Abram/Abraham

Who Was Abram/Abraham?

Abram was first mentioned in Genesis 11, "And Terah lived seventy years, and begat(i.e brought forth a child or children) Abram, Nahor, and Haran(Haran is an ancient city located in southeastern Turkey, near the Balīkh River)" (Genesis 11:26 KJV). At this time, Abraham has the name Abram, this will soon be changed(we'll be getting to that). The Lord then asks Abram(Genesis 12:1) to leave Haran and travel to a land he(God) will show him(Abram).

As the Lord Requests, Abram leaves Haran at the age of 75, accompanied by Lot, Sarai/Sarah(his wife), Lot's nephew, and a named group of people(Genesis 12:4-5).

The group traveled all the way to the land of Caanan(Genesis 12:5).

The Lord appears to Abram and tells him this land is for him and his descendants; In return for this, Abram creates an Altar for the Lord(Genesis 12:7). Abram continues going into the east until he reaches Bethel. He builds an altar for God, then continues to Negev(Genesis 12:8).

Famine reeked the land, so he continued to Eygpt(Genesis 12:10). When Abram was walking to Eygpt, he(Abram) begins to worry about the well-being of him and his wife. He worried the Egyptians would kill him and rob his wife, so he decided to call Sarai his sister to avoid this(Genesis 12:10-12). He says, in verse 13, "Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well for me because of you, and that I may live on account of you" (Genesis 12:13NASB). Abram's idea was that if he was "just her brother" he could refuse any requests to mary her and not be killed. This was a half-truth, as Abraham was Sarai's half-brother. Instead of this idea working, something else did...

When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians noticed how beautiful Sarai/Sarah was so they told the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh took Sarai as his wife and rewarded Abram with many rewards. His plan had completely backfired(Genesis 12:14-16). Abram eventually got his wife back and was escorted out of Eygpt(read Genesis 12 to find out why).

Since Abram had received a lot from The Pharoh, he was pretty rich(Genesis 13:1-2). He traveled very far, all the way back to Bethel. There then became an issue, the area they settled wasn't fit for Lot's and Abram's herds. There was also conflict between the herdsmen of Abram's and Lot's group(Genesis 13:5-7). To avoid more conflict, Abram decided they must split. Abram's group settled in the land of Canaan while Lot's group went near the Jordon(think of Sodom and Gomorrah)(Genesis 13:7-12).

Abram moves his tent and lives by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron(south of Jerusalem), where he built another altar for God(Genesis 13:18).

Who Are They Related to?

"And Terah took Abram his son...and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there" (Genesis 11:31). So Terah was Abraham's father and his wife was Sarai or Sarah(the different name is explained prior).

Works Sited:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Harran". Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 Apr. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/place/Harran. Accessed 25 April 2022.

Gray, P., 2016. Hebrews - Abraham & Moses Map Maps of the Routes of Moses and Abraham. [image] Available at: <https://www.flickr.com/photos/136041510@N05/29078796516> [Accessed 2 May 2022].