ABRAM

Abraham (originally Abram) is an important figure revered in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father and the first Hebrew patriarch who began the covenantal relationship between the Jewish people and God; in Christianity, he is regarded as the forebear of Jesus and the spiritual ancestor of all Christians; and in Islam, he is a link in the chain of Islamic prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammad. Abraham is also revered in other Abrahamic religions, including the Baháʼí Faith and the Druze faith. He is regarded as the common forefather of both the Ishmaelite Arabs through his son Ishmael and the Israelite Hebrews through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob. The story of the life of Abraham, as told in the narrative of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, revolves around the themes of blessing and promise, especially the promise of progeny and land. He is said to have been called by God to leave the house of his father Terah and settle in the land of Canaan, which God now promises to Abraham and his progeny. This promise is subsequently inherited by Isaac, Abraham's son by his wife Sarah, while Isaac's half-brother Ishmael is also promised that he will be the founder of a great nation. Abraham purchases a tomb (the Cave of the Patriarchs) at Hebron to be Sarah's grave, thus establishing his right to the land; and, in the second generation, his heir Isaac is married to a woman from his own kin to earn his parents' approval. Abraham later marries Keturah and has six more sons; but, on his death, when he is buried beside Sarah, it is Isaac who receives "all Abraham's goods" while the other sons receive only "gifts". Most scholars view the patriarchal age, along with the Exodus and the period of the biblical judges, as a late literary construct that does not relate to any particular historical era. It is largely concluded that the Torah, the series of books that includes Genesis, was composed during the Persian period, as a result of tensions between Jewish landowners who had stayed in Judah during the Babylonian captivity and traced their right to the land through their "father Abraham", and the returning exiles who based their counterclaim on Moses and the Exodus tradition of the Israelites.