Abraham

(Revision as of 16:31, 10 Jul 2005)

Abraham (אַבְרָהָם "Father/Leader of many", Standard Hebrew Avraham, Tiberian Hebrew ʾAḇrāhām; Arabic Arabic ابراهيم Ibrāhīm) is the patriarch of Judaism, recognized by Christianity, and a very important prophet in Islam. The story of his life is told in the Book of Genesis and in the Quran.

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are sometimes referred to as the "Abrahamic religions" because of the role Abraham plays in their holy books and beliefs. In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Abraham is described as a patriarch blessed by God and promised great things, father of the People of Israel through his son Isaac, and of the Ishmaelites, generally identified as the Arabs, through his son Ishmael. In Islam, Abraham is considered to be one of the most important of the many prophets sent by God. Christian belief considers Abraham's attempt to offer up Isaac as a foreshadowing of God's offering of his son, Jesus.

His original name was Abram (אַבְרָם "High/Exalted father/leader", Standard Hebrew Avram, Tiberian Hebrew ʾAḇrām); he was the foremost of the Biblical patriarchs. Later in life he went by the name Abraham. There is no contemporary mention of his life, and no source earlier than Genesis mentions him, so it is difficult to know if he was a historical figure. If he was, he probably lived between 2166 AEV and 1991 AEV.

References

• Wikipedia. (2005). Abraham (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham). Retrieved on July 10. 2005.