggle of Ibrahim against the idolatry of the Chaldean tribes (21:63-67). For this sermon, he was thrown into the fire by the order of King N'Amrud, but Allah made the fire cool for him (21:69).

The story of the sacrifice of Ibrahim (Abraham) of his son is also described in the Koran, but only in a few verses (37, 100-106):

“When the son reached to share the zeal with him, he said: “O my son! Verily, I saw in a dream that I was sacrificing you with a slaughter. What do you think?" The son replied, “O my father! Do as you are commanded. If it is Allah's will, you will find me patient." When they both submitted and threw him down… Truly, this is a clear test. And We replaced him with a great sacrifice.

The son of Ibrahim in this episode is not named by name in the Koran, but in the Muslim tradition Ismail (Ishmael), and not Isaac was " dabih alla

Traditional lore

In Jewish tradition

In Jewish traditions (midrashim), Abraham is credited with the merit of discovering the idea of ​​monotheism and its development. As a three-year-old child, when he sees the sunset and the disappearance of the moon and stars, he realizes that " There is a Lord over them - I will serve Him and offer up my prayers". According to the midrash, Abraham breaks the idols of his father Terah (Terach).

The "Land of Moriah", mentioned in the story of the sacrifice of Isaac, is identified in Jewish tradition with Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, on which Solomon built the Temple. Therefore, it is believed that the Temple was erected on the very spot where Abraham built the altar for burnt offering.

In the Christian tradition

The image of Patriarch Abraham serves as a prototype of the highest piety and righteousness, both in the Old and in the New Testament. According to John Chrysostom, Abraham was the guardian and teacher of the faith and morality of his people among the pagans around him. Augustine the Blessed wrote that God's promise to Abraham about the multiplication of offspring and his blessing (Gen. 12:1-3) refers to all mankind, on which God's blessing should descend. In the bread and wine presented to Abraham by Melchizedek (Gen. 14:18), the Fathers of the Church saw a prototype of the Eucharist.

Gregory of Nyssa in his essay " ” considers the voice of an angel to Abraham during the sacrifice of Isaac as one of the proofs of the trinity of God:

... who was talking with Abraham? Is it Father? But you can't say that the Father is anyone's angel. Therefore, the Only Begotten Son of whom the prophet speaks: "His name is called the Great Council Angel"(Isaiah 9:6).

Gregory Nyssky. A word about the deity of the Son and the Spirit and praise to the righteous Abraham

anonimus, Public Domain

In early Christian doctrine, the sacrifice of Isaac is seen as a prediction of the martyrdom of Christ. According to the Fathers of the Church, Jesus himself pointed to this story as a prototype of his forthcoming sacrifice on Golgotha: “Abraham your father was glad to see my day; and saw and rejoiced"(John 8:56). This opinion is already contained in the writings of Irenaeus of Lyons (II century), Gregory the Theologian (IV century) and is developed by subsequent theologians. They compare Isaac's obedience to the will of Abraham and Jesus to the will of God the Father, Isaac's carrying firewood to the mountain is called a prototype of Jesus' carrying the Cross, and his way to the mountain is the way of the cross to Golgotha.

St. John Chrysostom, commenting on the sacrifice of Isaac, admires the courage of Abraham and the humility of his son, shown during this temptation of God:

“But who here is more surprised and amazed? Is it the courageous spirit of the forefather, or the obedience of the son? He did not run away, was not upset by his father's act, but obeyed and submitted to his intention and, like a lamb, silently reclined on the altar, waiting for a blow from his father's hand. When everything was already prepared and there was nothing more left, then the good Lord, wanting to show that He gave him such a command not for the actual slaughter of his son, but for the discovery of all the virtue of the righteous, finally shows his own philanthropy, crowning the righteous for the very will, then is the very determination of the forefather, taking it for a truly sacrificed.

John Chrysostom. Discourses on the book of Genesis (Conversation 48)

In the ancient tradition

According to Nicholas of Damascus, Abraham was the king of Damascus who came from the land of the Chaldeans. Then he moved to Canaan.

According to legend, Abraham was engaged in natural sciences, knew astronomy, chemistry and other knowledge that he inherited in his homeland from the Chaldeans and subsequently distributed among the Phoenicians and even Egyptians. Abraham is considered by some to be the inventor of alphabetic script and calendar calculations.; others even attribute to him the composition of some books.

In Muslim tradition

In the Muslim tradition, Ismail (Ishmael), and not Isaac, was " dabih alla"- a sacrifice chosen by Allah.

In religious tradition

In Judaism

The image of Abraham occupies a central place in the historical memory of the Jewish people. The description of his life and his trials is considered in the Jewish tradition as an instructive example, symbolically reflecting the subsequent history of the Jewish people.

Abraham is considered in the Jewish tradition not only as the founder of the Jewish people, but also as a forerunner of monotheism, which brought people faith in a single invisible God, the creator of earth and sky and the ruler of the world. Abrahamic religions, as well as many of the philosophical ideas that underlie modern civilization, go back to the ideas and postulates proclaimed by Abraham. However, nowhere in the text of the Pentateuch is it mentioned that Abraham proclaimed faith in the One God for the first time. Jewish commentators emphasize that, although personally for Abraham this faith was really the discovery of something new, however objectively it was a restoration of a very old and almost forgotten truth that was known to Adam, Noah (Noah) and his descendants Shem (Shem) and Ever (Ever). Thus, Abraham really put forward something completely new for the society in which he lived, calling to return to the One God, to revive the faith of the distant past. His ideas probably seemed barbaric and primitive to his contemporaries, and Abraham should have been perceived by them not as an innovator, but as an ultra-conservative, an adherent of a forgotten ancient cult. One of the proofs that faith in the One God already existed at the time of Abraham is contained in the Pentateuch itself: this is a story about a meeting with Melchizedek, the king of Salem, "Priest of the Most High God"(Gen. 14:18). Thus, Abraham was not alone - he had like-minded people, isolated from each other, scattered in different places, but who retained faith in the One God.

Abraham's merit lies in the fact that he was the first to take seriously the original religious concept of God. In fact, Abraham was the first prophet of the ancient faith. He sought to inspire his adherence to this faith to a small group of people - the community he formed, which was supposed to become a special tribe (and later - a nation) that keeps this idea. For the same purpose, Abraham wandered around Canaan, tirelessly calling on the name of the Most High, building altars, attracting those who believed in the One God, and trying to induce others to believe in Him.

The biblical narrative vividly expresses Abraham's unparalleled loyalty and devotion to God. Despite all the trials, he unquestioningly carries out the orders of God. The climax of these trials is the sacrifice of Isaac. Jewish tradition considers the sacrifice of Isaac as a symbol of readiness for the heaviest sacrifices in the name of devotion to God.

The Mishna testifies that already in the I-II centuries. the theme of the sacrifice of Isaac was contained in the prayer read during fasting days. The Talmud prescribes the reading of the story of Isaac's sacrifice in the synagogue on the second day of Rosh Hashanah and explains the custom of blowing the shofar (made from a ram's horn) on Rosh Hashanah as a reminder that a ram was sacrificed instead of Isaac.

The Bible emphasizes the exclusive relationship between God and Abraham. This connection later took the form of a union (covenant; Heb. brit) concluded between God and Abraham. This union is of paramount importance in Jewish history and in the development of human culture. It includes three main elements:

1. the chosenness of Abraham's descendants through the line of his son Isaac;
2. a promise to give ownership of the land of Canaan to these chosen descendants of Abraham;
3. the command to follow the commandments of God, which include both cult commandments and ethical standards of behavior.

The narrative of Genesis about Abraham contains only a general ethical prescription to be blameless (Gen. 17:1), but Abraham's behavior, without a doubt, indicates the presence of a certain system of moral principles. So, Abraham becomes famous for his hospitality, stands up for the inhabitants of Sodom, refuses to appropriate booty in the war and categorically rejects the offer of the "sons of Hitt" to receive the cave of Machpelah as a gift.

In Christianity

In Orthodoxy

The Orthodox Church venerates Abraham in the face of the righteous and commemorates him twice a year: on October 9 (according to the Julian calendar) together with his nephew Lot and in " Week of the Forefathers on the second Sunday before Christmas.

The name of Abraham and the Old Testament images associated with him are often found in Orthodox hymnography. The most common reference in chants is bosom of Abraham, which is already found in the ancient liturgy of the Apostle James: “ Remember, O Lord… the Orthodox… Give them rest yourself… in Your Kingdom, in the delight of paradise, in the bowels of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…". The very name of Abraham in prayers acts as an integral part of the appeal to God: “ Lord Almighty, the God of our fathers, Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the seed of their righteous ...».

The Orthodox Church uses the Old Testament texts that tell about the life of Abraham as proverbs:

• the story of the appearance of God to Abraham in the form of three travelers under the oak of Mamre is read at the service on the day of memory of the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth
• the story of the sacrifice of Isaac is read on Friday Vespers of the fifth week of Great Lent and Great Saturday.

The expression "father of many nations" (Gen. 17:5) is interpreted in the sense that Abraham, through Jesus, became the father of the Christian nations. In the 318 households of Abraham (Gen. 14:14), the compilers of the liturgical order of the Orthodox Church saw a prototype of the number of participants in the First Ecumenical Council.

The appearance of God to Abraham in the form of three travelers (Gen. 18) is considered by the Orthodox Church as a symbol of the Trinity Deity, which is reflected in the icons of the Trinity. This iconic plot was called " Hospitality of Abraham”(traditionally, the icon depicts Abraham himself, slaughtering the calf, sometimes there may be an image of his wife listening to the speech of angels).

In Islam

Muslims consider Ibrahim the builder of the Kaaba. He built it in Mecca with his son Ismail on the same spot where it stood in the time of Adam. Upon completion of construction, Ibrahim taught Ismail the rites of the Hajj and made him the guardian of the Kaaba.

Ibrahim died in Jerusalem at the age of 175. Muslims built a mosque over the cave of Machpelah, in which Abraham is buried, and protect it as one of the greatest shrines.

According to the Koran, the son of Abraham (Ibrahim) - Ismail was the ancestor of the Arab people.

Photo gallery

Years of life: XXI-XX century BC. e.

Useful information

Abraham
Hebrew אַבְרָהָם‎
translit. Abraham
Arab. ابراهيم‎‎
translit. Ibrahim
other Greek Ἀβραάμ
lat. Abraham

Legends and folklore

Slavic apocrypha

In Slavic literature, the legends about Abraham were reflected in two translated apocrypha based on Greek translations of Jewish legends.

• The Revelation of Abraham - says that Abraham is convinced of the impotence of the idols that his father Terah makes and comes to the idea of ​​God who created everything. Then he heard a voice from heaven commanding him, after a 40-day fast, to offer a sacrifice to God, and the angel Joel assigned to Abraham leads him to Mount Horeb. Here Abraham sacrifices and is assassinated by the devil Azazil, but an angel orders him to leave Abraham. At sunset, Abraham, along with Joel, ascends to heaven, sitting on the wing of a dove. He sees an indescribable light, then a throne resting on four animals, seven heavens and everything that is done on them, earth, hell and Eden, in which Adam, Eve and Azazil are.

• Death of Abraham (Testament of Abraham) - the archangel Michael appears in the form of a traveler to Abraham's house to announce the onset of death to him, but does not dare to announce the sad news to him and asks God to send Abraham a mortal memory so that he himself guesses about the onset of death. The will of God is revealed to Abraham through the dream of Isaac. Before his death, Abraham wished to see all the works of God, and the archangel took him up to heaven. There he saw two gates: wide leading people to death and narrow - to eternal life. Adam sat at the gate, weeping at the sight of those going through the wide gates and laughing at the sight of those going through the narrow ones (he wept seven times more than he laughed). Further, Abraham, together with Michael, visited the place of judgment, where Abel performs judgment, and Enoch searches for sins in books, which he keeps a record of. Here Abraham himself pronounces a sentence on sinners still living on earth, showing such severity that God, who expects repentance from people until the end of his life, orders the archangel to return Abraham to earth. Then follows the story of Sarah's death, the marriage of Isaac, and the second marriage of Abraham. At the end of the Apocrypha, Abraham's death is told. Death appears to him adorned with great beauty, but, at the request of Abraham, it is shown to him in its present form, with many heads made of snakes, knives, and fires. The burial of Abraham is told according to the Bible.

In Russian translation, these apocrypha have been known since the 14th century (Sylvester collection), and were also included in the Palea.

Muslim traditions

Muslims claim that Abraham was in Mecca and founded there, together with Ishmael, the sanctuary of the Kaaba (Koran II, 119, etc.). Jewish tradition also speaks of Abraham's visit to his son Ishmael in Arabia. See the details of all the legends about A. in Beer's book "Leben Abrahams". The latest criticism has also touched the faces of the patriarchs with its analysis. Some critics identify Abraham with Brahma, others with Zoroaster, still others, like the ancient Philo of Alexandria, allegorized the history of the patriarchs, seeing in them only the personification of well-known abstract concepts. Critical-historical illumination of the legends about Abraham.

Historical analysis

The world in which Abraham lived was a relatively enlightened and intellectual world of polytheistic religion. It was a polytheistic (idolatrous) urban civilization, the pinnacle of the culture of its era, putting forward brilliant ideas and sophisticated concepts in science, philosophy, and art.

Migration to Canaan

According to a number of researchers, the biblical story about the migration of Abraham's family to Canaan reflects what happened in the 19th-18th centuries BC. e. intensive migration of West Semitic tribes, called the Amorites or the Suti, from Upper Mesopotamia to the Syro-Palestinian region. The connection with Upper Mesopotamia was reflected, in particular, in the names of Abraham's father, grandfather and great-grandfather (Tarah (Terah), Nahor, Serukh), which are the names of cities and localities in the Haran region, where Terah's family moved from Ur. The name of their ancestor Ever (Ever), meaning "the other side" or "District", is associated with the Ivri epithet - "(man) from Ever", that is, the District. This epithet (from which the word "Jew" comes) is first used in the Bible in relation to Abraham (Gen. 14:13), and then to the Israelites in general. Initially, it could be called all the tribes that crossed the Euphrates on the way from Upper Mesopotamia to Syria and Canaan. Some researchers believe that there is some connection between the Ivri epithet and the name Khabiru (options: hapiru or apiru), which is found in Akkadian and Egyptian sources from the end of the third millennium BC. e. Meanwhile, Dyakonov's point of view is disputed by Western researchers, who point to numerous evidence of the nomadic nature of the hapiru.

Ivrim were strangers who penetrated into Canaan and remained, apparently, alien to the religion, cult and life of the Canaanite peoples. Indeed, a characteristic feature of Abraham is a complete break with the culture of his country of origin, Mesopotamia, on the one hand, and estrangement from the beliefs, worship and way of life of the Canaanites, on the other. Abraham, as then his son and grandson - the patriarchs Isaac and Jacob - does not have his own land in Canaan and is dependent on the Canaanite kings - the rulers of the cities. He maintains peaceful relations with the surrounding tribes, but retains his isolation in everything related to beliefs, worship, and even the purity of the clan. He sends his slave to his relatives in Northern Mesopotamia in order to bring his wife to Isaac.

According to another hypothesis, the era of Abraham falls on the XXI-XX centuries BC. e. This hypothesis is based on the message of the Second Book of Kings (1 Kings 6:1), according to which 480 years elapsed between the Exodus from Egypt and the beginning of the construction of the Temple by Solomon. Based on intrabiblical chronology, it can be calculated that Abraham left Haran around 2091 BC. e. However, according to most researchers, the period of 480 years is rather symbolic (12 generations of forty years each). In addition, archaeologists have not found evidence of the existence on the territory of Canaan in the XXI-XX centuries BC. e. cities like those mentioned in the biblical story of the patriarchs.

It has also been suggested that Terah's family may have left Ur around 1740 BC. e., during the suppression of the uprising against the Babylonian ruler Samsu-iluna, in which Ur. In 1739 B.C. e. the city was destroyed by the troops of Samsu-iluna, who massacred a significant part of the population, and became depopulated for a long time. It should also be noted that the naming of Ur "Ur of the Chaldees" (Gen. 11:31) is an anachronism, since the Chaldeans appeared in Babylonia only in 1100-1000. BC e. Apparently, such a designation of the city arose during the rise of Ur during the reign of the last king of the Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) dynasty Nabonidus (556-539 BC) and was included in the story of Abraham.

Union "between dissected parts"

In the story about the conclusion of the covenant between God and Abraham (Gen.15:9-18), the practice of concluding an alliance was reflected, in which the contracting parties passed between the parts of the dissected animal. In Hebrew, the making of a covenant is often described by the idiom "cut the covenant." A similar expression is found in a text from the Syrian Qatna (15th century BC), as well as in the Amorite texts from Mari, where the conclusion of the union is described by the expression "kill the colt."

Date of writing

Most modern historians have come to the conclusion that not only the traditions about the patriarchs, but also their record in the literary form that has come down to us, belong to a very ancient period, although, in all likelihood, they were recorded in the period of the kings (after the 10th century BC). e.).

Names

The personal names Abram and Abraham are first found in 3-2 millennium BC. e. Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets, Egyptian texts, as well as in texts found in the Syrian Ebla. The etymology of the name Abram is not exactly known. Perhaps it means "father is exalted", "father is magnificent", and is a form of the early Semitic proper name Av(i)ram. Received by Abram after the conclusion of the covenant (Gen. 17:5), the name Abraham means "father of a multitude" (nations). Unlike the names of Isaac, Jacob-Israel and his sons, the name Abraham is never used in the Bible to refer to localities or tribes.

The name of Abraham's mother is not mentioned in the Pentateuch, according to Arabic sources (see Herbelot I, 64) her name was Adna, and according to Hebrew (Talmud, Bava-Batra 91a) - Amatleya, probably Amatsula - an ancient Chaldean female name found in cuneiform inscriptions, and not the later Greek Amalthea, as suggested by Kagut (Plenus Aruch s.v.) and others.

In philosophy

The story of the sacrifice of Isaac, as an example of the clash of moral norms and divine command, was considered by a number of philosophers of modern and recent times, who in one way or another solved the problem of the relationship between morality and religion. Immanuel Kant, whose ethics declares the complete autonomy of morality “by virtue of pure practical reason” and its independence from religion (and, moreover, the dependence of faith in God on the prescriptions of morality), gives in the treatise “The Dispute of the Faculties” the answer that Abraham had to give to the order to sacrifice his son:

I'm sure I shouldn't kill my good son. But the fact that you, who appeared to me, is really God, I am not sure, and I cannot be sure.

Moreover, according to Kant, Abraham could be sure that the voice he heard did not belong to God. An order to do something contrary to the moral law cannot, according to Kant, come from God, that is, a higher moral being, whose idea is a derivative, and not the basis of morality.

Soren Kierkegaard, who devoted the book Fear and Trembling to the problem of interpreting the sacrifice of Isaac, admits, following Kant, that from an ethical point of view, such a sacrifice would be just murder. But Abraham, according to Kierkegaard, "steps over everything ethical, and outside of it he acquires a higher goal, in relation to which he eliminates the ethical." Kierkegaard speaks of the "teleological abolition of the ethical" possible for a person who lives a religious life (as opposed to people who live, in Kierkegaard's terminology, aesthetically or ethically). “The paradox of faith is this: the individual individual is higher than the universal” (that is, universal moral norms); "there is an absolute duty to God," in comparison with which "the ethical is reduced to the relative." Abraham is a "knight of faith", a believer by "the power of the absurd". At the same time, his faith is not a belief that God will cancel his command, or a belief in a future life: Abraham was going to make a sacrifice and at the same time “believed in a contradiction” - that he “will grow old on this earth, revered by his people, blessed in his kind, unforgettable in Isaac - the most beloved in his life.

Developing Kierkegaard's ideas, Jean-Paul Sartre in his famous essay "Existentialism is Humanism" uses the expression "Abraham's anxiety" introduced by him to affirm the absolute freedom and at the same time the absolute responsibility of man:

I do not have to be Abraham, and yet at every step I am forced to do things that serve as an example for others. For each person, everything happens as if the eyes of all mankind are turned to him and as if everyone conforms their actions to his actions. And every person must say to himself: do I really have the right to act in such a way that humanity takes an example from my actions? If he does not tell himself this, then he hides his anxiety from himself. We are not talking here about the feeling that leads to quietism, to inaction. This is an anxiety known to all who have taken any responsibility.

In art and literature

In fine arts

• Peter Lastman: "The Sacrifice of Abraham" (1616, Louvre), "Abraham on the Road to Canaan" (1614).
• Gustave Doré: "Three Angels Visit Abraham" (1852).