Abraham

Abraham (Hebrew: אַבְרָהָם, Modern Avraham Tiberian ʼAḇrāhām, Arabic: إبراهيم‎, Ibrāhīm, ʼAbrəham), born Abram (c. 1900 BC?), is the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Edomites, Midianites and kindred peoples, according to the three Abrahamic religions.

Quotes

Quotes of Abraham as portrayed in traditional sources

Bible

Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.
Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
- To his nephew Lot, as quoted in Genesis 13:8 (KJV)

I have lifted up mine hand unto the LORD, the highest God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich…
- To the King of Sodom, in Hebrews 14:22 - 23 (KJV)

Wilt Thou indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt Thou indeed sweep away and not forgive the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from Thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from Thee; shall not the Judge of all the earth do justly? … Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, who am but dust and ashes. Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous; wilt Thou destroy all the city for lack of five? … Oh, let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak yet but this once. Peradventure ten shall be found there?
- To the LORD regarding the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah, in Genesis 18:22 - 32 (KJV), after which, it is recorded that the LORD responds: I will not destroy it for ten's sake.

Variant:

Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are 50 righteous men within the city. Will you, then, sweep them away and not pardon the place for the sake of the 50 righteous who are inside it? It is unthinkable that you would act in this manner by putting the righteous man to death with the wicked one so that the outcome for the righteous man and the wicked is the same! It is unthinkable of you. Will the Judge of all the earth not do what is right?
- Genesis 18: 23-25, NWT

I thought: Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. And moreover she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and so she became my wife. And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her: This is thy kindness which thou shalt show unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me: He is my brother.
- To Abimelech in the wife-sister narrative of Genesis 20:11 - 23 (KJV)

Quran

And when Abraham said (unto his Lord): My Lord! Show me how Thou givest life to the dead, He said: Dost thou not believe? Abraham said: Yea, but (I ask) in order that my heart may be at ease. (His Lord) said: Take four of the birds and cause them to incline unto thee, then place a part of them on each hill, then call them, they will come to thee in haste, and know that Allah is Mighty, Wise.
- Quran 2:260, trans. Muhammad M. Pickthall.

Thus did We show Abraham the kingdom of the heavens and the earth that he might be of those possessing certainty:
So when the night over-shadowed him, he saw a star; said he: Is this my Lord? So when it set, he said: I do not love the setting ones. When he saw the moon rising in splendour, he said: "This is my Lord." But when the moon set, He said: "unless my Lord guide me, I shall surely be among those who go astray."
When he saw the sun rising in splendour, he said: "This is my Lord; this is the greatest (of all)." But when the sun set, he said: "O my people! I am indeed free from your (guilt) of giving partners to Allah.
Lo! I have turned my face toward Him Who created the heavens and the earth, as one by nature upright, and I am not of the idolaters.
- Quran 6:75-79, trans. Muhammad M. Pickthall.

Say: "Verily, my Lord hath guided me to a way that is straight,— a religion of right— way of Abraham the faithful, and he joined not deities with God." Say: "Truly, my prayer, my sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for The God, the Lord of the Worlds"
- Quran 6:161-162

He said: Do you then understand what you worship -- You and your forefathers? -- Surely they are an enemy to me, except the Lord of the worlds,
Who created me, then He shows me the way,
And Who gives me to eat and to drink,
And when I am sick, He heals me,
And Who will cause me to die, then give me life,
And Who, I hope, will forgive me my mistakes on the day of Judgment.
- Quran 26:75-82

O our Lord ! Accept (this service) from us, Verily, You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.
- Prayer during the construction of the Kaaba with Ishmael as quoted in the Quran, Al Baqara 2:127.

Book of Abraham

Quotations of Abraham from the Book of Abraham from the Pearl of Great Price of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints scriptures. \

Now I, Abraham, built an altar in the land of Jershon, and made an offering unto the Lord, and prayed that the famine might be turned away from my father’s house, that they might not perish.
- Book of Abraham 2:17

Genesis Rabbah

You are fifty years old and would worship a day[old statue!
- Abraham in Genesis Rabbah 38.13 R. Hiyya and the Idol Shop

Terah, the father of Abraham and Haran, was a dealer in images as well as a worshipper of them. Once when he was away he gave Abraham his stock of graven images to sell in his absence. In the course of the day an elderly man came to make a purchase. Abraham asked him his age, and the man gave it as between fifty and sixty years. Abraham taunted him with want of sound sense in calling the work of another man's hand, produced perhaps in a few hours, his god; the man laid the words of Abraham to heart and gave up idol worship. Again a woman came with a handful of fine flour to offer to Terah's idols, which were now in charge of Abraham. He took a stick and broke all the images except the largest one, in the hand of which he placed the stick which had worked this wholesale destruction. When his father returned and saw the havoc committed on his 'gods' and property he demanded an explanation from his son whom he had left in charge. Abraham mockingly explained that when an offering of fine flour was brought to these divinities they quarrelled with each other as to who should be the recipient, when at last the biggest of them, being angry at the altercation, took up a stick to chastise the offenders, and in so doing broke them all up. Terah, so far from being satisfied with this explanation, understood it as a piece of mockery, and when he learnt also of the customers whom Abraham had lost him during his management he became very incensed, and drove Abraham out of his house and handed him over to Nimrod. Nimrod suggested to Abraham that since he had refused to worship his father's idols because of their want of power, he should worship fire, which is very powerful: Abraham pointed out that water has power over fire. 'But,' replied Abraham,' the clouds absorb the water and even they are dispersed by the wind.' 'Then let us declare the wind our god.' 'Bear in mind,' continued Abraham, 'that man is stronger than wind, and can resist it and stand against it.'
Nimrod, becoming weary of arguing with Abraham, decided to cast him before his god--fire--and challenged Abraham's deliverance by the God of Abraham, but God saved him out of the fiery furnace.
- Genesis Rabbah 38, Tales and Maxims from the Midrash by Rev. Samuel Rapaport, (1907), p. 78.

The coins of Abraham had the figure of an old man and an old woman on the face of the coin, and those of a youth and a maiden on the obverse, signifying that after Abraham and Sarah had grown old their youth was renewed and they begat a son.
- Genesis Rabbah 39, Tales and Maxims from the Midrash by Rev. Samuel Rapaport, (1907), p. 79.

Apocalypse of Abraham

And the unclean bird spoke to me and said, "What are you doing, Abraham, on the holy heights, where no one eats or drinks, nor is there upon them food for men? But these all will be consumed by fire and ascend to the height, they will destroy you."
And it came to pass when I saw the bird speaking I said this to the angel: "What is this, my lord?" And he said, "This is disgrace – this is Azazel!" And he said to him, "Shame on you, Azazel! For Abraham's portion is in heaven, and yours is on earth, for you have selected here, [and] become enamored of the dwelling place of your blemish. Therefore the Eternal Ruler, the Mighty One, has given you a dwelling on earth. Through you the all-evil spirit [was] a liar, and through you [come] wrath and trials on the generations of men who live impiously.
- Apocalypse of Abraham 13:4–9

May you be the firebrand of the furnace of the earth! Go, Azazel, into the untrodden parts of the earth. For your heritage is over those who are with you.
- Apocalypse of Abraham 14:5–6.

[P]utrefy in the belly of the crafty worm Azazel, and be burned by the fire of Azazel's tongue.
- Apocalypse of Abraham 31:5

Quotes about Abraham

Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means "the LORD will provide"). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided." ~ New International Version

Ye [Christians] are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
- Acts of the Apostles, 3:25 KJV

You who build these altars now
to sacrifice these children,
you must not do it anymore.
A scheme is not a vision
and you never have been tempted
by a demon or a god.
- Leonard Cohen, in "Story of Isaac" on Songs from a Room (1969)

Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's 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

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
- Genesis 12:1 - 3

And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
- Genesis 12:11 - 13

And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
- Genesis 13:14 - 18

Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
- Genesis 15:11 NIV

And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael. And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram
- Genesis 16:15 - 16

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
- Genesis 17:1 - 8

And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.
- Genesis 21:5 - 7

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
- Genesis 22:1 - 3 (KJV)

I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply your offspring like the stars of the heavens and like the grains of sand on the seashore, and your offspring will take possession of the gate of his enemies. And by means of your offspring all nations of the earth will obtain a blessing for themselves because you have listened to my voice.
- Jehovah, Genesis 22: 17, 18

After a long time the great and awful Name was forgotten and the people, men, women and children, only recognized an image of wood or stone and the temple of wood or stone which they had been brought up from infancy to serve by bowing down. ... Abraham ... knew that all were mistaken and that what caused them to err was worship of the images which drove the Truth out of their minds.
- Maimonides, Mishneh Torah (c. 1180), Treatise 4: “Idolatry,” H. Russell, trans. (1983), pp. 72-73

Camels as a means of transportation abound in the Old Testament. When Abraham sends a servant to look for a bride for his son Isaac, that servant chooses Rebecca. And why? Because of her kindness in offering to water the camels. That's just one of dozens of camel cameos in the Bible, mostly in the book of Genesis, but scholars have long suspected that those camel caravans are a literary anachronism.
- Renee Montagne in: Carol Meyers Archaeology Find: Camels In 'Bible' Are Literary Anachronisms, npr.org, 14 February 2014.

It is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants.
- Paul of Tarsus, Acts of the Apostles 4:22-24 ESV.

The next major figure in the Bible is Abraham, the spiritual ancestor of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Abraham has a nephew, Lot, who settles in Sodom. Because the residents engage in anal sex and comparable sins, God immolates every man, woman, and child in a divine napalm attack. Lot’s wife, for the crime of turning around to look at the inferno, is put to death as well. Abraham undergoes a test of his moral values when God orders him to take his son Isaac to a mountaintop, tie him up, cut his throat, and burn his body as a gift to the Lord. Isaac is spared only because at the last moment an angel stays his father’s hand. For millennia readers have puzzled over why God insisted on this horrifying trial. One interpretation is that God intervened not because Abraham had passed the test but because he had failed it, but that is anachronistic: obedience to divine authority, not reverence for human life, was the cardinal virtue.
- Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature (2012)

In short, as well as being as big a son of a bitch as the lord, Abraham was a consummate liar, ready to deceive anyone with his forked tongue, which in this case, according to the personal dictionary belonging to the narrator of this story, means treacherous, perfidious, false, disloyal and other similarly fine qualities. When he reached the place of which the lord had spoken, Abraham built an alter and placed the wood on it. He then tied up his son and lifted him on to the altar, on top of the wood. Without pausing, he took up his knife in order to sacrifice the poor boy and was just about to slit his throat when he felt a hand grip his arm and heard a voice in his ear shouting, What are you doing, you wretch, killing your own son, burning him, it's the same old story it starts with a lamb and ends with the murder of the very person you should love most, But the lord told me to do it, said Abraham, struggling, Keep still, or I'll be the one who does the killing.
- José Saramago, Cain (2009), p. 69

And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
- Account of the Binding of Isaac, Genesis 22:10 - 14 (KJV)
- Variant translations of verse 14:
- And he called the name of that place, The Lord seeth. Whereupon even to this day it is said: In the mountain the Lord will see.
  - Douay-Rheims Bible
- So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
  - New International Version (1984).
- Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means "the LORD will provide"). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
  - New Living Translation (2007)

O People of the Book, why do you dispute about Abraham, when the Torah and the Gospel were not revealed till after him? Do you not understand? Behold! You are they who disputed about that of which you had knowledge; why then do you dispute about that of which you have no knowledge? And Allah knows while you know not. Abraham was not a Jew nor a Christian, but he was an upright (man), a Muslim; and he was not one of the polytheists. The nearest of people to Abraham are surely those who follow him and this Prophet and those who believe. And Allah is the Friend of the believers.
- Qur'an, Ali-Imran 64-67

Who can be better in religion than one who submits his whole self to Allah, does good, and follows the way of Abraham the true in Faith? For Allah did take Abraham for a friend.
- Qur'an, An Nisa 4:125, Yusuf Ali.

We said, "O Fire! be thou cool, and (a means of) safety for Abraham!"
- Quran 21:69 trans. M. H. Shakir

Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him, he said: "O my son! I see in vision that I offer thee in sacrifice: Now see what is thy view!" (The son) said: "O my father! Do as thou art commanded: thou will find me, if Allah so wills one practising Patience and Constancy!" So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah), and he had laid him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice), We called out to him "O Abraham! "Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!" - thus indeed do We reward those who do right. For this was obviously a trial- And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice: And We left (this blessing) for him among generations (to come) in later times: "Peace and salutation to Abraham!" Thus indeed do We reward those who do right. For he was one of our believing Servants.
- Qur'an, As Saffat 37:102-111, Yusuf Ali.

Iblis, who had talent on the form of a man, said: "Where are you going, O Shaikh?" He replied: " I am going to these mountains because I must do something there'. Iblis said: "By God, I have seen that Shaytan has come to you in a dream and ordered you to slaughter this little son of yours. And you intend to do that slaughtering!" Thereupon Abraham recognised him and said: "Get away from me, enemy of God! By God, I will most certainly continue to do what my Lord has commanded". Iblis, the enemy of God, gave up on Abraham but then he encountered Ishmael, who was behind Abraham carrying the wood and the large knife. He said to him: "O young man, do you realise where your father is taking you?" He said: "To gather wood for our family from the mountains". He relied: "By God, his actual intention is to sacrifice you!" He said: "Why?!" Iblis replied: "He claims that his Lord has ordered him to do so!" Ishmael replied: "He must do what his Lord commands, absolutely!"
When the young man had rebuffed him, Iblis went to Hagar, the mother of Ishmael who was still at home. Iblis said to her: "Oh mother of Ishmael! Do you realise where Abraham is going with Ishmael?" She replied: "They have gone to gather wood for us in the mountains". He said: "He has actually gone in order to sacrifice him!" She replied: "It cannot be! He is too kind and too loving towards him to do that!" Iblis said: "He claims that God has ordered him to do that!" Hagar said: "If his Lord has ordered him to do that then he must submit to the command of God!" So the enemy of God returned exasperated at not being able to influence the family of Abraham as he wished.
- Tabari as qtd in Andrew Rippin, Jan Knappert Textual Sources for the Study of Islam University of Chicago Press, 15.10.1990 ISBN 978-0-226-72063-0 p. 63

When Isaac was grown, someone appeared to Abraham in a dream and said to him: "Keep your vow which you made! God bestowed upon you a boy by Sarah so that you may sacrifice him" So he said to Isaac: "Let us go offer a sacrifice to God!" So he tool a knife and some rope and went with him until they reached a place in the mountains. The boy said to him: "Oh father! Where is your sacrifice?" He replied: "Oh my son, I saw in a dream, that I will slaughter you. So pay attention to what you see". He said "Oh my father, do what you have been commanded; you will find me, if God wills, one of the patient". Isaac then said to him: "Make tight my bonds, so that I will not struggle to pull back your clothes so that none of my blood will be shed on them for Sarah will see it and be grieved. Hurry! Pass the knife over my throat so that death will be easy for me. When you come to Sarah, greet her'. Abraham began to approach him and, while crying, tied him up. Isaac too was crying such that the tears gathered by cheek of Isaac. He then drew the knife along his throat but the knife did not cut, for God had placed a sheet of copper on the throat of Isaac. When he saw that, he turned him on his forehead and nicked him on the back of the head just as God has said in Quran 37:103: When they had both submitted and he flung on his forehead, that is they had submitted the affair to God. A voice called out: 'Abraham, you have fulfilled the vision!" He turned around and behold, there was a ram. He took it and released his son and he bent over his son saying: "Oh my son, today you have been given to me". That comes in God's saying in Quran 37:107: We ransomed him with a great sacrifice.
- Tabari as quoted in Andrew Rippin, Jan Knappert Textual Sources for the Study of Islam University of Chicago Press, 15.10.1990 ISBN 978-0-226-72063-0 p. 65

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