Abraham

The Quran presents Ishmael as a prophet who helped Abraham raise the foundations of the Kaʿba in Mecca. In the Bible, God blesses him to become a great nation, and it is clear that Abraham loves him. Yet, at Sarah’s demand, he is banished to the wilderness. Some midrashim explain this by portraying Ishmael as an idol worshiper or imagining him trying to shoot Isaac with an arrow. But do these interpretations reflect a straightforward reading of Ishmael’s character? And after the expulsion, does he remain an outcast from his family?

The biblical narrator tells us that YHWH appears to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre, yet Abraham sees three men. Does Abraham recognize YHWH? If so, why do neither Abraham nor Sarah explicitly acknowledge having seen God? The story’s “open narrative” invites readers to piece together the clues and interpret an encounter that unfolds not in a sanctuary, amid priests and liturgical rituals, but in an ordinary family setting, through hospitality, meal preparation, and conversation.

Abraham challenges God’s plan to destroy Sodom with two distinct arguments: the innocent must not suffer alongside the guilty, and a righteous minority should suffice to spare an entire city. Why does Abraham stop at ten innocents? Can collective punishment ever be just? The Rabbis sharpen Abraham’s critique of divine justice. Yet the story’s implications extend beyond whether perfect justice is attainable: God chose Abraham to teach his descendants righteousness and justice, even when it means challenging God.

The book of Jonah is infused with allusions to earlier biblical characters: its prophet flees like Cain, wills the city overturned–unlike Abraham, collapses like Elijah, passes through a Noah-like storm, and quotes Moses’ words of compassion as a complaint. Taken together, the book invites readers to measure Jonah against Israel’s remembered heroes of intercession, judgment, and repentance.

Philo (1st century C.E.) understands “God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob” (LXX Exodus 3:15) as a divine name. Because the immortal nature of God cannot be directly associated with mortal human beings, and influenced by Greek principles dating back to the 6th–5th century B.C.E., Philo interprets Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as symbols of three paths to moral excellence: learning, nature, and practice.

The biblical narrative presents Isaac bound on the altar and spared by an angel—but hints in the text suggest that in an earlier version Abraham actually sacrificed his son. Medieval midrash, projecting national grief and destruction onto the biblical story, imagines Isaac was killed and resurrected. In the 20th century, Jewish artists likewise depict Isaac as dead as a symbol of mourning over the Holocaust, war, and more recently October 7th.

God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, and Abraham comes within moments of slaughtering him before being stopped by an angel. Behind the drama lies a carefully crafted, layered composition shaped by revisions, allusions, and cross-references that show how the Akedah, the binding of Isaac, took shape and grew over time.

Why would God make righteous people suffer just to test their faithfulness? With Job, the Bible is explicit that it was in response to Satan’s challenge, but what about Abraham? Jubilees (2^nd cent. C.E.), and later the Talmud and midrash, reimagine the Akedah to have been instigated by Mastema, the Satan, or jealous angels. The midrash goes further and envisions the demon Samael tempting Abraham to make him fail.

In the 2nd century C.E., when Christianity emerged as a religion, theologians such as Justin and Chrysostom interpreted Paul’s letters to mean that Christians with faith in Jesus are Abraham’s spiritual descendants through Sarah. Jews, in contrast, are only his flesh descendants, banished like Hagar. Genesis Rabbah responds that after Sarah’s death, Abraham remarried Hagar—now called Keturah, “adorned” (kitra) with commandments and good deeds—and had many more children with her than he did with Sarah.

In the Ugaritic Aqhat Epic (ca. 14th cent. B.C.E., Syria), Danel laughs with unrestrained joy at El’s promise of a son. Why do Abraham and Sarah respond with nervous, uneasy laughter when YHWH makes the same promise?

In Achaemenid royal ideology, the Persian kings saw themselves as heirs to the ancient Elamite rulers, even adopting the old Elamite title “King of Anshan.” Thus, the unusual story of Abram the warrior (Genesis 14) defeating the four kings from the east led by Chedorlaomer of Elam reflects the author’s veiled hope for Israel’s triumph over its Persian overlords: if it happened in the past, it can happen again.

In ancient Judah, death was a two-step journey: the body was laid in a tomb, and the spirit passed to She’ol. Ancestral spirits were believed to influence the fortunes of the living and could be consulted, as when Saul summons Samuel through the woman of Endor, who exclaims, “I see an ʾelohim coming up from the earth.” Biblical authors rejected these practices and replaced them, establishing communal ancestors entombed in the cave of Machpelah and asserting that YHWH Elohim alone can intervene to ensure fertility, land, and well-being.

In protest against the binding of Isaac, Sarah returns alone to Hebron, the site where YHWH promised her a son. This move marks the moment when she stops following her husband Abraham and finds her own path.

Justin Martyr, an early Church Father (c. 100–165 C.E.), interprets the strange appearance of the LORD to Abraham at Mamre as an early instantiation of God the Son, i.e., Jesus. While Rashbam obviously rejected this belief, he learned from this Christian interpretation and suggests that here, the name YHWH refers to an angel, which explains why YHWH speaks about YHWH in this story in the third person.

God promises Abram that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars of the sky, assumed to be uncountable. In 10^th century Baghdad, scholars were well-versed in Ptolemy’s Greek astronomy, including his official limited count of stars. This challenged the Karaite Jewish exegete Ya‘qub al-Qirqisani to reinterpret the meaning of God’s promise.

The Bible consistently points to Aram in Northern Syria as Abraham’s place of origin. However, in a prequel added during the Babylonian exile, a later biblical author introduces Abram as being born in the famous city of Ur, near Babylon in Southern Iraq, from which he then migrates to Aram. When the city of Ur faded from historical memory, readers of the Bible associated the biblical Ur with Urfa in Turkey, aligning it with the Bible’s dominant tradition regarding Abraham’s origins.

Falling face-down on the ground, with hands and feet outstretched, was a common gesture of honor and respect in the Bible. Why is prostration only performed today on the High Holidays?

Was Abraham the founding father of what became the Jewish people, only the precursor of Moses? Alternatively, does he represent the human ideal, from which his descendants went astray, but that can be partially achieved through observance of the Torah?

Abraham famously receives three divine guests and hosts them lavishly (Genesis 18:1–15). Anthropological fieldwork on the etiquette of hospitality in Mediterranean-type societies allows us to better understand Abraham as host and his divine visitors as guests.

Interpretations of the binding of Isaac all suffer from a common fault: they fail to consider the ambiguities and unanswered questions of the story. Rather than a simple lesson or theological conclusion, the story leaves us with a deep and abiding perplexity, even anxiety.

In a Yom Kippur afternoon (minhah) liturgical poem (piyyut) about Abraham, the artist of the 13^th century Leipzig Mahzor chooses a scene of Abraham standing up to Nimrod and God saving him from death by fire.

God promises Abram that his descendants will be a great nation in Genesis 12, while in Genesis 17, Abraham and Sarah are to become the forebears of a multitude of nations. A postcolonial analysis highlights how each image reflects a different way that Judeans grappled with their place and future in a world ruled by the vast and powerful Persian Empire.

Abraham tells his servant to go to his hometown to find a wife for Isaac. When the servant returns, he never reports back to him or introduces Rebecca to him. Why does Abraham disappear from the narrative? And, as Rebecca is his great-niece, why not send the servant to her father’s home directly?

Abraham does not comply with the very first command that YHWH gives him, and throughout his life, he doubts and questions YHWH. Does Abraham ultimately become the man of faith he is reputed to be?

Abram’s journey from Ur of the Chaldeans to Canaan, and God’s changing his name to Abraham, “father of a multitude of nations,” presage the struggles and aspirations of his descendants’ return migration from Babylon to Judah. At stake is Isaiah’s vision about the place of Israel among the nations.

Abraham and Isaac’s sojourn in Gerar and Beersheba, and their covenants with the local ruler Abimelech, reflect the historical circumstances of Judea during the Persian period. They are living in the Promised Land, struggling with the local people, but they come to terms with the friendly and God-fearing ruler.

Is the Machpelah a cave or a field? Why does Ephron say no to the sale at first? What does Abraham mean by “burying my dead from before my face”? Why does Abraham need to purchase a burial plot?

When YHWH tells Abraham that Sodom and Gomorrah are to be destroyed, Abraham pleads for their lives without mentioning Lot. Why? The answer is in the sources describing Lot’s accompanying of Abram to Canaan and their eventual separation.

Abraham’s story is structured chiastically, with the parallel narratives contrasting with each other. The one exception highlights the missing genealogy of Abraham to emphasize that he is the father of all who wish to join the covenant.

When Sarah overhears that she and Abraham will have a baby, she laughs. When confronted, she denies it, fearing Abraham’s reaction. After all, Abraham has consistently put Sarah in difficult situations, neglected her, and seemed content with Ishmael, Hagar’s son, as his heir.

Abraham and Isaac each dig a well in Beersheba and make a treaty with King Abimelech. Which story came first?

Abraham banishes Ishmael as a lad, and the break between them seems final. To reconcile father and son, Jewish and Islamic traditions tell a story about Abraham going to visit Ishmael and meet his wives. Despite being similar, the two stories are used for different purposes.

Why does the binding of Isaac story use the unique term ע.ק.ד (ʿ.q.d)? 

Throughout the Bible, “Ishmaelite” is a collective term for nomads living in the wilderness, east of Canaan. Why is their eponymous ancestor Ishmael, Abraham’s exiled son, presented as living in the wilderness region near Egypt, west of Canaan? The answer can be found in the political realities of Persian period Yehud.

Hagar and Sarah are the matriarchs of the Arabs and the Jews in Jewish and Muslim interpretation. In the Bible, the feud between the two women is never mended, but Jewish and Muslim feminist readers have used midrash-style poetry to rewrite the ending of their story, in hope of reconciling the contemporary conflict between their putative descendants.

In the introductory verses of the Akedah (Binding of Isaac), God refers to Isaac as Abraham’s only son, ignoring the existence of Ishmael. Ishmael’s absence has bothered even the earliest readers of the text, but a documentary approach obviates the problem. The key is understanding the relationship between Abraham and Hagar.

Bedouin culture goes back 4,500 years. Owing to the unchangeability of desert conditions, this culture remained largely unchanged and is recognizable in the Bible. The stories of Abraham and Lot hosting angels illustrate one of the most renowned and cherished social values in Bedouin society, namely the practice of hospitality.

Ur-Kasdim is generally identified with the great Sumerian city of Ur in southern Iraq. And yet, a look at the geography in Genesis 11 points to a different location much farther north.

Rachel weeps over her exiled descendants and God hears her plea (Jeremiah 31:14–16). Expanding on this passage, the rabbis in Midrash Eichah Rabbah envision Jeremiah awakening the patriarchs and Moses to plead with God to have mercy on Israel. Upon their failure to move God, the matriarch Rachel intervenes successfully.

The story of the Akedah appears to present Abraham’s actions in a uniformly positive light. However, Isaac’s absence at the end of the story, and Sarah’s death immediately afterwards, suggested to some traditional and modern commentators a criticism of Abraham.

In his account of Abraham’s life, the first-century thinker Philo of Alexandria skillfully interprets the bewildering details in the story of the war between the four and five kings. Understanding the tale on a literal and allegorical level, he offers intriguing suggestions about what motivates both powerful rulers and forces within the soul.

The lack of details surrounding God’s first call to Abram—לך לך, “go forth”—or about Abram’s trip to Canaan contrasts starkly with other biblical figures, highlighting that Abraham is not a typical hero.

Circumcision seemingly maims the body, yet ancient Jewish and rabbinic interpretation present it as actually perfecting the body.

God promised Abraham that Isaac would be his heir, yet God asked Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. What did Abraham believe that allowed him to reconcile this divine contradiction?

Three distinct themes in Parashat Vayetzei are intertwined: Jacob’s encounter with God at Bethel, the birth of Jacob’s sons, and Jacob’s departure from Haran. 

The literary similarities between the expulsion of Ishmael account and that of the Akedah implies that a trial is taking place.

Why Melchizedek, a minor biblical character, became so significant in Jewish and Christian interpretation.

Taking the edge off God’s command to Abraham that he sacrifice his son, and Abraham’s compliance.

The historical association of Abraham and Nimrod with Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism

An analysis of the Rabbinic interpretation that the covenant of the pieces predates the Lech Lecha command.

The earliest version of the birth and sacrifice of Isaac account questioned the identity of the boy’s father and concluded with Abraham sacrificing him to God.

Does Abraham really need to be historical in order to claim an important role in Jewish religious consciousness? Should the Torah be seen as a historical account reported by God, or simply as the story of God?

After Sarah dies, Abraham marries Keturah. Who is she?

A Surprising Midrashic Portrait of Abraham

The midrashic Parable of the Illuminated Palace concerns Abraham and the existence of God. In Part 1, we looked at Maimonides rationalistic, Aristotelian approach. Alternative interpretations focus on the idea of an experiential, living relationship with God.

The midrashic Parable of the Illuminated Palace centers on Abraham and the existence of God. Maimonides’ interpretation of the parable envisions an Aristotelian Abraham for whom God is a scientific fact.

A rose by any other name