(Hebrew: father of a multitude).
Patriarch, son of Thare and father of Ismael. He left Ur of the Chaldees and came to Haran, where his father died. At the command of God he took up his abode in Chanaan, the land promised to his seed. Famine forced him to Egypt. On his return, he remained in Chanaan whilst Lot chose the country about the Jordan. He rescued Lot, when taken prisoner by the King of Elam, and on his return was met by Melchisedech, King of Salem, who blessed him. God made a covenant with Abraham, changing his name from Abram to Abraham and promised him that his descendants should be as numerous as the stars of heaven. He promised him, moreover, a son by the barren Sara. Then followed the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha, the escape of Lot, the birth of Isaac, and the covenant with Abimelech. The faith of Abraham is tried by God's command to sacrifice his son Isaac. An angel stays. his hand, and as a reward of his unbounded confidence in God, makes known to him the greatness of his posterity. Sara died at the age of 127. Abraham then married Cetura by whom he had six children. He died at the age of 175.
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