Abraham's wife: biblical history, etymology of the name Sarah, biography, family and divine purpose. Who is Abraham (biblical character)
The Bible tells readers many interesting and touching stories. We meet interesting characters who perform great feats, sometimes finding themselves in fantastic or difficult circumstances, but with the help of God they remain unharmed.
The story of Abraham, the progenitor of the Jewish family, and his wife is a story of deep trust in the Almighty. The life of these ancient people was full of trials, difficulties, passions, mistakes, but they always followed God, even when it was hard and they could not believe that the Lord would fulfill his promises.
One of the most striking female characters in the Old Testament was the wife of the forefather of the Jewish people. What was the name of Abraham's wife, her life story, behavior, character, purpose and fate will be shown in this article.
Where it all started
The Bible tells us that Abram lived with his father and brothers in the Sumerian city of Ur, located on the banks of the Euphrates River. Ur was famous for its ports, where many ships were moored. This large city quickly grew rich in trade with other lands, including Canaan. Abram's father, Terah, decided to leave Ur and go the hard way to Canaan. When they reached a place called Harran, the father died and Abram became the head of the family.
At this time, God appeared to Abram and said that he must leave his home in Haran and follow to the lands that the Lord would show him. This choice was difficult for Abraham. He loved life in the city, but did not want to run away from God, he listened to the voice of the Creator and trusted Him. The Lord said that Abram would become the forefathers of an entire nation if he obeyed Him. God changed his name to Abraham, which means “parent of many.” In the 12th chapter of the book of Genesis we read the following lines:
And the Lord said to Abram, Get thee out of thy country, from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee; and I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
In Harran, Abraham left the farm to his brother, Nahor, and he himself chose the path of a Bedouin cattle breeder. His nephew Lot and his faithful wife left the rich lands with Abraham. Abraham's wife's name is Sarah.
The meaning of the name and appearance of Sarah
Let us dwell on the image of Abraham's wife. Abraham's wife in the biblical tradition was named Sarah. Translated from Hebrew, the name Sarah means “princess”, “mistress of many”. At birth, Sarah had a different name - Sarah or Sarai, which meant “noble.” But God, when he added the second letter a to Abram, did the same with Sarah, only added a second r to the name. This began to mean that Sarah would be the mother of a large people.
Sarah became Abraham's wife in Ur of the Chaldeans, where they grew up and lived until they decided to go to the land of Canaan. She was her husband's half-sister. Abraham's wife Sarah accompanied her husband on all his travels and was about 10 years younger than him. Sarah is considered the ancestor of the Jewish people. But at the time she left Ur, the nationality of Abraham's wife was not yet Jewish. Their descendants began to be called Jews. With a greater degree of probability, we can conclude that Sarah was a Chaldean, since she grew up in Mesopotamia, on the right bank of the Euphrates River, where the Chaldeans lived in those days.
It is clear from Scripture that Sarah was a very beautiful woman. There are no verses in the Bible that praise Sarah's beauty, however, if we take the narrative context, we can conclude that Abraham's wife was beautiful.
Looking ahead, let's say that his girlfriend was so beautiful that Abraham, fearing for his life, tried to pass Sarah off as his own sister when they lived at the court of the Egyptian pharaoh and the king of Gerara, Abimelech. Abraham had much to fear. Then there were many cases when rulers, without hesitation, could kill a person and take his beautiful wife to themselves. Abraham's wife obediently followed her husband's commands and obeyed him in everything.
Character of Sarah
Abraham's wife Sarah was not an obedient puppet in the hands of her husband.
Yes, she obeyed Abraham, but she had a harmful and at times stubborn character, thanks to which she could insist on her decision. In Genesis chapter 21, verse 12, God personally tells Abraham to obey the voice of his wife:
in everything that Sarah tells you, obey her voice.
Abraham regularly turned to his wife for requests or advice, and also considered it important for himself to get Sarah's approval in order to make this or that decision.
As described in the Bible, Sarah, Abraham's wife, told her husband what to do, and he carried out her requests. An example is the relationship between Sarah and Hagar. Sarah asked Abraham to throw out the maid who had given birth to his son. Abraham did not want to throw Hagar out, but Sarah showed toughness in her character, and he was forced to listen to his wife. Abraham sent the maid and her son into exile, although he did it against his will.
Sarah in Egypt
When Abraham left his home in Harran and wandered through the land of Canaan, there was a severe famine in these parts; there was no food. So he went to Egypt to support his family and servants.
When Abraham found himself in Egypt, he gave Sarah to the palace of Pharaoh. A logical question arises. Why Abraham gave his The answer lies in the character of Abraham. He was afraid that he would be killed. Even in Canaan, he heard from travelers who met on his way that the Egyptian pharaohs, if they see a beautiful wife from their husband, will do everything so that the woman becomes an adornment to their court. Many men suffered from the rulers' desire to possess their wives and were killed. For this reason, Abraham gave his wife to Pharaoh - in order to stay alive.
In the 12th chapter of the book of Genesis we read that on the way to Egypt, Abraham asked Sarah not to tell anyone that they were spouses. He persuaded him to say that she was his sister, then he would be left alive and the pharaoh might well give him gifts:
Sarah obeyed her husband, as she had done before. She realized that such a move could lead to family enrichment and prosperity. Abraham was a savvy man; before, his cunning brought them only benefit.
And so it happened. In Egypt, the beauty of Sarah attracted the attention of the nobles of Pharaoh, she was taken to serve in the palace, and “brother” Abraham was given small and large livestock, male and female slaves.
But God did not want Abraham to live in deception and not fulfill his destiny. The Lord struck Pharaoh and his family with a terrible disease, and then the deception on Abraham’s part was revealed.
One day, Pharaoh called Sarah and Abraham to him. He asked why they deceived him, because soon Pharaoh was planning to marry Sarah and take her as his wife. The ruler of Egypt was very upset, but was merciful and drove the deceivers out of the palace, and his servants escorted them to the border with Canaan.
After Egypt, Abraham returned to Canaan with his family, livestock, and slaves. Between Bethel and Ai, at the sacrificial stone that he had made long ago, Abraham thanked God for keeping him on the road and keeping him from the wrath of Pharaoh. At this point, Abraham parted with his nephew Lot, who decided to separate from his uncle and live independently.
Abraham settled in Hebron, near the oak grove of Mamre. God's promise that Sarah would give birth to a child from whom Abraham's descendants would come was still not fulfilled. The Lord repeatedly confirmed his covenant with Abraham that he would give them a child. Time passed, Sarah grew old, and no heir was born. Then Sarah decided to take this problem into her own hands and thought that if she was not destined to give birth to a child, let the servant give birth to her and Abraham.
Sarah brought to her husband the maid she had brought with her from Egypt. The maid's name was Hagar. She told Abraham to spend the night with her so that Hagar could conceive a child. It is interesting that Abraham listened to Sarah. In Genesis 16:2 we read:
Behold, the Lord has shut up my womb, that I should not give birth; Go in to my maid; perhaps I will have children by her. Abram listened to Sarai's words.
Sarah assumed that when Hagar gave birth to a child, she would be able to take the child to her so that her husband would have a long-awaited heir to whom he could leave all his property.
Abraham, without asking any questions, followed his wife’s advice and came to the maid’s tent to conceive a child. They spent a pleasant night, after which Hagar realized that she was carrying a child within her.
When Hagar found out she was pregnant, she hated her mistress, Sarah. From the biblical context it follows that Sarah ran to her husband and began to scold him, express her complaints to him, and declare Abraham guilty of her situation: what is this, I let you spend the night with my maid, and she despises me. Of course, a very strange act by a woman: she became an organizer herself, allowed her husband to cheat with a maid, and then looks for those to blame on the side. In verse 6 of chapter 16 we read Abraham's response:
Behold, your handmaid is in your hands; do with her what you please.
Abraham washed his hands of the matter and left the fate of Hagar to his wife, because she is her servant, let Sarah deal with her herself. And Sarah began to oppress, insult and humiliate Hagar. Most likely, the maid was brought to such a state that she could no longer tolerate her mistress’s insults, and left the Mamre oak grove and ran away.
When Hagar found herself in the desert, an angel of God appeared to her. He told her to return to Abraham and Sarah and become obedient to her mistress. An angel conveyed God's message to Hagar that she would become a great nation (Genesis 16:10):
By multiplying I will multiply your descendants, so that they cannot even be counted from the multitude.
Hagar returned to Sarah and gave birth to a son, whom she named Ishmael. He is considered the ancestor of the Arab tribes.
Sarah in this episode represents a shrewish, vindictive woman with a sinful human nature. Sarah is an ordinary person. She does not see her mistakes, but tries to blame others for the misfortunes that happen in her life.
Abraham's Guests
As Abraham sat at the entrance to the tent, like a true Bedouin, he noticed that three people were approaching him. Abraham ran up to these people and bowed, he somehow learned that one of the guests was the Lord. He was glad that God had come to visit him. The owner of the house began to fuss to feed the guests. Women were responsible for the household. Abraham ran to Sarah and asked her to bake unleavened cakes for the dear guests, and asked the servant to take the best calf and cook it.
The guests told Abraham that God would give him offspring and fulfill His covenant; what He promised would be fulfilled. Sarah overheard what her husband was talking about with the guests and laughed. It was funny to her that she could still give birth to a child. Sarah understood that she was old, and usually all the reproductive functions of the body at this age are no longer active.
The Lord did not understand Sarah’s laughter. The answer is described in the Bible: Abraham's wife, Sarah, shared her doubt that it was impossible to give birth to a child in old age. To which the Lord told Abraham that the child would be born next year.
When Sarah, Abraham's wife, heard what one of the guests said, she lied and said she didn't laugh. But nothing can be hidden from the Lord; He knows the heart of every person. Sarah was afraid that she doubted God's words, and so she told a lie.
Abraham, Sarah and Abimelech
Abraham wandered through the land of Canaan and on his way stopped in the city of Gerar, whose king was Abimelech.
In Gerar, the same scenario happened to Abraham as in Egypt. Abraham does not learn from mistakes, or vice versa, he realized that by passing off his wife as his sister, he could get benefits.
When in Gerar they saw that Abraham’s wife was a very beautiful woman, they told the king about this, and he in turn ordered her to be brought to the palace along with her man. Abraham, appearing before Abimelech, deceived the king, declaring that this was not his wife, but his sister. Sarah was silent and obeyed her husband in everything.
At night, the Lord came to Abimelech in a dream. He warned Abimelech not to touch Sarah and to return her to her husband in the morning. God warned the king that if he did otherwise, He would kill him and Abimelech’s entire family.
At dawn the king called Abraham and his wife to him. Abimelech was indignant at why Abraham did this to him; he asked him what prompted him to do such an act. Abraham stood before the king and honestly confessed everything. He said that he was afraid that he might be killed for the beautiful Sarah. Abraham explained to Abimelech that he and his wife agreed that no matter what land they came to, Sarah should say that Abraham was her brother. The forefather of the Jewish people partially lied. Sarah was his wife, but on their father's side they were brother and sister, but their mothers were different.
Abimelech returned his wife to Abraham, gave him money (silver shekels), livestock and slaves. The king of Gerara told Sarah that she was now justified before people and clean.
Fulfillment of the covenant
As God promised, the next year Sarah gave birth to a child, and they named him Isaac. The birth was not easy, Sarah was old.
After giving birth, Sarah looked at the child and grumbled that people would laugh when they found out that the old woman not only gave birth to a child, but was also able to breastfeed. In the 21st chapter of the book of Genesis we read:
And Sarah said, God made me laugh; whoever hears about me will laugh. And she said, Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle the children? for in his old age I gave birth to a son. The child has grown up and is weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
Abraham rejoiced that the heir promised by God had been born, a child from whom would come a large nation. On this occasion, when Sarah stopped breastfeeding, he threw a rich feast.
Goodbye Hagar
Sarah began to notice that Ishmael, the son of Hagar from Abraham, loved to mock the young Isaac - to tease and laugh at him. Sarah did not like this behavior of Ishmael. She came to Abraham and threateningly declared that her husband should drive out the slave and her son.
Sarah was cunning. She took advantage of the moment to get rid of the hated servant, Abraham's firstborn son Ishmael, so that her son would receive all the property that would come to him from his father.
Abraham submitted to his wife. He remembered the Lord's words that he should listen to Sarah's voice.
Early in the morning, Abraham collected bread and water, gave it all to the maid and sent her and Ishmael away from his tent. Abraham had a hard time parting with his firstborn, whom he loved, but he did not want to go against the will of his wife and God.
Hagar and her son wandered through the desert and got lost. When the water and food ran out, Ishmael was close to dying. Desperate Hagar laid her son under a tree, and she herself walked away so as not to see the death of her beloved youth. Hagar sat down on a stone and began to cry. But God did not abandon the Egyptian woman. An angel came and pointed her to a source of water. Happy Hagar and Ishmael ran and drank from the well. They settled next to a source of water. When Ishmael grew up, Hagar found him an Egyptian wife, with whom he had 12 sons.
Death and burial of Sarah
There is a hypothesis that says that Sarah died before Abraham because the mother’s heart could not stand it when she learned that her husband had almost sacrificed her son. Abraham passed the test from God, his faith was strong, but Sarah could not survive such an act of her husband, she was old and her heart began to hurt badly. But this is just the opinion of a number of Bible scholars.
Genesis 23 tells us how Sarah died and where she was buried.
Sarah died at the age of 127 in Kiriath Arba, this area is now called Hebron. Abraham cried for a long time that his beloved wife was gone, and when the time came to bury Sarah, it turned out that land for her burial could not be found anywhere.
Abraham went to the sons of Heth and asked them for a place to bury his wife. They responded positively, saying that Abraham could choose the best burial plot for Sarah. Abraham wanted to bury his wife in the cave of Machpelah, which belonged to Ephron. But Ephron sold Abraham not only the cave, but also the field for 400 shekels. Sarah was buried in Machpelah, and Abraham said goodbye to his wife.
After Sarah, Abraham had a second wife, Keturah, with whom he had other children. But Abraham gave his wealth, livestock and slaves to Isaac.
Abraham died at 175 years old and was buried next to Sarah.
Now we know the name of Abraham's wife; the Bible makes it clear what kind of character she had. She lived a long life, fulfilled her destiny on earth, giving birth to an heir for Abraham - Isaac. Sarah was an ordinary person: an obedient wife, economical, grumpy, vindictive, envious, proud, but strong and faithful to God and her husband.
It took four hundred years and ten generations from the time of Noah before the necessary conditions were met to enable God to choose a family that would correct the wrongs committed in the families of Adam and Noah. Abraham became the central figure chosen by God, and Abraham's family was given the task of laying the foundation of faith and substance. Four generations of Abraham's family successfully participated in laying the foundation for the emergence of True Parents and forming a new stage in the dispensation of restoration, which gradually, starting with one person, reached the global level.
Because of this success, Abraham became a prophet of special significance. His family marked the beginning of a lineage chosen to receive True Parents. Abraham and his descendants received revelations from God, as a result of which three main monotheistic religions arose: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
However, despite the fact that Abraham was such a great figure in providence, not everything went smoothly in his family. Because it is human nature to err in a fallen world, several errors have been made that have caused delays and complications in the dispensation of restoration. Some of these mistakes sowed seeds of discord that resulted in rivalries and conflicts at the level of clans, nations, and the world, thereby seriously thwarting God's providence.
Preparing Abraham for His Mission
The most important condition due to which Abraham became a prophet and laid the foundation for the emergence of True Parents was his lineage. He was chosen from the descendants of Shem, from a line blessed by God, after Satan laid claim to Ham. To create the foundation for Abraham, the family of Shem had to pay a huge indemnity. Without special training and support, a providential figure of Abraham's stature would not have been able to fulfill his God-given mission.
In restoration history, every person chosen to be the central figure in God's providence must first qualify for that mission by being separated from the fallen world. This process of purification establishes the central personality in her mission and prepares her to participate in God's work. Only after the central personality has fulfilled the conditions for his purification and dedicated his life to God can God use him in providence.
Although Abraham came from a blessed family, his father worshiped idols and created a family environment in which Satan ruled. Abraham had to separate himself from this fallen environment before he could begin his mission for God. In Noah's providential journey, the chosen family was separated from the fallen world by the flood, and in the case of Abraham, God commanded him to leave his home and go in search of a land that would be shown to him as the place where he would settle and lay the foundation for the emergence of a sinless family.
Abraham obeyed God. He rejected his father's idolatry and left his homeland in Chaldea with his wife Sarah and nephew Lot. Sarah, who represented Eve, had no children, so at that moment Lot occupied the position of their child. With God's help, Abraham's family reached Canaan safely, overcoming all the obstacles that stood in their way. Satan's final attack was when the Egyptian Pharaoh tried to seduce Sarah, thus repeating the seduction of Eve by the Servant, but the Pharaoh was warned of the consequences of such an act and, in fear, allowed Abraham's family to leave the country safely. Having successfully separated his family from the internal fallen world of his father and the external fallen world of Egypt, Abraham was ready to fulfill the conditions for creating a foundation of faith.
Foundation of Faith
God told Abraham to make a sacrifice, which would be a condition for restoring the foundation of faith. Abraham had to take a heifer, a ram, a goat, a dove and a turtledove, divide them in half and sacrifice them to God. Abraham cut the animals in half, but did not cut the birds. Abraham's mistake gave Satan, symbolized by the birds of prey, the opportunity to hijack the sacrifice, which had two consequences. First, Abraham was told to fulfill the condition of the atonement to a greater extent - to sacrifice his own son instead of animals and birds, and second, he was told that his descendants would face a 400-year period of slavery as atonement for his mistakes.
By not cutting the birds in half, Abraham failed in creating the necessary conditions to purify the sacrifice before offering it to God. Uncut, the entire sacrifice was under the control of Satan, much like Adam after the Fall. Just as Adam had to be divided into Cain and Abel, the sacrifice had to be cut in half, conditionally dividing it into the side of Cain and the side of Abel, removing the “fallen” blood and separating the fallen nature from the original one.
The male and female birds symbolized man and woman in the formative stage of restoration, the ram and goat symbolized man and woman in the growth stage of restoration, and the heifer symbolized the unity of man and woman in the completion stage. By performing the sacrifice, Abraham fulfilled the condition for the restoration of humanity through three stages. When the birds were never cut, Satan hijacked the foundational formation stage in the sacrifice, thus claiming the entire sacrifice as his own.
Abraham was determined to correct his mistake and was willing to sacrifice his own son as God required. Before he could begin the sacrifice, he had to once again go through the process of separation from Satan, who had taken over his family as a result of the botched sacrifice. Abraham's family was again subjected to a test similar to what happened in Egypt, but this time King Abimelech tried to seduce Sarah. As in the case of Pharaoh, God warned the king of the punishments that awaited him if he kept Sarah with him, and in fear Abimelech returned Sarah to Abraham, who then safely left his kingdom. Abraham's family had once again separated from Satan and were ready to establish a foundation of faith.
Abraham sacrifices his son
God told Abraham to sacrifice his son (according to the Bible, he prepared to sacrifice his second son, Isaac, who was Sarah's only child; the Koran does not say which son this was, but in Islamic tradition it is generally accepted that it was the first son , Ishmael, born of Hagar's handmaid; according to the model of restoration, which is revealed in the Principle, it is always the second son who sacrifices himself as Abel to restore Adam's faith). Father and son set out on a three-day journey to reach the top of the mountain, which was indicated to them as the place of sacrifice. Abraham built an altar from wood on which he intended to sacrifice his son. He was about to pierce the boy's body when an angel intervened and stopped him, saying that his faith was strong enough.
Abraham's great faith, expressed in his willingness to sacrifice his own son for God, restored his family to the position of the central family of God's providence. The most important thing here is that his son did not oppose what his father was going to do, believing that this was the will of God. It is difficult to imagine how this young man could be so obedient that he even helped his father in preparations for his own death. By demonstrating such amazing faith, he fulfilled the requirement to restore Ham's lost faith in his father Noah and establish a foundation of faith in Abraham's family.
Through this victory Isaac, the second son in Abel's position, was fully united with his father's heart of faith and could take his place in establishing the foundation of the faith. Next, he helped his father sacrifice a ram. Thus, as a result of the two successful foundations of faith created by Abel and Noah and because of Abraham's great faith at the sacrifice of his son, Isaac took over his father's position as the central figure in restoring Adam's faith. This made him, as Noah and Abraham had been before, the father of faith.
Substantial basis
According to the principles of creation, humans occupy a central position in creation, and all other creatures are created as objects for humans. Therefore, the Servant, created before Adam, had to obey Adam and receive God's blessings through Adam. As a result of the Fall, the Servant received unrighteous power over Adam through Eve. Because of this change of position in creation, God could not bless either Adam or the Servant. To bless them when they violated the principles of creation would be to recognize the unprincipled relationship as being in accordance with the Principle and to endow it with eternal value.
According to the principles of restoration, the relationship between Adam and the Servant must be restored to its original state, which is possible if the representative of the Servant voluntarily submits to the representative of Adam. According to the model of restoration established in Adam's family, the eldest son is chosen as the representative of the Servant, and the younger son is chosen as the representative of Adam. Once the relationship between Adam and the Servant is corrected by Cain submitting to Abel's love, a substantial foundation will be created and Cain and Abel will be able to receive God's blessing.
If Abraham himself had created the foundation of faith, then his sons, Ishmael and Isaac, would have been responsible for restoring the relationship between Cain and Abel and would have created the substantial foundation. If successful, both sons would have received God's blessing, but because of Abraham's mistake in the first sacrifice, Isaac took over from Abraham the position of the father of faith, and his two sons, Esau and Jacob, took over the position of Ishmael and Isaac (Cain and Abel) .
Ishmael and Isaac
Ishmael, as the eldest son and child of a handmaid, was to restore Cain's position and receive God's blessings through unity with Isaac. However, Abraham's position passed to Isaac, and Ishmael could not participate in the creation of the substantial foundation with his brother and could not receive the blessings that God promised to give to the sons of Abraham. As the Bible and Koran confirm, the story of restoration, which began in the family of Abraham, continued in the family of Isaac. His son Jacob became the father of faith for 12 sons, who became the ancestors of 12 tribes of God's chosen people, the children of Israel. It was not until several centuries later, when the Prophet Muhammad appeared, that the line of Ishmael began to play a central role in the providence of restoration.
Ishmael, through no fault of his own, was excluded from participation in direct providence in Abraham's family. The blessing promised to Ishmael and his descendants was inevitably connected with the providence of Isaac, since God regarded the family of Abraham as one race. Ishmael's plight contributed to his deep-seated resentment at having to wait for God's blessing. The tendency to bear resentment against Isaac and his family was transmitted from Ishmael to his descendants and became one of the providential problems in need of solution. Ishmael had 12 sons, whose descendants formed 12 tribes of the Arab people. It was to fulfill His promise to Ishmael and to end the historical bitterness between the families of Isaac and Ishmael that God sent Muhammad to the Arabs approximately 2,500 years after Abraham's family passed into the spirit world (see Chapter 19).
Resentment destroys human relationships because it is based on the desire to take for yourself what others have, instead of sacrificing what is own to others. Resentment has a destructive effect on both the object of the insult and the one who harbors it. Resentment was the main motive for the Servant's rebellion against God and his intrusion into the loving relationship between Adam and Eve. It can only be defeated by the power of love, which affirms the original value of its object and frees fallen humanity from grievances, allowing people to realize their potential. Thus, the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael were to love each other in order to remove the resentment planted in Ishmael's heart and to break down the barriers that resulted from the failure of Isaac and Ishmael to unite in the providence of Abraham's family.
Jacob and Esau
Like their father Isaac and uncle Ishmael, Jacob and Esau were particularly important characters in the story of the restoration. For this reason, they are given significant space in the pages of this book. Esau and Jacob were twins, with Esau being the firstborn. Jacob, occupying the position of Abel, had to achieve the voluntary submission of Esau, although Esau, personifying Cain, occupied the privileged position of the eldest son. As a fallen man, Esau was naturally inclined to lord it over Jacob against the will of God, but in the end Jacob was able to persuade his twin brother to accept him as God's representative, and together they succeeded in creating the foundation of substance.
Achieving this victory required taking a number of steps. First, Jacob obtained Esau's birthright by trading it for food at a time when Esau was hungry and valued food more than his position in the family. Esau's attitude towards his position as the eldest son was similar to the attitude of the fallen Adam, for whom personal pleasure became higher than the goal of creating a kind of good, while Jacob understood the highest value of the kind. Forty years later, when Isaac was old and blind and on the verge of death, Jacob managed to obtain his father's blessing intended for Esau. Rebekah, Isaac's wife, helped her son in this, thereby atone for Eve's deception of God and Eve's failure to convey God's blessing to her children.
Esau was furious when he discovered that Jacob had received the blessing intended for him, Esau, as the eldest son. His envy and anger toward Jacob were similar to the feelings the Servant had toward Adam and Eve when he felt he was losing God's love. They were also akin to Cain's envy, which prompted him to kill Abel. Jacob did not want to give his brother such an opportunity and therefore, again with the help of his mother, he fled to the homeland of his uncle Laban, to Harran.
Laban was a person in the position of a Servant whom Jacob had to win to his side through service and love. Jacob served Laban for 7 years to win the hand of his daughter Rachel, but Laban deceived Jacob by replacing Rachel with her sister Leah on their wedding night. He had to work another 7 years to win Rachel, whom he also married.
When Jacob prepared to return home, his uncle did not allow him to take any property with him, although Jacob faithfully served Laban for 14 years and made him rich. Therefore, Jacob had to work 7 years for the third time in order to earn material wealth. By persistently loving Laban and serving him until his victory, Jacob conditionally restored Adam’s subject position over the Servant. Based on this victory, he also gained power over the material world, thus completing the conditions for the realization of the three blessings: restoration of himself, his wife and material possessions.
Based on this victory, Jacob returned to his homeland in Canaan. On his way home, while fording the Jabbok River, he met an angel who fought with him. Although the angel injured Jacob's hip, Jacob persevered and eventually overcame the angel. In this case, Jacob restored the right relationship between the Servant (the angel) and Adam (himself). By not succumbing to the angel, Jacob fulfilled the condition for atonement for the Fall. Having won this struggle, Jacob demanded a blessing from the angel and received it, as well as a new name “Israel”, which means “one who fought with God.” Since then, Jacob has been called Israel, and his descendants - the sons of Israel.
Having defeated Laban and the angel, Jacob continued his journey to Canaan, preparing to meet his older brother Esau, who in turn was preparing to attack Jacob, driven by an insatiable anger over the lost birthright and his father's blessing. Jacob realized that anger and resentment were seething in Esau's heart, and before his meeting with him, he wisely offered Esau his wealth and everything that was valuable to him in life. Esau, who expected his brother to return as a conqueror, was surprised and touched by such generosity and love. When Jacob himself appeared, Esau forgot his anger, and the brothers embraced each other in tears. Jacob completely won the heart of his brother Esau.
The peaceful reunion of Jacob and Esau meant the restoration of the relationship between Cain and Abel, and for the first time in the providence of restoration the providential family successfully laid a substantial foundation.
The Reason for the Emergence of True Parents
Abraham's family was the first family chosen by God to restore Adam's family, successfully laying the foundation of faith (created by Isaac and inherited by Jacob) and the foundation of substance (created by Jacob and Esau). The moment when Esau and Jacob embraced in love was the most hopeful and joyful moment for God since the fall of Adam and Eve. With this great providential victory, the foundation was finally set for the emergence of True Parents, and God could begin to unfold the providence of restoration on the substantial level, expanding His influence among the fallen people of the world.
However, True Parents could not appear at that time because Jacob's family and descendants first had to atone for Abraham's failure to sacrifice animals and birds. The period of indemnity for restoration was the 400 years that the Israelites had to spend as slaves in Egypt. Moreover, during the time of Abraham, Satan gained dominion over entire countries, while only one family was on God's side. How could one family resist entire countries?
Fares and Zara
The reconciliation of Jacob and Esau was a major victory for God. However, complete atonement for the Fall did not occur, since this reconciliation personified only the symbolic purification of the race, while the substantial purification of the race must occur in the womb, where the fallen nature of man arose.
This is precisely what lies behind the paradoxical story of Tamar. Only by understanding that Tamar, like Isaac's wife Rebekah, had to restore the fallen Eve, can we understand why Jesus was born into her family, descended from the tribe of Judah. She risked her life when, obeying God's command, she gave birth to twins with her father-in-law, Judah, one of Jacob's sons.
During childbirth, the position of the twins in the womb changed, and the younger son Perez, personifying Abel, was born before his brother Zara. The change in the order of birth became known due to the fact that first Zara’s hand appeared from Tamar’s womb, to which a red thread was tied, but then it disappeared again into the womb.
The cleansing of Tamar's womb became the basis for the birth of the sinless Jesus, which is the first condition for the appearance of the Messiah. Messiah Jesus was to become the True Parent and establish a purified race, free from satanic domination and returned to the authority of God.
Jacob's chosen race
When Jacob and Esau restored the relationship between Cain and Abel, they laid the foundation for the first True Parents in history. God chose the descendants of Jacob who became the 12 tribes of Israel, a people called to create a country in which the Messiah would appear. When Tamar restored the purity of Eve's womb, God chose the race of Judah to be the birthplace of the Messiah. Thus, the family of Abraham, and the line of Jacob in particular, became the starting point for expanding the boundaries of the providence of restoration from the individual to the family, the tribe, and ultimately the country ready to receive True Parents. Thus the children of Israel became the chosen people.
Foundation of Jacob's family
Jacob's family became the center of God's providence. Jacob had 12 sons, the first ten born from three women - Leah, Leah's maid and Rachel's maid. The two youngest sons, Benjamin and Joseph, were born from Rachel. These 12 sons formed the 12 tribes of Israel - the people chosen by God to become the country that would receive the True Parents.
The spiritual, “Abelian” attitude to life was adopted from Jacob by his penultimate son Joseph. Joseph's brothers were jealous of his position as the favorite son and sold him into slavery in Egypt. There Joseph achieved prosperity and became the chief nobleman of Pharaoh. Having overcome the temptations of the fallen world of Egypt, especially the temptations of women, Joseph established himself as Abel in the second generation of Jacob's family.
When famine began in his homeland, Joseph's brothers arrived in Egypt to buy grain. Joseph recognized them and, despite the cruelty they had shown him earlier, received them with love, gave them grain and returned the money they had paid for that grain. The brothers could not understand such generosity, but when they arrived again in Egypt to buy grain, Joseph revealed himself to them. The brothers, reunited, cried with joy.
Joseph acted wisely to win over his brothers and father, much as his father had done to win the love of Esau. By giving gifts to his brothers, he showed them that he loved them, despite the harm they had caused him in the past. They, for their part, were ready to repent and ask for forgiveness for what they had done. As a result of the restoration of the relationship between Cain and Abel in Jacob's family, the personal basis for the emergence of True Parents created by Jacob reached the family level through his sons.
What can we learn from the example of Abraham's family?
First, when fulfilling the conditions of indemnity, it is important to pay attention to the little things in addition to having an open heart. Fallen humans are unable to fulfill the original responsibility of sinless Adam and Eve because their sinful nature is unable to fully cooperate with God. In order to overcome this limitation, God allowed fallen humans to fulfill their responsibilities conditionally through sacrifices using nature and themselves. Thus, offering to God is a conditional fulfillment of human responsibility, a step toward the substantial fulfillment of responsibility by restored people. The need for sacrifices arose as a result of Adam and Eve's failure to fulfill their responsibility as the son and daughter of God: they did not take God's warning seriously and, as a result, were not diligent in carrying out God's command. Thus, an offering has meaning only if it is done with the right, responsible attitude and in strict compliance with the instructions received.
Abraham was serious about fulfilling his responsibility to God by undertaking to make the animal and bird offerings, but having completed the main part of the sacrifice, which was cutting up the animals, he neglected the smaller task of cutting up the birds. Because of this error, Satan was able to take over the entire sacrifice.
The gravity of the situation resulting from Abraham's failure reflects the fundamental reality of the Fall. At first glance, we can say that the mistakes of Adam and Eve in the Fall are insignificant compared to the atrocities in the fallen world. However, their seemingly minor mistakes became the cause of all human suffering and grief. A small mistake can have serious consequences if the person who made it is a central figure on whom a lot depends. Adam and Eve were the ancestors of humanity, and their actions affected all of humanity. Abraham was given the mission to lay the foundation for the restoration of all mankind, and his mistake had consequences for everyone in his family and for all participants in the providence of restoration, i.e. ultimately for all the people of the world. In both cases, because of the great providential significance of these central figures, the failure to fulfill their God-given responsibility caused the most severe trials for all mankind. If God requires something specific from a person, then the person should consider that it is very important, even if from his position he does not understand why this is so.
Secondly, complete humility and obedience before God is the most powerful weapon against Satan. Abraham's son demonstrated complete humility by agreeing with his father's decision to obey God and sacrifice him. Isaac's unconditional willingness to give his life for God's will completely thwarted Satan's plans to destroy Abraham's family. There was no place for Satan in the relationship between Abraham and his son, as they both faithfully obeyed God even at the cost of their lives. It was easier for Abraham to sacrifice his own life than to kill his beloved son. The exercise of their tremendous faith enabled Abraham's family to retain their central providential position, which had been jeopardized by the error of the first sacrifice.
Their faith is faith at its highest, reflecting a degree of devotion that atoned for Adam's loss of faith. During the Fall, Adam was spiritually killed when he ignored God's warning about the consequences of eating the fruit. He sought to satisfy his desires even at the cost of his life. He failed to see the absolute value in something that from his limited perspective seemed insignificant. Correction of Adam's erroneous attitude occurs when a person in Adam's position sacrifices his desires for the sake of God's will, even at the cost of his life. It is precisely this willingness to fully follow God that allows God to give a person of such faith everything, even life itself. Therefore, since Abraham's son was willing to die for God, he did not have to die.
Another important lesson from this story is Abel's need to win Cain's heart through service and love. In the history of restoration, Jacob was the first person in Abel's position to successfully lay a substantial foundation as he made great efforts to melt away Esau's resentment and anger by showing love to him even in the most difficult circumstances. Abel's mission is to achieve Cain's voluntary submission. This can only be achieved through love, and service is the practice of love. Jacob's son Joseph learned this well from his father and won the hearts of his brothers by serving them with love even though they had previously treated him harshly. Jacob and Joseph were able to obtain the willing cooperation of Cain (Esau and the eleven brothers, respectively) in creating the substantial foundation, greatly accelerating the progress of the dispensation of restoration.
In the places where the Lord appeared, Abram built altars to Him, which later became shrines - in Shechem (Gen. 12:7, in Bethel Gen. 12:8 and later in the oak grove of Mamre near Hebron) Gen. 13:8.
Transition to Egypt and return to Canaan
At the head of an armed detachment, Abram defeated the Elamite king and his allies, who attacked the kings of the Valley of Siddim and captured his nephew Lot (Gen. 14: 13-16). In this story about Abram, the word “Jew” appears for the first time in the Old Testament (Genesis 14:30). Upon returning from the war, a meeting took place between Abram and Melchizedek, king of Salem, a priest of the Most High God, who brought bread and wine to Abram and blessed him, and Abram, in turn, allocated a tithe of the spoils to Melchizedek (Gen. 14: 17-24).
Promise of Inheritance and Covenant
To the childless, aged Abram, who is ready to appoint Eliezer as his heir, God gives the promise of an heir and an increase in offspring, which will be as numerous as the stars in the sky (Gen. 15:5). Abram believed this promise, and the Lord counted it to him as righteousness.
The Lord entered into a covenant with Abram, which was accompanied by a sacrifice, predicted the fate of his descendants, up to their return to Canaan from Egyptian slavery, and determined the boundaries of the future Israeli state - “from the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates...” (Gen. 15:7 -21).
Birth of Ishmael
Repeating the covenant, changing the name, establishing circumcision and promising a son from Sarah
After 13 years, the Lord again appeared to Abram and told him a requirement that applied to his entire life: “Walk before Me and be blameless” (Gen. 17: 1). He made an “everlasting covenant” with Abram, promising that he would become the father of many nations, and the Lord would be the God of Abram and his descendants born of Sarah (Gen. 17:8).
The entry into the eternal covenant was accompanied by a change in the names of Abram (the father is high) and Sarah to Abraham (i.e., the father of many nations - Gen. 17:5) and Sarah. In addition, as a sign of the covenant, God established the circumcision of every male child (vv. 9-14) and blessed Sarah, predicting that the heir of the covenant would be her son Isaac, and not Hagar’s son Ishmael, who, however, also received a blessing (v. 16 -21).
The Appearance of the Three Wanderers. Relocation to Gerar
God once again appeared to Abraham in the form of three strangers (Gen. 18), whom Abraham and Sarah hospitably welcomed. The Lord again promises Abraham that Sarah will give birth to a son. From Abraham, travelers set off to punish the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham petitions the Lord for mercy on a city in which there are at least 10 righteous people (Gen. 18:22-33).
Birth of Isaac
The most difficult test of Abraham's faith was the Lord's command to sacrifice the promised heir Isaac: “Take your only son, whom you have loved, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering.”(Genesis 22:2). Abraham obeyed, hoping that God would raise his son from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19), but at the last moment the Angel of the Lord stopped the sacrifice, and a ram was sacrificed instead of Isaac. As a reward for Abraham's faith and obedience, the Lord confirmed with an oath the previously given promises: blessings, multiplication of descendants and blessings in the seed of Abraham of all nations of the earth (Genesis 22: 15-18). After this, Abraham returned to Beersheba and lived there (Gen. 22:19).
Death of Sarah. Isaac's marriage
Abraham died at the age of 175 "in good gray hair, aged and full of [life]" and was buried by Isaac and Ishmael in the cave of Machpelah - the burial place of Sarah (Gen. 25: 7 -10).
Abraham had many herds and flocks and plenty of workers (Gen. 24:35). When he left Haran, he took with him the slaves he acquired there (Gen. 12:5). Later, slaves are reported as gifts to him (Gen. 12:16; Gen. 20:14), purchased by him, or born to his female slaves (Gen. 17:23, 27). Of these slaves he had at his disposal 318 men who had been tested in battle against four kings (Gen. 14:14). The leaders of the Hittites treated him as the “prince of God” (Gen. 23:6), and the Amorites and Philistines entered into alliances with him (Gen. 14:13; Gen. 21:22-32). Considering the origin and wealth of Abraham, it can be assumed that among his slaves there were also scribes, because. it is known about the widespread use of writing in Ur of the Chaldeans during the time of Abraham. It is possible that the written evidence of people around Abraham could become a source for the book of Genesis.
Later biblical authors and intertestamental literature, restoring faith in the Jews (Isa 51:2), recall the love of God for Abraham (Abraham is the “friend of God”: 2 Chron 20:7; cf. Isa 41:8) and the oath promise of the Lord that He will give the descendants of Abraham the land (Exodus 32:13; Exodus 33:1; Deut. 1:8; Deut. 6:10; Deut. 7:2, etc.), about the election of Abraham (Neh. 9:7-8) . For Hellenized Jews, Abraham remains an example of obedience to the Lord's commandments (Sir 44, 20; 1 Mac 2, 52; Jub 6.19; 4 Mac 16, 20, etc.), the embodiment of the Hellenistic ideal of virtue (Wis 10, 5; 4 Mac 16, 20; Philo. De Abrahamo. 52-54).
The Meaning of Abraham in the Light of the New Testament
The saving advantage of the promise of Abraham over the Law of Moses is emphasized (Gal 3. 17-18), for the promise of Abraham is considered as a “testament of Christ”, and under the “seed” of the apostle. Paul understands Christ Himself (Gal 3:16), but thereby also all those who believe in Christ, who are members of the one Body of Christ (1 Cor 6:15; 12:27). James 2.21-24 calls Abraham, who was justified by his works, a model of submission to the will of God.
The Meaning of Abraham in Christian Theology
In the subsequent Christian tradition, the ideas of New Testament theology found their development: the Old Testament patriarchs learned the secret of the Law, which lies in the fact that the promise of Abraham was fulfilled in Christ, and Christians thus. has the right to call Abraham his father, and himself the chosen people.
The Fathers of the Church and Christian writers used the story of Abraham for instruction in virtue, as an edifying lesson in piety, they see in it prototypes pointing to the New Testament truth of Christ, and even an allegorical image of the procession of the fallen soul under divine protection along the path of perfection. The belief that the future was foreshadowed in the events of the life of the patriarchs. the sacrament of Christ is also expressed in liturgical chants: “In God’s Fathers, Thou didst foretell the mysterious manifestation of Thy eternal Son from the Virgin, which would be on the earth of God, in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Judah and others, Jesse and David, and the prophets of all, by the Spirit foretelling in Bethlehem Christ who appeared in the world all appealing". According to church writers, God called Abraham thanks to his personal piety, previously witnessed in the fight against Chaldean idolatry, Abraham was supposed to become a guardian and teacher of faith and morals among the surrounding pagans.
The covenant with Abraham did not exclude previous covenants with the human race, and the pagans, therefore, were not deprived of participation in the covenant of God. The promise of multiplication of descendants and blessing of all tribes of the earth (Genesis 12) refers to all humanity, to which the blessing of God should descend through the Descendant of the patriarchs.
The justification of (uncircumcised) Abraham by faith remains a constant argument in polemics with the Jews to prove the superiority of the Christian faith over the ritual law of Moses.
In edifying preaching, Abraham's faith, submission to God, and willingness to undergo the test of faith remain a model to be followed.
The prototype of the New Testament sacrament of Baptism was seen by some interpreters in the circumcision of Abraham.
In the appearance of three strangers to Abraham (Genesis 18), many saw the mystery of the revelation of the entire Holy Trinity in the Old Testament; “You see... Abraham meets three, but worships one?.. Having seen three, he understood the mystery of the Trinity, and having worshiped, as it were, the One, he confessed the One God in three Persons”; This understanding of this event was reflected in Orthodox liturgical texts: “Thou hast seen how powerful it is for man to see the Trinity, and Thou hast treated Thee as a friend to the blessed Abraham: and therefore Thou hast received the reward of strange hospitality, that thou mayest be of countless languages unto the Father by faith.” , "Of ancient times, sacred Abraham accepted the One Trinitarian Divinity" .
Mostly Western fathers saw in the three pilgrims the appearance of angels, in whom God was present and known, as in their prophets; some liturgical texts of the Orthodox Church support this interpretation "establishing the Mamvrian oak Patriarch Angels, inheriting the promises of old age " , "For the love of strangers of old, Abraham the seer of God, and the glorious Lot, having founded the angels, and having found fellowship with the angels, calling: holy, holy, holy art thou, God our father" .
An educational meaning was seen in the scene of the sacrifice of Isaac (Gen. 22). Already for St. Melito's Sardinian ram prefigures Christ, Isaac freed from his chains - redeemed humanity. The tree symbolizes the Cross, the place of sacrifice is compared to Jerusalem. Isaac going to the sacrifice is also a prototype of Christ and his suffering. St. Irenaeus of Lyons compares Abraham, who is ready to sacrifice his son, with God the Father, who sends Christ to redeem humanity. This interpretation of Isaac as a type of Christ becomes the general opinion of the fathers.
According to the holy fathers, the Lord Himself testified to the educational significance of the sacrifice of Isaac in relation to the Sacrifice of Calvary when he said: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw and rejoiced" (John 8:5-6). The hymns of the Orthodox service testify to the educational significance of this sacrifice: “Abraham sometimes ate his son, imagining the slaughter of the One who contained everything, and now in a den he was anxious to be born.” , “Prefiguring your slaughter, Abraham Christ, who begot a son, on the mountain, obeying you, the Master, like a sheep, was called to devour even by faith: but when I return I rejoice with him, glorifying and exalting you, the deliverer of the world.” , “The image of Christ’s passion was revealed to Isaac, who was erected by his stepfather through obedience and sacrifice.” .
The sacrifice of Abraham is often interpreted as a prototype of Hagar in the anaphoras of the Eucharistic sacrifice of the Liturgies of the East and West - for example, the Liturgy of St. Mark, Roman Mass.
In Christian euchological and hymnographic texts the image of the “womb” or “bosom” of Abraham is found as a synonym for paradise (cf. Mt 8:11; Lk 16:22-26): “Remember, Lord... the Orthodox... Give them rest yourself... in Thy Kingdom, in the pleasure of paradise, in the bosom of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob...” , “Sweet is paradise: for the bosom of Abraham, the patriarch, warms you in the eternal villages, fourty martyrs.” and etc.
The name of Abraham is often used in Jewish and Christian prayers as part of an appeal to God (“God of Abraham,” “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” “God of Abraham and Israel,” etc.) cf. the beginning of Manasseh's prayer "Lord Almighty, God of our fathers, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and of their righteous seed" .
Biblical criticism
Along with this, in the apologetic tradition of the 19th century, which defended the testimony of St. Scriptures from the objections of negative criticism, zap. and Orthodox scholars have argued for the historicity of the accounts of the Old Testament patriarchs.
In most cases, historians have no doubt about the historicity of the persons of the Old Testament patriarchs. The historicity of Abraham is supported by the fact that the name Abraham is not a fictitious name of a mythical character or an eponym of an ethnic group, but a personal name found in other extra-biblical sources. The name Abram (from Gen. 11, 26 to Gen. 17, 5), probably a short form of the name Abiram (Heb., - [my] father is high, exalted) and is found in 1 Kings 16, 34, in its meaning it may be a theophoric epithet emphasizing the greatness of the Lord.
The name Abraham is a dialect variant of Abram, which is found in Egypt. texts of the 18th century BC in the form of Aburahana. The name Abraham has been compared to Akkadian. personal names: for example, Aba(m) rama (from the time of the first Babylonian dynasty) or Assyrian. Aba-rama (love your father; 7th century BC) - the name of the daughter-in-law of King Sennacherib. According to W. Albright, the meaning of the name Abraham is “he is great as far as his father is concerned” (that is, the name indicates the noble origin of its bearer). Theophoric meaning of West Semitic. A.'s name was emphasized by M.: “[my] Father (i.e., patron God) is exalted.”
Historical analysis of biblical stories about the religion of the Old Testament patriarchs (with the use of archaeological and epigraphic material) showed that biblical messages about it reflect the ancient pre-state tradition of Israel and, therefore, in the case of the Old Testament patriarchs we are talking about real historical figures, regardless of how specific historians imagine their image and connection with the subsequent history of Israel.
Archaeological discoveries 2nd half. V. (especially in Nuzi and Mari) showed that the legend about the Old Testament patriarchs reflected the historical realities of the Middle Bronze Age (1st half of the 2nd millennium BC) and reveals certain parallels with the customs, morals and legal ideas of the ancient East. cultures of this time, etc. confirm the messages of the Bible.
Attempts by scientists to accurately date the time of the Old Testament patriarchs using archeological data do not lead, however, to a consensus, dates are proposed: XX/XXI centuries. BC; between the 20th and 16th centuries. ; XIX/XVIII centuries .
Iconography
The plot of the sacrifice of Abraham (Genesis 22), symbolizing the New Testament sacrifice, became widespread in early Christ. art; one of the earliest images is in the painting of the synagogue at Dura Europos, c. 250. This plot is found in the paintings of the catacombs, reliefs of sarcophagi, and decorates Eucharistic vessels. Sometimes Abraham is depicted as a beardless youth in a short tunic (for example, a glass bowl of the 4th century, found in 1888 in Boulogne-sur-Mer), but usually Abraham is a man with a beard, in a tunic and pallium (in Dura-Europos - with dark hair; in the paintings of the catacombs, mosaics of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, 432-440 - with short gray hair).
Among the options for depicting the sacrifice of Abraham, the most common composition is where Abraham holds the kneeling Isaac by the hair with his left hand, and a raised knife in his right hand; to the left of Abraham near the tree is a ram, in the heavenly segment is the right hand of God. Sometimes an angel is depicted behind Abraham (relief of the sarcophagus of Junius Bassus, 359 (Vatican Museums) - the angel is represented as a young man without wings). This type of iconography survived into Byzantium. and in Old Russian art.
From the 9th century Abraham begins to be depicted with a halo. Instead of the right hand of God, an angel is often placed in or near the heavenly segment (Chludov Psalter. 9th century); fresco of St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, mid. XI century, mosaics of the Palatine Chapel in Palermo, 50-60s. XII century, and the Cathedral in Montreal (Southern Italy), 1180-1190; painting in the altar c. Nativity of the Virgin Mary of the Snetogorsk Monastery in Pskov, 1313).
From the 12th century Abraham is usually depicted as an old man with long gray hair. From the 16th century the scene of the sacrifice of Abraham in Russian manuscripts, in addition to illustrations of the Psalms, is known in the miniatures of the Palea, Chronographs, the Front Chronicle, the Bible (Pskov Paley. 1477: miniatures of the mid-16th century); and in the marks of icons (for example, the Holy Trinity with an act, mid-16th century (GRM); the Holy Trinity in being, 1580-1590 (SIHM), etc.).
Along with Old Testament scenes in Byzantium. art, an iconography is being developed based on the Gospel parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus (Luke 16:22), called “Abraham’s Bosom”. The earliest known image is a miniature of the Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus (880-882), where Abraham sitting on the throne holds a figurine of Lazarus on his knees, symbolizing his soul. In the Barberini Psalter (1092) A. sits under the trees with a figurine in his hands. In the illustrations of the Psalms there are numerous images of Abraham, illustrating various texts about the righteous, paradise, and righteous sacrifice. The composition “Abraham's Bosom,” symbolizing paradise, is included as one of the elements in the “Last Judgment” cycle (Gospel. XI century). Together with Abraham in paradise, the Old Testament patriarchs Isaac and Jacob are depicted sitting on the throne, behind whose bosoms there are children's figurines - the souls of the righteous (for example, frescoes of the Demetrius Cathedral in Vladimir, late 12th century). In the 16th century in Russian in temple paintings, “Abraham’s Bosom” is placed in the deacon (Arkhangelsk Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, Holy Trinity Church in Vyazemy), which is associated with the tradition of funeral services performed here (Stoglav. Chapter 13). In Paleologian art, the image of Abraham among the Old Testament righteous is found in the temple paintings of the Chora Monastery (Kahrie-Jami) in Constantinople, 1316-1321, c. Theodore Stratelates in Novgorod, 80s. XIV century
Abraham in Judaism
Both in the pre-Christian Jewish tradition and in the later one, the exceptional dignity of Abraham among the forefathers is emphasized.
One of the most striking examples of this is in the treatise Bamidbar Rabbah 2, where the appearance of Abraham “after twenty generations, from which there was no benefit,” is compared to how on the way of a wanderer in the desert he encounters a fruitful and spreading tree with a spring. The main merits of Abraham are also noted here, which practically outline the entire theme of the aggadic stories about Abraham: Abraham selflessly served the Lord (withstood the test of being thrown into the fiery furnace); he was distinguished by his special hospitality (he kept a hotel where he gave food to every traveler); Abraham is the mentor of the true faith (“brought people under the wings of the Shekinah”); proclaimed the glory of the Lord to the whole world. It is reported that Abraham grew up among idolaters (based on Joshua 24:2).
Having come to true faith, Abraham began to preach the One God and fight idolatry. At first he tried to convince his father, brothers and buyers of idols of the pointlessness of worshiping them, then he smashed and burned the idols made by his father. For this he was captured, from which God Himself saved him. The trial by fire is one of 10 trials (Sarah's barrenness, war with the kings, circumcision, the sacrifice of Isaac, etc.) that befell Abraham.
Abraham's special righteousness was that he kept all the commandments and regulations of the Torah even before they were given on Mount Sinai. At the conversion of Abraham, he received from God the book. Law and established the order of saying the morning prayer and some rules. Abraham's special closeness to God (“friend of God”) is also reflected in the fact that he is His “first prophet.”
Apocalyptic literature tells that Abraham had a chance to see many secrets, incl. and afterlife. The angel of God Hagar teaches Abraham Hebrew so that he can unravel the secrets of all the ancient books.
On the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), God looks to the blood of Abraham's circumcision for the sake of which He forgives sins. Abraham and the forefathers were considered the guarantors of the salvation of their descendants, since God made a covenant with Abraham that would last forever (Koran 2.124). Muslims consider him, along with Ismail, the builder of their main shrine -.
Literature
- Origenes. Homiliae in Genesim 3-11 // GCS Origenes. Bd. 6. S. 39-100;
- Gregory the Theologian, St. Word about God the Son // Creations. Part 3. M., 1843;
- Gregory of Nyssa, St. About the Divinity of the Son and the Spirit and praise to righteous Abraham // Creations. Part 4. M., 1862;
- Ambrosius Mediolanensis. In epistula ad Rom. Cap. 4 //PL. 17. Col. 91;
- Prudentius. Psychomachia. Praefatio // PL. 60. Col. 11-20; Vita Barlaam et Joasaph // PG. 96. Col. 909;
- Petrus Comestor. Historia Scholastica // PL. 198. Col. 1091-1109;
- Shcheglov D. The calling of Abraham and the historical significance of this event. K., 1874;
- Protopopov V. Biblical Old Testament facts according to the interpretations of the holy fathers and teachers of the church. Kaz., 1897. P. 71-88;
- Alexandrov N., priest. The history of the Jewish patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) according to the works of St. fathers and other writers. Kaz., 1901. P. 14-146;
- Lopukhin. Explanatory Bible. T. 1. P. 85-150;
- Lopukhin. Biblical history in the light of the latest research and discoveries: the Old Testament. St. Petersburg, 1889, 1998. T. 1. P. 231-351;
- Zykov V.I., priest Biblical Patriarch Abraham: biblical history. apologist. feature article. Pg., 1914;
- Noth M. Die israelitischen Personnennamen im Rahmen der gemeinsemitischen Namengebung. B., 1928;
- Jeremias J. Abraham // ThWNT. Bd. 1. S. 7-9;
- Wooley L. Abraham: Recent Discoveries and Hebrew Origins. L., 1935;
- Albright W. F. The Names Shaddai and Abram // JBL. 1935. Vol. 54. P. 173-204;
- ibid. Abram the Hebrew: A New Archaeological Interpretation // BASOR. 1961. Vol. 163. S. 36-54;
- Lerch D. Isaaks Opferung christlich gedeuthet: Eine auslegungsgesch. Untersuchung. B., 1950. (BHTh; 12);
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- Bright J. The History of Israel. L., 1960;
- Vaux R. de. Die hebräischen Patriarchen und die modernen Entdeckungen. Münch., 1961;
- ibid. Histoire ancienne d "Israel. P., 1971. T. 1: Des origenes à l" installation en Canaan;
- Μπρατσιώτης Π. Ι. ̓Αβραάμ // ΘΗΕ. Τ. ῾. Στλ. 59-62;
- Cazelles H. Patriarches // DBS. 1966. T. 7. P. 81-156;
- Weidmann H. Die Patriarchen und ihre Religion im Lichte der Forschung seit J. Wellhausen. Gött., 1968. (FRLANT; 98);
- Lord J. R. Abraham: A Study in Ancient Jewish and Christian Interpretation. Duke, 1968;
- Clements R. Abraham // ThWAT. Bd. 1. S. 53-62;
- Svetlov E. [Men A.] Magism and monotheism. Brussels, 1971. T. 2. P. 171-193;
- Thompson T. L. Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives: The Quest for the Historical Abraham. B.;
- N.Y., 1974. (BZAW; 133);
- Martin-Achard R. Abraham I: Im Alten Testament // TRE. Bd. 1. S. 364-372 [bibliogr.];
- Berger K. Abraham II: Im Frühjudentum und Neuen Testament // Idem. S. 372-382 [bibliogr.];
- Leineweber W. Die Patriarchen im Licht der archäologischen Entdeckungen: Die krit. Darstellung einer Forschungsrichtung. B., 1980;
- Betz O. Abraham // EWNT. Bd. 1;
- Roldanus J. L "héritage d" Abraham d "après Irénée // Text and Testimony: Essays on New Testament and Apocryphal literature in honor of A. F. J. Klijn / Ed. Baarda T., Hilhorst A., et al. Kampen, 1988. P 212-224;
- Berton R. Abraham est "il un modèle? L"opinion des Pères dans les premiers siècles de l"Èglise // Bull. de littérature ecclésiastique. 1996. T. 97. P. 349-373;
- Kundert L. Die Opferung/Bindung Isaacs. Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1998. Bd. 1: Gen 22, 1-19 im Alten Testament, im Frühjudentum und im Neuen Testament. (WMANT; 78) [bibliography];
- Joest Chr. Abraham als Glaubensvorbild in den Pachomianerschriften // ZAW. 1999. Bd. 90, 1/2. S. 98-122;
- Müller P. Unser Vater Abraham: Die Abrahamrezeption im Neuen Testament - im Spiegel der neueren Literatur // Berliner theol. Ztschr. 1999. Bd. 16. S. 132-143.
To the section "Iconography"
- Lucchesi Palli E. // LCI. Bd. 1. Sp. 20-35;
- Pokrovsky N.V. The Gospel in iconographic monuments. St. Petersburg, 1892. S. 216, 221;
- Ainalov D. The Hellenistic Origins of Byzantine Art. New Brunswick, 1961. P. 94-100;
- Speyart van Woerden I. The Iconographie of the Sacrifice of Abraham // VChr. 1961. Vol. 15. R. 214-255.
Jewish tradition
- Talmud. Mishna and Tosefta / Trans. N. Pereferkovich. St. Petersburg, 1899-1904. T. 1-6;
- Smirnov A. The Book of Jubilees, or Small Genesis. Kaz., 1895;
- Haggadah: Tales, parables, sayings of the Talmud and Midrash / Trans. S. G. Fruga. Berlin, 1922. M., 1993;
- Testaments of the twelve patriarchs, sons of Jacob // Apocryphal Apocalypses: (Ancient Christianity: sources). St. Petersburg, 2000. P. 46-128;
- Testament of Abraham // Ibid. pp. 156-184.
- Beer B. Das Leben Abrahams nach der Auffassung der jüdischen Sage. Lpz., 1859;
- Porfiryev I. Apocryphal tales about Old Testament persons and events. Kaz., 1873;
- Korsunsky I. Jewish interpretation of the Old Testament. M., 1882;
- Buber M. Zur Erzählung von Abraham // Monatsschr. f. Geschichte u. Wissenschaft des Judentums. Breslau, 1939. Bd. 83. S. 47-65;
- Botte B. Abraham dans la liturgie // Cah. Sion. 1951. T. 5/2. P. 88-95;
- Menasce P. J. Traditions juives sur Abraham // Idem. 1951. T. 5/2. P. 96-103;
- Glatzer N. N. The Judaic Tradition. Boston, 1969;
- Urbach E. E. The Sages - Their Concepts and Beliefs. Jerusalem, 1969;
- Sandmel S. Philós Place in Judaism - A Study of Conceptions of Abraham in Jewish Literature. N.Y., 1971;
- Schmitz R. P. Abraham III: Im Judentum // TRE. Bd. 1. S. 382-385 [bibliogr.];
- Billerbeck P. Commentary. Bd. 3. S. 186-201; Bd. 4. S. 1231;
- Kundert L. Die Opferung/Bindung Isaacs. Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1998. Bd. 2: Gen 22, 1-19 in frühen rabbibnischen Texten. (WMANT; 79);
- Gellman J. The figure of Abraham in Hasidic literature // HThR. 1998. Vol. 91. P. 279-300.
Islamic tradition
- Mashanov M. Essay on the life of the Arabs in the era of Muhammad as an introduction to the study of Islam. Kaz., 1885;
- Wensinck A. J. Ibrahim // EI. Leyden;
- L., 1913-1914. Vol. 2. P. 458-460;
- Beck E. Die Gestalt des Abraham am Wendepunkt der Entwicklung Muhammeds // Muséon. 1952. T. 65. P. 73-94;
- Moubarac Y. Abraham dans le Koran. P., 1958 [bibliogr.];
- Schützinger H. Ursprung und Entwicklung der arabischen Abraham-Nimrod-Legende. Bonn, 1961;
- Hjärpe J. Abraham IV: Religionsgeschichtlich // TRE. Bd. 1. S. 385-387 [bibliogr.];
- Piotrovsky M. Ibrahim // Islam: Encycl. dictionary. M., 1991. S. 87-88.
Used materials
- E. N. P., N. V. Kvlividze, A. K. Lyavdansky, R. M. Shukurov “Abraham” // Orthodox Encyclopedia, vol. 1, p. 149-155
- http://www.pravenc.ru/text/62850.html
Gregory of Nyssa, St. Refutation of Eunomius // Creations. Part 6. pp. 300-302
Ambrosius Mediolanensis. De Abrahamo // PL. 14. Col. 438-524
Lenten Triodion. Part 1. L. 299.
Triodion Colored. L. 201ob.
John Chrysostom, St. Conversations on the Book of Genesis. Conversation 35 and others // Creations. Part 2. pp. 290-291; Theodoret of Cyrus, bl. Commentaries on the Book of Genesis. Question 65 // Creations. Part 1. P. 64; Augustine, blessed About the City of God. XIV 22; Epiphanius of Cyprus, St. For 80 heresies Panarius, or the Ark. LV and others // Creations. Part 2, etc.
Troparion of the 7th song of the canon on the Sunday of St. father // Menea (ST). December. L. 132
Irenaeus of Lyons, St. Against heresies. II 190; Cyril of Alexandria, St. Skillful explanations of selected passages from the book of Genesis // Creations. T. 4. P. 116; cf.: Augustine, bl. About the City of God. XVI 23; John Chrysostom, St. Discourses on the Epistle to the Romans. Ch. 4. Conversation 8. P. 155 next; Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians. Ch. 3. pp. 95-121. M., 1842
Justin Martyr, St. Apology. I 46.3; 63.17; Clement of Alexandria. Stromata. I 32.2; Hippolytus. Commentarium in Danielem. II 37, 5
Cyril of Alexandria, St. Skillful explanations of selected passages from the book of Genesis // Creations. T. 4. P. 138-139; Ambrosius Mediolanensis. De Abrahamo. II 11. 79
Ambrosius Mediolanensis. De Abrahamo. I 5. 33; De Spiritu Sancto II; Athanasius Alexandrinus. De Trinitate. 3
Augustin. De tempore. Serm. 67, n. 2; 70, no. 4; cf.: Macarius. Orthodox dogmatic theology. T. 1. P. 169
Troparion of the 5th song of the canon on the Sunday of St. forefathers // Menaea (ST). December. L. 79ob.
Troparion of the 1st song of the canon on the Sunday of St. father // Menea (ST). December. L. 128ob.
Justin Martyr, St. Conversation with Tryphon the Jew; Tertullian. Against Marcion. III 2. 27; 5.9; About the flesh of Christ. 17; Against the Jews. 9; Irenaeus of Lyons, St. Against heresies. IV 23; Eusebius of Caesarea. Church ist. I 2; John Chrysostom, St. Conversations on the Book of Genesis. Conversation 42, etc.
Josephus Flavius. Jude ancient XI 169; ZavLevi 15:4
Bereshit Rabbah 4:6; Shemot Rabbah 28:1
Shemot Rabbah 44:4, etc.
Koran 2. 119-121; 3. 90-91
Christianity is called a "world religion". This means that its adherents can be found all over the world - even in those countries that are not traditionally Christian, which is why our Church is also called “Ecumenical”... But true faith began with one person, and then spread to his family, then - the people, and ultimately - for all of humanity... and the name of this man was Abraham.
Christians, Jews, and Muslims rightfully consider Abraham their “spiritual ancestor” (these religions are even called Abrahamic). The first book of the Bible, Genesis, tells about him. He lived approximately in the 17th century BC, was born in the Sumerian city of Ur, and married his half-sister Sarah (in those days such a marriage was the norm). The family and Ur went to Canaan, but on the way - in the city of Haran - Father Abraham (more precisely, Abram) dies. And after this, a significant event occurs: God himself turns to our hero, commanding...
The first of three biblical patriarchs who lived after the Flood.
According to the book of Genesis, the first Jew and the ancestor of the entire Jewish people. Descendant of Eber (Eber), great-grandson of Shem (Shem), first son of Noah.
In the scriptures
In the Old Testament
The account of Abraham's life and work is contained in the book of Genesis (11:26-25:10).
Abraham, whose original name was Abram...
Who is Abraham in the Bible?
King David and Solomon, the Pharisees and Caesar, the prophet Elijah and many other such familiar and, at the same time, unfamiliar names. Who were all these biblical heroes? How well do we know who is who in the Bible? Are we sometimes confused with some mythological characters? To understand all this, “Thomas” opened a project of short stories “Biblical Characters”. Today we are talking about who Abraham is.
Abraham is the progenitor of the Jewish people (Israel), the eldest of the Israeli patriarchs, who, out of faith in God, agreed to sacrifice his son Isaac to Him.
The Bible tells in detail about Abraham in the Book of Genesis (Genesis 12-25), then Abraham is mentioned in the Book of Joshua, Second Book of Chronicles, Psalms, the books of the prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, Micah, in the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John, in the Acts of Saints apostles and in the letters of the Apostle Paul to the Romans, Galatians and Hebrews.
Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldeans (in...
Abraham (Heb. ‘abraham’ – father of multitudes (biblical etymology), father of heights; Greek….
Articles - BIBLE CHARACTERS
RIGHTEOUS ABRAHAM
Terah's family. Ur of the Chaldeans - Religious "conversion" of Abram. Faith in One God. - Terah and her family leave Ur. Stop in Harran. - God appears to Abraham - Abraham sets off with Lot and Sarah from Haran. - Land of Canaan - Promised Land - Abraham in Egypt - Return to Canaan - Abraham and Lot diverge - Abram's settlement at the oak grove of Mamre - Lot in captivity and Lot's release from captivity - Meeting with Melchizedek - Conclusion of the Covenant between God and Abraham - Birth of the first Abraham son of Ishmael from the slave Hagar - New Testament between God and Abraham. Establishment of "circumcision". - The appearance of God to Abraham in the form of three strangers - The death of Sodom and Gomorrah - The incest of Lot and his daughters - The birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah - The sacrifice of Isaac - The death of Sarah - The death of Abraham - Christ about Abraham - The meaning of Abraham in Christian theology
Abraham is the first of the three Old Testament patriarchs...
AVRAA M...
Abraham (Heb. Avraham, from “[my] father is exalted,” or from avhamon - “father of many”) is the biblical patriarch. The name was originally Abram, but was later changed to Abraham (Gen. 17:5).
Scientists have data confirming the existence of this name in the Middle East in the 2nd millennium BC.
According to biblical sources, 290 years passed between the birth of Abram and Jacob’s migration to Egypt (Gen. 21:5; 25:26; 47:9). The Bible does not say anything about specific contemporaries of Abram that would allow them to be identified with famous historical figures, therefore a more accurate dating of the time of the patriarchs in general (and the life of Abram in particular) is impossible. Approximately this period can be limited to 2000-1800 BC.
According to the Bible, Abram was the son of Terah from the family of Shem. He had brothers - Nahor and Aran. The latter, Lot's father, died in Ur while Terah was still alive (Gen. 11:27 et seq.). Abram's wife, Sarai (later Sarah), with whom he initially had no children,...
ABRAHAM sacrifices Isaac. Miniature 13th century. Rembrandt. Abraham's sacrifice. in the Old Testament, the first biblical patriarch, born c. 2000 BC e. in Ur of the Chaldeans (Mesopotamia). Originally called Abram. Married his half-blood... ... Collier's Encyclopedia
Abraham - ah, husband. Star. rare; decomposition Abram, a. Father: Avraamovich, Avraamovna. Derivatives: Avraamka (Avramka); Avraakha (Avraha); Avraasha (Avrasha); Abramka; Abraha; Abrash. Origin: (Ancient Hebrew name 'Abram exalted father.) Name day: (see Abraham) Dictionary ... ... Dictionary of personal names
Abraham is, according to the Bible, the first of the patriarchs, the ancestor of the Jews and (through Ismail) the Arabs. According to legend, he originally had the name Abram and was born in Ur of the Chaldeans. There he married Sarah. Together with Sarah, he left his native country. On the way, Yahweh promised... ... Historical Dictionary
Abraham - (Heb. Abraham). I. The name of the patriarch is original. sounded like Abram, but was then changed by God to Abraham (Gen. 17:5). Both forms...
Isaac
Biblical character, son of Abraham and Sarah
Alternative descriptions
Biblical son of Abraham and Sarah, father of Esau and Jacob
Both Newton and Babel
Male name: (Hebrew) laughing
Composer Albéniz
Newton's name
The moneylender from Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe
Composer Dunaevsky's name
Babel's name
Artist name Levitan
Male name
Son of Abraham (Bible)
Babel, Newton, Levitan
He gave birth to Jacob
Levitan
Composer Schwartz
Scientist ... Newton
Father of Esau and Jacob
Newton by name
Dunaevsky
The name of the genius under the apple tree
Son of Abraham and Sarah
Babel, Newton's namesake
Levitan, namesake of Newton and Babel
Name of Newton and father of Arkady Raikin
Dunaevsky Sr.
Newton with an apple
Son of Abraham
Abraham Lincoln...
Four hundred years after the flood, in the south of Mesopotamia, in the rich and populous city of Ur, there lived a man named Terah. He had three sons: Abram, Nahor and Haran. Of these, Aran died during his father’s lifetime. Grieving over the loss, Terah did not want to stay in Ur, took his sons and moved to the north of Mesopotamia - to the large trading city of Harran. Here he lived in peace and prosperity until his death. Terah's second son, Nahor, was with him. As for the eldest, Abram, chosen by the Lord to fulfill His innermost plans, his fate turned out completely differently.
That year, when Abram was seventy-five years old, the Lord said to him: “Leave your land and your father’s house and go to the land that I will show you. There I will make you into a great nation, I will make your name great, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Abram obeyed, took all his livestock, all...
Meaning of the name Abraham
Origin of the name Abraham. The name Abraham is Jewish, Orthodox, Catholic, Jewish.
Synonyms for the name Abraham. Abram, Abram, Abramy, Abrahamy, Avramy, Abraham.
Short form of the name Abraham. Abramka, Avramka, Abrakha, Avrakha, Abrasha, Avrasha, Abrashka, Avrashka, Ava.
The name Abraham is a biblical name. It was Abraham who became the founder of the Jewish people, in a broader sense - the forefather of all believers in the true God. Abraham originally bore the name Abram (Abram), which meant “exalted father.” But subsequently God commanded him to take the name Abraham (Abraham), which is usually interpreted as “father of nations” or “father of many.” Abraham is considered the ancestor of the Jews, Arabs and Arameans. Abraham lived 175 years, and all six of his sons from his second marriage, as well as his eldest son, Ismail, became the founders of various Arab tribes, which explains the meaning of the name Abraham in the Bible itself.
In Islam, Abraham appears under the name Ibrahim (Ibrahim), where he is revered as...
Message from †ЛД†
Hello, dear parishioners!
And you won’t be sick, dear. Message from †ЛД†
It is believed that the Bible is nothing more than the Word of God, written under His direct dictation.
Who thinks so? For example, I have no...
I believe that the Bible was not written under His direct dictation, but by the inspiration of the Spirit. The Spirit of God, of course. And these are fundamentally different things:
write from direct dictation and write under the inspiration of the Spirit.
Message from †ЛД†
As far as I understand, the Bible classifies Abraham as a positive character, but his actions are saturated with such cruel cynicism, meanness, and abomination that I can’t even call him a good person.
Again, are you viewing Scripture through the notorious prism of liberal humanism?
Well... Let's listen.
Message from †ЛД†
Let's start with a case of fraud involving pimping and selling...
Abraham was born about 2000 BC. (XXI-XX centuries BC) in Ur of the Chaldeans (Ur-Kasdim), not far from Babylon - one of the oldest and most important Sumerian cities of southern Mesopotamia (ancient Mesopotamia). Ur was located in the south of modern Iraq, near Nasiriyah, west of the Euphrates River.
Ur was a fabulous city. Sea vessels sailed from the Persian Gulf up the Euphrates, carrying gold, copper and ivory from India and heading east to purchase the goods they needed. The level of development of society was quite high, considering that there was a division of labor and a market for the exchange of labor results. Some were engaged in breeding small and large livestock, others weaved linen, and still others sewed clothes from linen. Ur had the reputation of a center of education and culture.
Excavations carried out in the early 20s of the last century discovered brick houses, sometimes several stories high, a water supply and sewerage system quite decent for the ancient world, monuments of writing and art, and in the center of the city a giant three-tiered ziggurat - a stepped tower erected in honor of lunar deity Nanna. At the top of the ziggurat, at a height of 21m, there was a tomb.
About 2000 years before Christ, Abraham's father lived in this ancient city - Farrah (euro Terah), who was engaged in making idols and selling them in the bazaar. The name of Abraham's mother is not mentioned in the Holy Scriptures; according to Arabic sources, her name was Adna, and according to Jewish sources, Amatleya, probably Amatsula - an ancient Chaldean female name.
Terah was a ninth generation descendant of Noah - the same Noah who was saved during the Flood. He had 3 sons - Haran, Nahor and Abram, who later received the more familiar name Abraham. According to the Bible, Abram was born when Terah was 130 years old. His elder brother Haran died at a young age, leaving behind his son Lot, whom Abram later took into his upbringing. Lot was a man who believed in the true God and was pious, but spiritually weaker.
It is known that Terah had other children. When Terah was 140 years old, his daughter Sarai was born, but she was born not from Abram’s mother, whose name is not mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, but from another wife.
As an adult, Abram married his half-sister Sarah (Gen. 20:12), whom God later named Sarah. In those distant times, many marriages took place between members of the same family. So, Nahor married the daughter of his older brother Aran, Milkah, and Abraham took his own half-sister. Sarah was 10 years younger than Abram, but was not inferior to him in righteousness, and later even surpassed her husband in the gift of prophecy.
Abram's religious "conversion". Faith in One God.
There is every reason to believe that Abraham's father, Terah, and some members of his family were idolaters and worshiped Nanna, the moon god. Abram believed in one God and was faithful to him. The Bible does not say how in pagan Mesopotamia, in the house of the idolater Terah, faith in the one and true God could have arisen in the heart of Abraham? However,post-biblical legends tried to fill this gap.
Thus, in the Talmudic literature it is stated that, contemplating earthly and heavenly phenomena, the change of luminaries, Abraham independently came to understand the true, One God, Creator and Ruler of the universe. In a vision, God revealed Himself to the new convert Abraham. And Abraham, in an act of conscious choice, chose this God over all other superhuman patrons. This puts Abraham in a situation of conflict with the pagan world, starting with his own family. At first he tried to convince his father, brothers and buyers of idols of the pointlessness of worshiping them, then he smashed and burned the idols made by his father. Then Abraham began to preach the One God among his neighbors and fight idolatry. All this led to the fact that pagans began to persecute his family and they were forced to decide to change their place of residence.
Terah and her family leave Ur. Stop in Harran.
The Bible says that after leaving Nahor and his family in Ur, Terah took his son Abram, his wife Sarai and his grandson Lot and led them to the land of Canaan - present-day Palestine (Gen. 11:31). For what reasons Terah left his rich home in Ur of the Chaldeans and went with his family on a dangerous and difficult journey is unknown. The fact is that in those days it was possible to get to Canaan by two caravan routes: the shortest and most difficult one ran through the desert and was called the “Great Desert Road”. The second path was called the “Path of the Fertile Crescent” and was the longest (approx. 2000 km), but less dangerous, because ran through fertile lands along the Euphrates River and the large cities of Babylon, Harran and Damascus.
It can be assumed that because of Abraham and his faith in one God, Terah and his family had conflicts at their old place of residence and their family began to be persecuted by pagan compatriots.
According to another version, they set off on such a dangerous journey at the behest of God. We do not know exactly where Abraham first received a message from God - in Ur or in Haran. However, the book of the Acts of the Apostles describes how the first martyr Archdeacon Stephen, addressing the Sanhedrin, testified: “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham in Mesopotamia, before he moved to Haran, and said to him: get out of your land and from your kindred and from your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you. Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran; and from there, after the death of his father, God moved him to this land in which you now live.”(Acts 7:2-4).
Thus, it can be assumed that it was in Ur of the Chaldeans that God first appeared to Abram and commanded him and his entire family to settle in another land that would be indicated to him. And Abram, believing God, decided to go without knowing where. Abraham most likely told his loved ones about that amazing dialogue in which the Lord revealed His will to him. Terah, an idolater, saw something in his youngest son Abram that made him trust him completely. And the elderly father made the difficult decision to lead all family members who expressed consent on this strange journey that had no apparent goal.
Terah's family decided to take the longest but least dangerous route to Canaan, following the Euphrates River to the north. But before reaching Canaan, Terah and his family stopped in the city Harran (Northern Mesopotamia) , which was located in a large bend of the Euphrates River (Gen. 11:31), almost halfway to the Promised Land. Perhaps old Terah was tired or sick and needed rest. A 1,000-kilometer trek was not easy for a man of his age, even in those days when life expectancy was at least 200 years. The transition must have been slow: the average speed of such caravans was 13 kilometers per day. Therefore, it could take them two weeks to get to Babylon, and the journey to Harran could take about 3 months. Harran might have seemed to them a good stopover on the way to Canaan. It was in this city that Terah died at the age of 205 (Gen. 11:32).
Instead of making a short stop in Haran, Terah's family (Abram, Sarai and Lot) settled in this city for a long time.
The Bible gives us reason to believe that Abram was not in poverty during his days in Haran, because... he had already acquired both property and slaves here. Abram was rich, had many livestock, silver and gold, and many servants; but had no children and grieved about it.
God's Appearance to Abraham
When Abram was 75 years old, God appeared to him again and said: “Get thee out of your land, from your kindred, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great; and you will be blessed. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you; and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:1-3).
God chose righteous Abraham to preserve the true faith, through his descendants, for all mankind. And in order to protect him and his descendants from his native pagan people, God appeared to Abram and said that He would make him a great nation. And in this people - in its descendants, over time, the Savior of the world promised to the first people will be born, who will bless all the peoples of the earth.
The Apostle Paul says that the name of the land that was intended for him had not yet been revealed to Abram (Heb. 11:8); and yet he, obedient to the divine voice, does not hesitate at all to leave everything that was dear to him, and meekly exchanges it all for the unknown future and the restless life of a nomad ahead of him.
Abraham departs with Lot and Sarah from Haran.
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Abram accepted God’s command with faith and submission. He obeyed the Lord and left this place, taking with him his wife Sarah, his nephew Lot, all his servants and all the property they had acquired.
He left the green fertile lands of the Aramian land, following the caravan route down the Balikh River and, having reached the Euphrates, turned west to the oases of Aleppo (modern Syria).
Abraham was a servant of the true God. He lived as his faith told him. Everywhere he went, he erected altars to the Lord. And when a person is filled with genuine religious feeling towards the true God, his way of life becomes attractive to others. It was the same with Abraham. With warmth and love for his neighbors, he attracted people to himself and to God.
Land of Canaan - Promised Land
The Bible says that Abraham and his family stopped at a place called Shechem, oak forests of More (or Mamre) . This land was called Canaan and was very fertile. The Canaanites lived there at that time. This was one of the most wicked peoples. The Canaanites were descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham. Over time, this Shechem became the capital of Samaria and is mentioned more than once in the Holy Scriptures of both the Old and New Testaments. In the time of Jesus Christ it was also called Sychar, and under Vespasian it was renamed Neapolis, from where the modern name of this place Nabulus (or Nablus) came.
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At the oak grove of Mamre
It was here that God appeared to Abram, indicating that this was Promised land . “And the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “To your descendants I will give this land.”(Gen. 12:7). And Abram built an altar to God.
After this, the land of Canaan began to be called Promised, that is, promised, since God promised to give it to Abraham and his descendants. And now it is called Palestine. This land is located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, and the Jordan River flows through its middle.
Abram and his family wandered around Canaan, building altars to the one God. One of his major stops was a place that later became known as "Bethel". It is located 5 miles south of Shechem and 3 hours' journey from Jerusalem, in a valley abundant with beautiful pastures. Not far from here was "Gai", the ruins of which are still known as "Medinet-Gai" and are located 5 miles from Bethel to the east. The Bible says that Abraham pitched a tent and an altar between Bethel (to the west) and Ai (to the east) (Gen. 12:8).
Abraham in Egypt
Soon there was a famine in the land of Canaan. “And there was a famine in the land...”This was, of course, a new and strong temptation for Abram’s faith: instead of, according to the divine promise, enjoying various benefits from his new possession, he was forced at first to experience such a severe deprivation as severe hunger.And even the animals could not bear the lack of food.
In search of new pastures for his flock, Abram considered it necessary to leave the Promised Land without God’s blessing, and while the famine was raging, seek shelter in the fertile delta of the Egyptian rivers. For the inhabitants of Syria and Canaan, traveling to Egypt was not something unusual.
The entry of Abram's rich caravan into Egypt, coming from Canaan, did not go unnoticed by the Egyptian pharaoh. Abram’s beautiful wife did not go unnoticed. For Abram, who is called the father of the chosen people, this was a time of testing, and it was during this time that he showed a lack of faith.
Out of fear that the Egyptians might kill him in order to get his wife, Abram married his wife Sarah to his sister. “Behold, I know that you are a woman of beautiful appearance; and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, “This is his wife.” and they will kill me, but leave you alive; tell me that you are my sister, so that it may be good for me for your sake, and so that my soul may live through you.”(Gen.12:11-13).
Having learned that the beautiful foreigner was the sister of a visiting guest, Pharaoh took her into his harem, presenting Abram with rich gifts: “And it was good for Abram for her sake; and he had flocks and herds, and donkeys, and male and female servants, and mules and camels.”(Gen.12:16).
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Pharaoh takes Sarah
Having taken Sarah as his wife, the pharaoh soon had to repent of this. The Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with “heavy blows,” and Sarah was returned to her husband. “What did you do this to me?”- Pharaoh asked Abram. - “Why didn’t you tell me that she is your wife? Why did you say: “She is my sister”? and I took her as my wife. And now here is your wife; take it and go"(Gen.12:18-19).
The Bible, while describing the righteous, does not at all hide their shortcomings and even sinful apostasies. A person is called righteous not because he is sinless, but because in the process of long-term Divine education his life path becomes an example. And here the Bible does not hide anything: having barely shown Abram from a remarkable side, it immediately tells about the unsightly episode that happened to Abram and his wife, when, due to hunger, he turned to Egypt. Abram's cowardice placed both spouses in a situation where it would be impossible for them to fulfill the Divine promise. And then God punishes (educates, helps out) Abram indirectly, causing Pharaoh’s anger and contempt for him and his imaginary righteousness (it is contempt that is heard in the command to “show him off and all that he has”). This is a serious lesson for Abram: an ordinary pagan from his point of view, whom it is not a sin to deceive and live well with him, turned out to be much more God-fearing and, by the way, lenient (he could have executed him) than he, who has the knowledge of God and the great promise. ..
Return to Canaan
Abram left Egypt, taking away more wealth than he previously had, and returned to Canaan. In Egypt, another person was added to his house - Egyptian girl Hagar , which very soon was to play an important role in the lives of Abraham and Sarah. She may have been one of the slaves given by Pharaoh to Abram.
Abraham and Lot separate
Upon returning to Canaan, quarrels began between Abram and his nephew Lot over land. Abram, who always acted as a peacemaker in all matters, invited Lot to resolve this issue himself. “Abram said to Lot: Let there be no discord between you and me, since we are relatives. Is not the whole earth before you? Separate yourself from me; If you go to the left, then I go to the right; and if you go to the right, then I will go to the left... Lot lifted up his eyes and saw the whole region of Jordan, that it... was all watered with water, like the garden of the Lord...”(Gen. 12:8-13).
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Lot chose the fertile Jordan Valley and settled in Sodom. This was an unfortunate choice, which in the future led to Lot losing all his property and himself being taken into captivity. The Bible says that before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the Jordan Valley resembled God's garden, that is, the Garden of Eden. Lot settled in this “paradise” garden, not knowing that the inhabitants here “were evil and very sinful before the Lord.”
Abram's settlement near the oak grove of Mamre
But Abram chose the land of Canaan, desolate and uncomfortable, and settled near Hebron, near the oak grove of Mamre . There, near the oak of Mamre, he pitched his tent and built an altar to the Lord. It is here that he hears the Lord again: “And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: lift up your eyes, and from the place where you are now, look north and south, and east and west; For all the land that you see will I give to you and to your descendants forever, and I will make your descendants like the sand of the earth; if anyone can count the sand of the earth, then your descendants will also be counted; Arise, walk through this land into the length and breadth of it, for I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.”(Gen.13:14-17). In this text, the Church Fathers see a prototype of the cross, which Abram twice, mentally and actually, seemed to lay as the foundation of the future Holy Land.
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Mamri oak
This Mamrian oak still grows in Palestine, near the city of Hebron.
City of Hebron (in Arabic - Khalil) is located in the south of the Judean Mountains, 40 km from Jerusalem at an altitude of 950 m above sea level. This is one of the oldest cities in the world, a shrine of three religions, associated with many events and characters of the Old Testament. And since ancient times it has been considered a holy place of pilgrimage. The sanctity of Hebron is determined by another important biblical fact associated with the graves of the forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The book of Genesis chapter 23 tells how Abraham bought the site with the cave of Machpelah in the city of Hebron from Ephron the Hittite to bury his wife Sarah. His descendants Isaac, Jacob and Joseph are also buried in this cave. The graves of the forefathers were dedicated as a place of worship available to all the tribes of Israel. A thousand years later, King Herod surrounded the cave with the graves with a large fence, which has survived to this day.
The Mamri oak is already 5000 years old. There was an opinion that when this sacred oak withered, it would be the end of the world. Several years ago, the Mamri oak actually dried up, but produced young shoots from the roots. Both in former times and now, when some oak branch died, crucifixes were cut out of it, which then spread from the Holy Land throughout the world.
Mamri oak at the beginning of the 20th century
Lot in captivity and Lot's release from captivity (Genesis, chapter 14)
After some time it happened war in the valley of siddim (where the Dead Sea is now) (Gen. 14). As a result, Sodom and Gomorrah were plundered and Lot and his property were taken captive .
As we know, Lot, after separation from Abram, settled in the lower part of the Jordan Valley, which at that time was occupied by five rich cities. These cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Seboim, Adma and Bela (or Zoar) formed the union of the five cities; each of them had its own special king, but at their head was the king of Sodom, Bera. The population of these cities was distinguished by outrageous corruption of morals and depravity, disgusting and unnatural vices. But besides this moral wickedness, which troubled Lot’s not yet completely corrupted conscience, a terrible disaster suddenly befell him. These cities paid tribute to the king of Elam, Chedorlaomer, one of the states neighboring Mesopotamia. For 12 years they were enslaved by Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year of their subjugation they rebelled, refused to pay tribute, and Chedorlaomer with three allied kings moved to pacify and punish them. The king of Sodom, in alliance with four kings of other cities in the valley, opposed him. The troops of the warring parties met in the Siddim Valley. The Sodomites were defeated and put to flight, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fell into pits and died, and the rest fled to the mountains. The victors seized all the property of Sodom and Gomorrah with their reserves, and with great booty and many captives they set off on a return campaign. Among the captives was Lot, who at that time lived in Sodom.
Abram, having learned about this, immediately gathered his servants (318 people), invited his neighbors to help, caught up with the enemy, attacked him and recaptured all the spoils (Gen. 14:13-16).
The entire 14th chapter of the book of Genesis, even by the admission of negative criticism, is a document of great antiquity and enormous historical value. A number of proper names of kings and localities, as well as the detail of the factual side of the description, give the impression of living historical truth; and the latest research and excavations in the area of the specified territory confirm and strengthen this impression.
Meeting with Melchizedek (Gen. 14:18-2)
When Abram returned victorious, he met with the king of Salem (presumably the future Jerusalem) Melchizedek. Melchizedek “He brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of the Most High God. And he blessed him and said: Blessed be Abraham of the Most High God, Lord of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who hath delivered thy enemies into thy hand. Abram gave him a tenth of everything."(Gen.14:18-2). Abraham accepts the blessing and gives Melchizedek a tenth of his spoils. Melchizedek first blesses God, and then His servant Abram.
Melchizedek blesses Abraham
The report of a certain king who was a priest of the true God is a hint that the veneration of the One God was never interrupted and could exist outside the main biblical line. But the mysterious figure of the king-priest itself became symbolic.
Melchimedek - King of Salem (future Jerusalem), priest of the Most High. He had no earthly father, no mother, no ancestors; his life had neither beginning nor end; being likened to the Son of God, he remains a priest forever (Heb. 7:3).
The name Melchizedek consists of two Hebrew words: “melech” - king, and “tzaddik” - righteous; and means “king of truth”; The word "salim" means "peace".
The appearance of Melchizedek before the time of the Law indicates that he is a priest of God, but a priest not according to the Law (not from the tribe of Levi), but directly from God, by anointing. His priesthood surpasses all subsequent ones (Jewish, Christian and Muslim), i.e. he stands at the origins of the history of peoples and religions - he is also outside of it.
Melchizedek blesses Abram, and so the story begins: Abram is the father of both Ishmael, from whom the Arabs trace their ancestry, and Isaac. His children will go different ways and fight each other.In Melchizedek we see that there is a certain force in history that set us in motion and sent us on our way, but at the same time, which already existed before us and will exist after us. This power precedes and exceeds the power and authority of the Jewish Law, the institutions of Islam, it is higher than the Christian monastery or palace, it is even greater than everything that is called “Christendom.”
Some argue that the person of Melchizedek means an incarnate angel or some kind of Divine power or even the Holy Spirit.
The name Melchizedek became a symbol of charismatic service to God in general.
For Christianity Melchizedek is a type of Christ (Priest and King), His reign and His priesthood. A The bread and wine of the king of Salem are prototypes of the Eucharist. Just as Melchizedek was both priest and king, so Jesus Christ is High Priest and King. Just as about Melchizedek neither the beginning nor the end of his life is indicated - he seems to live forever - so Christ is the eternal God, King and High Priest; and we call Jesus Christ High Priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. And just as our Lord Jesus Christ gave us His body and blood, that is, holy communion, under the guise of bread and wine, so Melchizedek, prefiguring the Savior, brought bread and wine to Abraham, and as the eldest blessed Abraham.
New appearance of God to Abram. Making the Covenant between God and Abraham (Genesis, chapter 15)
After these events, God appeared to Abram again: “After these things happened, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision at night, and it said: Do not be afraid, Abram; I am your shield; your reward will be very great"(Gen. 15:1).
And once again God confirmed his promise to give Abraham numerous descendants, to whom the Promised Land would be given: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.”(Gen. 15:18), and this time the promise was sealed the conclusion of the Covenant between God and Abraham . The Lord indicates two rivers as the boundaries of the future possession of the Jews: from the east the Euphrates, and from the west some Egyptian river. By the latter one cannot mean the Nile, since the Euphrates, in comparison with the Nile, could not be called a great river; obviously this is one of the border Egyptian rivers, much smaller than the Euphrates; It is believed that this is the Sihor River, which separated Egypt from Palestine. Within these limits, the Jews actually owned the land of Canaan during the time of kings David and Solomon, when not only all of Palestine and all the nomadic tribes surrounding it recognized the dominion of the kings of Israel, but even the kings of southern Arabia bowed to them.
Then God announced to Abraham a prophecy about the upcoming Egyptian slavery: “And the Lord said to Abram: Know that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them, and they will oppress them for four hundred years, but I will bring judgment on the people to whom they will be enslaved; after this they will come out here with great property, and you will go to your fathers in peace and will be buried in a good old age; in the fourth generation they will return here: for the measure of the iniquities of the Amorites has not yet been filled.”(Gen. 15:13-16)
The birth of Abraham's first son Ishmael from the slave Hagar (Genesis, chapter 16)
Abram was pious and trusted in God. But at the same time, he and his wife Sarah suffered deeply, and the cause of their suffering was their childlessness.
In the history of the Old Testament, we more than once encounter another problem indirectly related to original sin, and, oddly enough, this is the problem of children and descendants. Firstly, after man fell away from God, in his thirst for immortality he changed the individual aspect to the generic aspect. Having lost access to the tree of life, ancient man decided to take care of “immortality on earth,” which meant mainly immortality in his children and grandchildren. Secondly, the loss of the heavenly marriage ideal led to the fact that the meaning of marriage also began to be seen not in unity, but in as many offspring as possible. The presence and number of children “guaranteed” immortality and, in the eyes of others, looked like a sign of God’s blessing. On the contrary, the absence of children could mean a curse: a person turned out to be unworthy of continuing on earth!
Therefore, Abram and Sarai seemed rejected by Heaven.
Abram's marriage to Sarah remained fruitless for a long time. A full 10 years have passed since Abram and Sarai received the divine promise of numerous offspring, and the latter has not yet given birth to a single son.
Then, following the ancient custom, Sarah chose among her slaves a concubine for her husband, an Egyptian named Hagar, in order to raise the child she bore as her own.
Sarah brings Hagar to Abraham. A. van der Werf (1699)
In those days, one of the legal ways to procreate was the so-called “kneeling birth.” A wife, unable to give birth, gives her husband one of the maids, who conceives a child from him, and at the moment of birth the wife puts her feet under the baby and says: this is my child “from her.” The child is considered the legitimate son of the parents (this is somewhat reminiscent of modern gestation in the womb of another woman).
Hagar- an Egyptian woman, a slave, a servant of Sarah during the latter’s childlessness, who became Abraham’s concubine and bore him a son, Ishmael, who later became the founder of the Arab tribes called the Ishmaelites (by his name) and Hagarites (after his mother's name).
Soon Hagar became pregnant. “When Hagar saw that she had conceived,” she began to despise Sarah and ceased to show her respect as her mistress. Throughout the ancient East, and among the Jews in particular, having many children was considered a special sign of divine blessing and family pride; while infertility, on the contrary, was seen as misfortune and dishonor. It is not surprising that the young servant Hagar, imbued with such views, could forget herself before her destitute mistress.
Sarah complained to her husband: “I have given my maid into your bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, she began to despise me.”(Gen. 16:5)
Abraham, not wanting to interfere in the family squabble, said to his wife: “Your servant is in your hands; do with her as you please.”(Gen. 16:6)
Sarah began to oppress Hagar, and she, unable to withstand the constant nagging, ran away from home into the desert of Sur, which lay on the way between Egypt and Assyria. (Gen. 16:7)
Not knowing where to go, Hagar wandered through the desert all day, and at night she fell asleep in the open air. An angel appeared to her in a dream and said: "Return to your mistress and submit to her"(Gen.16:9). As a reward, the Angel predicts a great future for Hagar’s offspring: “And the Angel of the Lord said to her: By multiplying I will multiply your descendants, so that they cannot even be counted from the multitude. And the Angel of the Lord said to her: Behold, you are with child, and you will give birth to a son, and you will call his name Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your suffering; he will be among people like a wild ass; his hands are against everyone, and the hands of everyone are against him; he will live in the presence of all his brothers."(Gen. 16:10-12).
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Hagar in the Desert (Gheorghe Tattarescu, 1870)
Hagar listened to the angel, returned to Abram’s house, reconciled with Sarah, and in due time gave birth to a son, who received the name Ishmael, which means “God hears.”
Thus, at the age of 86, Abram’s first son, Ishmael, was born to Hagar, the ancestor of the Arab tribes (Genesis 16).
Because Ishmael was still the son of Abraham “according to the law,” so the Divine promise also applies to him: “I will multiply your descendants” (Gen. 16:10). This promise of the descendants of Hagar through her son Ishmael was brilliantly justified in history, namely in the fate of those 12 nomadic tribes who, under the common name Ishmaelites, and agaryan or Saracen, occupied most of the Arabian desert and repeatedly emigrated from here to Africa, Spain, Persia and even India. However, it is not said about him that “in him the nations will be blessed,” but something completely different is said: “he will be among people like a wild ass; his hands are against everyone, and the hands of everyone are against him; he will live in the presence of all his brothers."(Gen. 16:12). That is, the Ishmaelites will be warlike nomads and Bedouins. And the descendants of the two brothers - Ishmael and Isaac - will not mix with each other, but will live separately and independently of each other; they will not always be in good, but always close proximity to each other. (Interestingly, Muslims consider themselves descendants of Ishmael, but the Bible gives Ishmael an unflattering assessment.)
New Testament between God and Abraham. Establishment of “circumcision” (Genesis chapter 17)
When Abram was 99 years old, God appeared to him again andannounced that from now on Abraham and his descendants should perform circumcision of the foreskin : “This is My covenant, which you must keep between Me and you and your descendants after you.”(Gen. 17:10). The whole essence of these requirements boiled down to one basic thing - the observance of circumcision, which contained the essence of this Covenant in an external symbolic action. From the outside circumcision, first of all, was the shedding of blood, which was considered an important guarantee of the strength of such unions and among people. Then, according to the very connection of the facts and the purpose of its establishment, circumcision was supposed to serve as a constant and, so to speak, tangible reminder of that Covenant with God, into which the father of the believers once entered, and in his person all his descendants. Finally, circumcision was a sign of the Covenant in the sense that it was an external distinctive sign of belonging to God's chosen people and entry into the Old Testament church.
Even more important was the ideological, internal meaning of circumcision. Circumcision, On the one side, pointed to the hereditary sinfulness in which we are all conceived and born, on the other hand, it mysteriously foreshadowed the New Testament baptism, washing away this hereditary, ancestral corruption.
God promises Abram that he will become not only the father of the numerous Jewish people, but also a number of other nations, but also “the father of all who believe,” both circumcised and uncircumcised.
In this regard, Abram (“father”) and Sarai (“mistress”) will receive new names in the plural form: Abraham(“father of many tribes”) and Sarah(“mistress of many”). This corresponds to the custom of the ancient eastern rulers, who renamed the servants they elevated, and God, elevating Abram to the Covenant with Himself, gives him a new name, which, moreover, is closely related to the content of the promise itself.
Also God promised that within a year Sarah would have a son, Isaac. destined for a great future. Thus, God promises Abram that he will not only have a child despite his old age, but many people will be born from him who will receive Divine blessings through him.
Abraham, without delay, fulfilled the Lord’s command that same day: “And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all those born in his house, and all those bought with his money, even all the males of the house of Abraham; and he circumcised their foreskin on that very day, as God had spoken to him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when his foreskin was circumcised. And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old."(Gen.17:23-25).
However, the Jews are mistaken in thinking that circumcision makes them righteous. Blessed Theodoret of Cyrus (†457) noted that not only Abraham was circumcised, but also his son by a slave, Ishmael, the slaves and all the household members. The Egyptians also learned from the Israelites how to be circumcised. Hence, Circumcision did not justify Abraham, but faith made him righteous. Virtue brought him glory, circumcision was given as a sign of faith .
The appearance of God to Abraham in the form of three strangers (Gen. 18:1-16)
Abraham and the Three Angels, Gustave Doré
Several years have passed. One day, on a hot day, Abraham was sitting under the shade of an oak tree, at the entrance of his tent, and saw three strangers standing opposite him. Following the laws of hospitality, Abraham invited them to rest and refresh themselves. The wanderers came to him. Sarah baked bread for the guests. According to the custom of that time, Abraham washed their feet, gave them bread, butter, milk and the best roasted calf and began to treat them. And they ate.
Having had their fill, the wanderers thanked their hospitable hosts, and one of them said to Abraham: “I will be with you again at this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.”
Hearing these words, Sarah, who was 89 years old at the time, laughed to herself and thought: “Should I, now that I am old, have this consolation? And my lord is old."
But the wanderer, guessing her thoughts, edifyingly said that nothing is impossible for the Lord. After which the wanderers left.
These three wanderers were actually angels in whom God himself incarnated. Their image - the so-called “Old Testament Trinity” - is one of the most common subjects of Russian icons, including the famous “Trinity” by Andrei Rublev.
In this description, the most unusual thing is the play of singular and plural forms: Abraham sees three, but speaks to the strangers as if there were three of them, then one; literally: 3=1. Some Church Fathers saw God and two angels with Him in this picture (there are also some reasons for this), but most of them consider this place a covert indication of the appearance of God the Trinity, the most obvious in the entire Old Testament.
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis, chapter 19, 20)
Leaving Abraham, God revealed to him that He would destroy the neighboring cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, since they are the most wicked cities on earth.
Sodom and Gomorrah - two biblical cities that, according to the Bible, were destroyed by God for the sins of the inhabitants. The cities were part of the Sodom Pentapolis (Sodom, Gomorrah, Adma, Zeboim and Zoar) and were, according to the Old Testament, in the Dead Sea region.
Sodom was inhabited by the Canaanites (Hebrew name for the Philistines). The king of Sodom was King Ber, the one who first met Abraham after the war in the Valley of Siddim and invited him to take his estate in exchange for Abram's people. Abram refused him so that Bera would have no reason to say: “I have made Abram rich” (Gen. 14:21-23).
During the time of Abraham, Sodom was a prosperous and wealthy city. The fertility of the soil and the favorable trading position on the main route of the ancient caravans contributed to the enrichment of the inhabitants, which, in turn, led to the extreme development of depravity and debauchery, which found its characteristic expression in the term “sodomy” or “sin of Sodom.”
However, what was considered a sin according to the concepts of the ancient Jews was almost a godly deed for the servants of the cult of Baal, which was professed by the overwhelming majority of the inhabitants of ancient Palestine. Baal is the biblical name for the god of the pagan Semites of Palestine, Phenicia and Syria. In the mythology of pagan Semites, he is the personification of male productive power and this was fully consistent with the religious cult of Baal, which consisted of wildly unbridled voluptuousness, seeking artificial stimulation. Its external symbol was the phallus, in the form of a column with a truncated top. At the temples of Baal lived sacred fornicators and harlots who earned money for the temple through sacred prostitution. Naturally, such a cult had the most corrupting influence on the people.
But the Bible declares that the sin of the Sadomites was not limited to sexual perversion: the iniquities of Sadom were pride, satiety and idleness . The root of their sinfulness came from their great wealth, which led them to be idle and ignore those less fortunate than themselves. They were full of pride and arrogance, thinking that they were better than others. (Ezek. 16:49-50)
Now these two cities are not on any geographical map, but the names of the cities are quite specific. The Dead Sea itself is quite large, its length reaches 76 kilometers, its width is seventeen, and its depth is 356 meters.
Abraham's nephew, righteous Lot, lived in Sodom.
Abraham began to beg the Lord to have mercy on these cities if fifty righteous people were found there. The Lord promises to spare cities if there are at least 10 righteous people there (Gen. 18:23-32).
This story has the following spiritual aspect. Our world, living in sins and oblivion of God, stands and moves only because the supply of Divine grace is not exhausted and the gracious “atmosphere” has not yet been destroyed. This is the merit of a few, but true prayer books and righteous people, whose good deeds outweigh all the suicidal malice of the world. "Ten righteous" is an image of the minimum holiness sufficient to retain grace. If this minimum does not happen, the faithful will be saved, but the world will not be able to live any longer.
But in these unfortunate cities the inhabitants were so evil and corrupt that not even ten righteous people were found there.
God sent two Angels there to save righteous Lot. When Lot received them into his house, the Sodomites besieged his house, demanding to hand over the strangers in order to “know” them (i.e., abuse them). They were ready to break down the door, but the Angels struck them with blindness and took Lot and his family - his wife and two daughters - out of the city. They told them to run and not look back, so as not to die.
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is described in Genesis 19:15-26.
And then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed these cities and all the people in them. And he devastated the whole place so much that in the valley where they were, a salt lake was formed, now known as the Dead Sea, in which nothing living can live.
Obviously, the cup of God’s patience turned out to be overflowing, and such a place, as a hotbed of spiritual infection, was destroyed from the face of the earth. Only Lot and his daughters managed to escape in time. Lot's wife, when she ran away from the city, looked back at Sodom, and immediately turned into a pillar of salt.
By the fact that Lot's wife looked back at Sodom, she showed that she regretted leaving her sinful life - she looked back, lingered, and immediately turned into a pillar of salt. This is a strict lesson for us: when the Lord saves us from sin, we need to run away from it, not look back at it, that is, not linger and not regret it.
Incest of Lot and his daughters
After the disaster, Lot and his daughters took refuge in the city of Zoar. But they were not looked upon as the saved, but as the only inhabitants of the damned city, and no one wanted to marry his daughters. Then, leaving Zoar, Lot settled in a cave under the mountain with his daughters. The daughters, left without husbands, decided to get their father drunk and sleep with him (incest) in order to give birth to descendants from him and restore their tribe, in perfect accordance with the Old Testament idea of ancestral immortality (Gen. 19:33-34). First the eldest did this, the next day the youngest did so; both became pregnant by their father. The eldest gave birth Moab, the ancestor of the Moabites, and the youngest - Ben Ammi, ancestor of the Ammonites. Those. Here there is sin and the offspring of sin .
Lot and his daughters, Hendrik Goltzius, 1616
This is how two Pagan nations appeared, hostile to Israel. For information about what these peoples were like in everyday life, see at least the book of Amos (Amos. 1:13, Amos. 2:1).And in Deuteronomy it says that neither the Moabites and Ammonites, nor their descendants even in the tenth generation can enter into the congregation of the Lord .
Why does Scripture and Christ himself call Lot righteous? After all, this episode of the connection between a father and his daughters contains the sad story of Lot’s fall. Lot, who throughout his life was a living denunciation of the Sodomites in the purity of his morals, at the end of his life he himself, to some extent, became like them, having entered into a criminal relationship with his daughters. But a more thoughtful analysis of the text and taking into account all the incidental circumstances greatly clarifies the matter.
As for the personality of Lot himself, most of his guilt is removed by the fact that he committed the criminal act in a state of intoxication and without any consciousness of its significance.
It is much more difficult, of course, to justify the behavior of Lot’s daughters, on whose part a deliberate intention and an insidious plan are clearly visible. But even here we can point out a number of circumstances mitigating their guilt:
- firstly, their action was guided not by lust, but by the intention to restore the fading seed of their father;
- secondly, they resorted to this means as the only outcome in their situation, since they were convinced that, besides their father, they no longer had any man from whom they could get offspring (Gen. 19:31).
They formed such a false belief either because, seeing that four cities and all villages were burned by fiery rain, they considered the rest of humanity to be lost , or, because no one wanted to have communication with them, as they came from cities cursed by God. Those. They committed incest not for the sake of lust, but were motivated by ideas about the continuation of the human race.
Birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah (Genesis, chapter 21)
After these events, Abraham settled in Bathsheba (Beersheba).
A year later, as predicted, 90-year-old Sarah and 100-year-old Abraham had a son. Sarah was happy, but at the same time somewhat embarrassed. She said: “God made me laugh; whoever hears about me will laugh.” Sarah named her son Isaac, which means "laughter".
13 years after the birth of Isaac, the long-term conflict between Sarah and Hagar resulted in a new conflict.
Isaac was the legitimate son of Abraham, but Ishmael, although born of a slave, was the eldest and also “legitimate,” therefore, according to custom, he had more rights. Apparently because of thisSarah's hostility towards Hagar flared up with renewed vigor, and she turned to her husband, demanding: “Cast out this slave woman and her son, for the son of this slave woman will not inherit with my son Isaac.”
“This seemed very unpleasant to Abraham,” he did not want to part with his eldest son, but God commanded him to do as Sarah required, and not to worry about the fate of Ishmael, who, like Isaac, was destined to become the ancestor of a great nation.
Abraham gave Hagar bread and a waterskin for the journey and advised her to go with her son to Egypt, where she was from.
Hagar walked away, holding her son’s hand and carrying a waterskin on her shoulders. She got lost in the desert, her water supply ran out, and death seemed inevitable. Hagar “left the boy under one bush,” and, so as not to see her son die, she walked away to archery distance, sat down on the sand and began to cry loudly.
Hagar and Ishmael in the desert
God, hearing her groans, “opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water.” Hagar filled a wineskin with water, gave Ishmael a drink, and set off again. Finally, mother and son reached places where they could settle.
Ishmael grew up, became a skilled hunter, got married: “And God was with the boy; and he grew up and began to live in the desert, and became an archer. He lived in the desert of Paran; and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.”(Gen. 21:20-21). As the Lord promised, his numerous descendants formed a people known as Ishmaelites, Hagarites , or Arabs . There is still a sacred stone in Mecca, under which, according to legend, Ishmael and Hagar are buried.
Meanwhile, Abraham, having lost his eldest son, concentrated all his fatherly feelings on Isaac.
Isaac is the fruit of Abraham’s strongest faith, he is not a child of youthful love and not a child of necessity, but a visible miracle of God, suffered by the Old Testament righteous family, he is a son “by grace.” This is said about him in the Gospel of John: “we were born not of the will of the flesh, but of God” (John 1:13).
The Sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22)
When Isaac grew up, God wanted to test the power of Abraham's faith and through him teach all people the love of God and obedience to the will of God.
God appeared to Abraham and said: “Take your only son Isaac, whom you love, go to the land of Moriah, and sacrifice him on the mountain that I will show you.”(Gen. 22:2).
Abraham obeyed. He felt very sorry for his only son, whom he loved more than himself. But he loved God most of all and believed Him completely, and knew that God would never wish anything bad. He got up early in the morning, saddled the donkey, took with him his son Isaac and two servants; He took wood and fire for the burnt offering and set out.
On the 3rd day of their journey, they came to the mountain that the Lord had indicated. Abraham left the servants and the donkey under the mountain, took fire and a knife, and laid the wood on Isaac and went with him to the mountain.
As they walked together up the mountain, Isaac asked Abraham: “My father! We have fire and wood, but where is the lamb for sacrifice?(Gen. 22:7).
Abraham replied: “The Lord will provide for himself a lamb”(Gen. 22:8). And they both walked further together and came to the top of the mountain, to the place indicated by the Lord. There Abraham built an altar, laid out the wood, bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. He had already raised the knife to stab his son. But the angel of the Lord called him from heaven and said: “Abraham, Abraham! Do not raise your hand against the boy and do nothing to him. For now I know that you fear God, because you did not withhold your only son from Me.”(Gen. 22:9-12).
Abraham sacrifices Isaac (Evgraf Reitern, 1849)
Instead of Isaac, a ram was sacrificed, entangled in a bush nearby. Then the father and son went down the mountain to their servants and the donkey and returned home safely.
For such faith, love and obedience, God blessed Abraham and promised that he would have as many descendants as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore, and that in his descendants all the nations of the earth would receive blessings, that is, from his lineage the Savior would come peace (Gen. 22:16-18).
The sacrifice of Isaac was a type or prediction to people about the Savior, who, being the Son of God, would be given by His Father to die on the cross, as a sacrifice for the sins of all people. Isaac, being a prototype of the Savior two thousand years before the Nativity of Christ, prefigured, by the will of God, Jesus Christ. He, just like Jesus Christ, resignedly went to the place of sacrifice. Just as Jesus Christ carried the cross on Himself, so Isaac carried the wood for sacrifice.
The mountain on which Abraham sacrificed Isaac was named Mount Moriah. Subsequently, King Solomon, at the direction of God, built the Jerusalem Temple on this mountain.
The sacrifice of Isaac presents a certain stumbling block for Christian thinking: how could God move Abraham to such cruelty? At the same time, interpreters explain: God simply decided to test Abraham (and temptation is a test). However, let's consider this episode from the point of view of historical context. In ancient times, one of the types of religious perversion was the custom of human and, in particular, child sacrifices. This terrible cult is denounced by the prophets of Israel, but in the time of Abraham it was very widespread among the surrounding nations, who believed that the highest sacrifice to their god was a pure child.
Let's go back to Abraham. He has vast experience of faith and standing before God. The purpose of coming to the Promised Land was to give birth to a descendant from whom a large nation would come. Isaac is born, and the goal seems to be achieved; and Abraham is filled with joy and gratitude for the gift of his son. But by this time, the relationship with God itself had become more important for Abraham than earthly ancestral immortality; God had become more valuable than Isaac! And Abraham's faith is now tested in regard to sacrifice: you have received everything from God; Are you now able to give everything to be with God? And Abraham decides to sacrifice Isaac to prove the absolute importance of God. But subconsciously in this insanely intense faith there is something else: God is merciful and nothing is impossible for God.
After all these events, Abraham returned to Bathsheba (Beersheba) (Gen. 22:19).
Death of Sarah (Genesis chapter 23)
Abraham and Sarah lived to a ripe old age. Sarah died at the age of 127 in Kiriath Arba (Kiryat Arba), near Hebron, and was buried by Abraham in the cave of Machpelah (“double cave”) purchased from the Hittite Efron (Ephron) in Hebron (Gen. 23).
Sarah's funeral. Gustave Dore
- a cave-tomb, the crypt of the patriarchs in the ancient part of Hebron, in which, according to the Bible, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and his wife Leah are buried. Abraham bought this place from Ephron the Hittite for 400 shekels of silver. According to Jewish tradition, the bodies of Adam and Eve are also buried here. In Judaism it is revered as the second holiest place (after the Temple Mount), and is also revered by Christians and Muslims.
The Death of Abraham (Genesis 25)
Having grown old, Abraham married Isaac to a virtuous girl named Rebbekah, the daughter of Abraham's nephew, Bethuel. Isaac and Rebekah had two sons - Esau and Jacob. One day Jacob had a vision in which he wrestled with God himself, wanting to receive a blessing from him. God blessed Jacob and gave him a second name - Israel, which means “God-fighter” (Gen. 24).
Abraham himself, in old age, married Keturah, who bore him 6 more children: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. All of them, like his eldest son Ishmael, became the ancestors of various Arab tribes, which explains the meaning of the name Abraham as “the father of many tribes” (Gen. 17:5).
Abraham died when he was 175 years old. He was buried by Isaac and Ishmael next to his wife Sarah in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron.
The Bible speaks very briefly about the burial of Abraham: “And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah... Abraham and Sarah his wife were buried there.”(Gen. 25:9-10).
The Cave of Machpelah, where the ashes of Abraham and Sarah rest, is intact to this day. It is located in the center of modern Hebron. Muslims built a mosque over this cave, erected walls up to 12 m high and protect it as one of the greatest shrines.
Cave of Machpelah (modern view)
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Tomb (cenotaph) of Abraham. A cenotaph is a funerary monument in a place that does not contain the remains of the deceased, a kind of symbolic grave.
There are two openings in the floor of the mosque leading to a cave. The type of dungeons of the Machpelah cave is unknown, but from the notes of travelers it can be concluded that they are a double cave connected by a passage. In 1267, the Mamluk Sultan Baybars I banned Jews and Christians from entering the cave. Only 700 years after the ban on visiting, at the end of the Six-Day War (1967), access to the Machpelah Cave was open to everyone. It has become a place of pilgrimage for Jews, where they offer prayers at the tombs of the patriarchs. The territory of the monument is administered by the Muslim community, but part of the complex functions as a synagogue on certain days. On other days, Muslims visit Machpelah.
Christ about Abraham
What does Christ say about Abraham?
1."Abraham,- says Christ, - I was glad to see My day. And he saw and rejoiced"(John 8:56). What day? The time of the appearance of Christ in the flesh, which, having foreseen, Abraham rejoiced that the Savior would come from him and his descendants.
Others by “day” mean the day of Golgotha.When did Abraham see the day of Christ, the day of Golgotha, and rejoice? It was on Mount Moriah that Abraham sacrificed a ram in place of his son Isaac (Gen. 22:13). Here Abraham understood the most important of all the truths of Scripture - that Christ on the cross of Calvary suffered punishment for the sins of all sinners on earth.
2. B parable of the rich man and Lazarus Christ says that Lazarus died and was “carried away by the angels into Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22). The Old Testament righteous longed after their earthly life to get to the “bosom of Abraham”, as to a place of peace and happiness. Now, in New Testament times, all those redeemed by the Blood of Calvary long to be not in the bosom of Abraham, but with Christ in His glorious, eternal Kingdom (Phil. 1:23). Christ does not say to the thief who repented at Calvary: “Today you will be in Abraham’s bosom,” but promises him another place: “You will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
Bosom of Abraham - a biblical expression meaning the place of bliss of the righteous, with the symbol of light, paradise, as a carefree state of souls. However, this is not yet paradise. As you know, before the Savior’s descent into hell, heaven was closed to people. According to the Holy Fathers, this refers to a state of paradise, or a state on the eve of paradise, full of comforting hopes for the future bliss that awaits all the righteous.
At that hour when Christ gave up the ghost, that is, died for the sins of the world, all the Old Testament righteous people passed, as it were, to a better bosom than Abraham’s - they all passed to the bosom of Christ. When the day comes for us to part with the earth forever, we will look not at Abraham, no matter how dear he is to our hearts, but at the Lamb of God Jesus Christ, Who took the sin of each of us upon Himself.
The Meaning of Abraham in Christian Theology
Evangelist Matthew begins the genealogy of Jesus with Abraham (Matthew 1:2) to show that the Messiah Jesus is not only the son of King David, but also a true descendant of Abraham (Matthew 1:1), on whom the prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled.
Blessing of Abraham and the covenant with him was fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Acts 3:25).
Special Abraham's righteousness was that he kept all the commandments and regulations of the Torah even before they were given on Mount Sinai.
Abraham grew up among idolaters. According to church writers, God Called Abraham Because of His Personal Piety , previously witnessed in the fight against Chaldean idolatry.
Promise of multiplication of offspring fulfilled: the descendants of his son Isaac became an independent people, known as Jews or, after the name of the son of Isaac Israel, Israelis.
Promise of blessing on all families of the earth fulfilled in Christ and applies to all humanity, upon whom the blessing of God must descend through Christ.
Description Abraham's journey from Haran to the Promised Land was interpreted as an indication of the path that a person should follow in the knowledge of God, and as the ascent of the fallen soul of man onto the path of virtue.
IN 318 Abraham's household (Gen. 14:14) the holy fathers saw a prototype of the number of participants in the First Ecumenical Council.
IN bread and wine offered by Melchizedek to Abraham , many saw the prototype of the Eucharist.
The prototype of the New Testament sacrament of Baptism was seen by some interpreters in Abraham's circumcision .
In the appearance of three strangers to Abraham many saw the mystery of the revelation of the entire Holy Trinity. Many fathers and teachers of the Church believed that the Lord, namely the Second Person of the Trinity, and the two angels accompanying Him appeared to Abraham near the oak grove of Mamre.
The educational meaning was seen in the scene sacrifice of Isaac . Aries prefigures Christ, Isaac freed from his chains - redeemed humanity. The tree symbolizes the Cross, the place of sacrifice is compared to Jerusalem. Isaac going to the sacrifice is also a prototype of Christ and his suffering. St. Irenaeus of Lyons compares Abraham, who is ready to sacrifice his son, with God the Father, who sends Christ to redeem humanity. This interpretation of Isaac as a type of Christ becomes the common opinion of all the fathers.
Abraham's faith, his submission to God and his willingness to undergo the test of faith remain a model to follow.
Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK
for the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity on Sparrow Hills
