Section Two: The Journeys of Abraham

After Abram’s brother, Haran died, Abram’s father (Terah), his wife Sarai, his surviving brother (Nahor) and Haran’s son Lot, Abraham’s nephew, moved north along the Fertile Crescent and settled in a town seemingly named after Abram’s brother, Haran. Haran remained a key town for a thousand years since it was located on trade routes from Persia to the Middle East. Haran was at the time ruled by the ancient Assyrian Empire

From Ur to Haran

2.1

Abram was born @1800 BCE in Ur. Genesis 11:31 tells us that Abram was born in Ur of the Chaldeans. There is some question why the city was called Ur of the Chaldeans. At the time of Abraham, the city was ruled by the Amorite kingdom of Babylon. There were no Chaldeans in Ur nor would there be for another thousand years or more.

Abram Leaves Haran and Begins His Journeys

• Salem after a battle, Abram met Melchizidek the King/Priest of Salem

The LORD said to Abram: Go forth from your land, your relatives, and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will find blessing in you.Abram went as the LORD directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran (Gen 12:1-4)

2.2

• Hebron Abram next moved to “the terebinths of Mamre” in Hebronwhere he built yet another altar. It was here that Abram was first referred to as a Hebrew

• Egypt Famine drove Abram and his family into Egypt (the first story of Sarai as Abram’s sister). Abram fared well in Egypt but finally returned to his campsite at the shrine between Bethel and Ai

• Shechem God appeared to Abram at Schechem and promised the land to him and to his seed (an important ref. by Paul in Galatians). Abram built an altar in Shechem in honor of God’s promise• Bethel/Ai Abram encamped at a place “east of Bethel and west of Ai”. Abram again built an altar there to the Lord.

. Salem

More History of Abram/Abraham

• Abraham wandered to the Negeb and encamped at Gerar. - There Abraham made a treaty with Abimelech, a Philistine and the King

of Gerar. The two made this covenant of peace at Beer-shebah. Abraham remained in the land of the Philistines for a significant period of time except……

2.3

• Ten years after Abram’s return from Egypt, his wife Sarai was well beyond the years of conception. Sarai encouraged Abram to sleep with her Egyptian slave, Hagar. Hagar gave birth to a son, Ishmael

• Thirteen years later, God made a covenant with Abram and promised him the entire land of Canaan- God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah- God required circumcision as a sign of the covenant- Abraham had all the males in his household circumcised including

Ishmael- God promised Abraham a son through his wife Sarah, despite her age- The next year, Sarah gave birth to Isaac- Sarah found it difficult having Hagar and Ishmael around so Abraham

banished them from his household but God promised Hagar that Ishmael would beget a great nation of his own (Gen. 17:20). Islam claims Arab descent from Abraham through Ishmael

The Promise of God to Abraham“On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the Great River, the Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites’.” Gen. 15:18-21

Interestingly, the Kingdom of Israel under David and Solomon expanded to almost exactly fit the dimensions of this promise so…….2.4

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob• God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Abraham was willing to obey• While one of Abraham’s brothers, Nahor, was still living in the city of Haran. Nahor had a family of his own including a granddaughter named Rebekah• Abraham sent Eliezer, his chief servant, to his relatives to seek a wife for Isaac• Eliezer met Rebekah at a well (where Jacob would meet his wife and where Moses his wife. We seem to have another pattern) and then met her brother Laban• Laban agreed to allow Rebekah to return with Eliezer to become Isaac’s wife• Isaac had since moved his own encampment to Beer-Lahai-Roi where he met Rebekah for the first time. He later made her his wife. Isaac and Rebekah had twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau came out of the womb of Rebekah first but Jacob, with Rebekah’s help, gained the patrimony by trickery. Jacob fled back to Haran to escape Esau’s wrath. • Jacob also sought a wife while in Haran. En route, Jacob stopped at a place he called Bethel where he had a vision of a ladder to heaven. God renewed the covenant promise He made to Abraham there to Jacob• Esau sought his own wife from the family of Ishmael. Red-haired Esau then lived in the red clay land of Edom. In Roman times, Edom was called Idumea, the birthplace of the family of Herod. In a sense, Esau reclaimed his birthright two millennia later when Herod the Great became king in Jerusalem

2.5

Genesis and History• The stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob take place in historical times. • They involve places that can be found even today• They mention peoples about whom much is known• While Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived in historical times, the context of those times as explained in Genesis has raised a number of questions among scholars;

- Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldees. Who were these Chaldeans?

- The names of the members of Abraham’s family seem to have popped up in another context. What is that all about?

- Abraham was called a Hebrew. What does that name indicate?- Abraham traveled across the land of Canaan. Who were the

Canaanites?- Abraham encountered the Philistines. Who were they and where did

they live?- Abraham encountered Melchizedek. Who was he and where was Salem, the city which he ruled?We’ll examine these questions in the next slides

2.6

Ur of the Chaldeans: Who were the Chaldeans?

Genesis tells us that Abram comes was born in a city called Ur and tells us that this city was םכשדי . This Hebrew word Kasdim, is most often translated as “of the Chaldeans”. Ur is an ancient word seen in such place names as Ararat (Urartu) and names of people such as Uriah, husband of Bathshebah. Ur existed as far back as the Sumerian Empire (@3500 BCE). By Abraham’s time, the city was known to be dominated by the Ancient Babylonian Empire. This is the original Babylonian Empire that had, among its list of rulers, the king known as Hammurabi.This Empire was not the same as the Babylonian Empire that captured the Kingdom of Judah and led their people into exile. Those later Babylonians were the Chaldean people who came to dominate the region a thousand years after the time of Abraham. The question that scholars raise is why does Genesis refer to Abraham’s Ur as a city of the Chaldeans?

2.7

Abram’s father and brother decided to remain at Haran while Abraham and his family, along with Nahor’s son, Lot, decided to journey on. This part of the story of Abraham has also raised a bit of a debate among scholars. The ruins of four cities in the region bear names closely resembling members of Abram’s family.- The ancient town of Sarugi (Modern Suruc) resembles the name of Abram’s

grandfather, Serug- The ruins of Til Turakhi resembles the name of Abram’s father, Terah. - The ruins of Til Nakhiri resembles the name of Abram’s deceased brother, Nahor - The town of Haran clearly has the same name as Abram’s brother HaranWhy is it that towns in the northernmost reaches of the Fertile Crescent had names that were similar to members of Abraham’s family?

Cities or People or Both?

2.8

There has been some speculation that the name ‘Hebrew’ is related to the word ‘ha-bi-ru’ or ‘a-pi-ru’ which can be found in a number of ancient writings. This word seems to be applied by the Egyptians and Akkadians to various tribes of people who lived semi-nomadic lives.The origin of the word that is most accepted for ‘Hebrew’ is the word ִעְבִרי (Ib-ri). It was used most often to distinguish a Hebrew from a foreigner. The word often means “descendant of Eber (ֶבר ,(ֵע֫ a child of Shem (Gen. 10:21-25). The name Eber is related to the Hebrew verb a-bar (ָעַבר) , to pass over or travel across. The name could imply that the people of Eber originally came from across the Euphrates River A question can be legitimately asked if calling Abram a Hebrew meant that he was seen as a one of the semi-nomads or that he was a descendant of Eber or…that the Egyptians and Akkadians came to refer to all semi-nomadic peoples as descendants of Eber

“A survivor came and brought the news to Abram the Hebrew” Gen.14:13

Who were “the Hebrews”?

2.9

Who Were the Canaanites?

• The Canaanites were the original inhabitants of the Promised Land when Abram/Abraham first arrived in the region• Though linguistically a Semitic people (sons of Shem), the Canaanites are said to be descendants of Noah’s son Ham (Gen. 9). Ham was cursed by Noah when he failed to cover Noah’s nakedness. Noah went on to say, “May God give Japheth dwelling-space, and let him share the tents of Shem, but let Canaan be his slave.”Hamites are usually associated with Egypt and Africa. Some speculate that, since Egypt dominated the region from time to time, the Canaanites became associated with them• The Canaanites worshipped Baal, the son of El, their supreme creator god. The name Baal was not the actual name of the god but a reverent substitution that meant something like ‘Lord’. The name of the god himself was probably Baal Hadad (akin to the Akkadian god Adad)• The Canaanites remained in conflict with the descendants of Abraham both politically and religiously for many centuries 2.10

Who Were the Philistines?• Though the Bible says that, at the time of Abraham, the Hebrews were at peace with the Philistines, they would later battle them over the course of many years. Since Palestine is the modern name for the land of the Philistines, one could say that the battles continue • The Philistines are first mentioned in Genesis (10:14) as coming from the Caphtorim• Scholars today believe that the Philistines were not native to the region of the Promised Land but were “people of the sea” (Peleset) who invaded both Egypt and Ugarit shortly after the time of Moses. Pottery found at the remains of some of their cities suggest that they may have come from Crete or Greece• The Philistines were defeated by the Egyptians but sacked Ugarit and then settled the coastal plains along the Great (Mediterranean) Sea and established five major cities; Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and Gath. • The problem with the mention of the meeting between Abraham and Philistines in Genesis is that they did not arrive in the region until seven centuries after the time of Abraham.

Gath ?Ekron

2.11

Just Who Was Melchizidek?• Melchizidek was the king/priest of Salem, the future capital of David’s Israel• His name in Hebrew is ַמְלִּכי־ֶצֶדק (Mal-chi-tze-deq) translated as “My King is Righteous” but also seems to have the possible meaning of simply King-Priest. It is not clear if Melchizedek was actually a name or a title. Hundreds of years after Abram/Abraham, during the time of Joshua, the King of Salem (then Jeru-Salem) was named Adonizedek (My Lord is Just or Lord-Priest). Interestingly, the name of the High Priest when David ruled from Jerusalem was Zadok• Some scholars claim that Zedek/Zadok was the name of a local Jebusite deity and that Melchizidek really means “Zedeq is my king”.• Melchizidek brought bread and wine and blessed Abram and the “God Most High” ןעל עלי El Elyon. It is not surprising that Melchizidek, who rules a city in Canaan uses a generic Canaanite name for God על (El). But El was more than simply a generic name for God among the Cannanites. El was the chief God of the Canaanite people, the father of Baal Hadad. It is also said that El was the head of a council of Gods (Elohim ??) that was not unlike the pantheon of Greek gods on Olympus• This small passage caused a great deal of debate among bible scholars. They asked why was this small encounter even mentioned. We’ll look at some of their answers later. Talmudic scholars (see the Babylonian Talmud, Nedarim 32b) associate Melchizedek as being in a priestly line with Noah’s son Shem. The significance is that, upon Noah’s death, the priesthood that had been transferred to his son Shem. Shem then passed it on through his line down to Melchizidek who, in this symbolic passage transferred it in turn to Abraham. Note that Noah had three sons when the priesthood was passed to Shem. Terah had three sons and the priesthood was passed to Abraham. Of course, via Abraham, it made its way to Zadok 2.12

Isaac: A Very Passive PatriarchAs we have seen in Genesis, Abraham, the first of the three Jewish patriarchs, was a very active character. The same cannot be said, however, about Abraham’s son, Isaac. Isaac seems to be almost a transitional character between Abraham and his grandson Jacob (next slide). Isaac does not seem to act very much. In fact, Isaac is almost always acted upon.• In the story that Christians see as a prefigurement of Jesus, Isaac is acted upon

by his father Abraham as God tests Abraham’s faith by telling him that he must be willing to sacrifice his only son by his wife Sarah. Some bible scholars see this story as a condemnation of the human sacrifice practiced by many peoples that were encountered by the early Jewish people

• Isaac does not find his own wife. Abraham’s servant is sent back to Haran to acquire a wife (Rebekah) from his family back in Haran. This contrasts with Isaac’s son Jacob who acts on his own behalf in Haran and winds up with two wives

• Isaac is tricked by Rebekah to ensure that Jacob, not Esau, receives the birthright that by custom belonged to Esau

Looking at how the character of Isaac is portrayed in Genesis has led some bible scholars to see Isaac more as a literary device than a real person

2.13

Jacob and Israel• Thanks to his mother’s help, Jacob succeeded Isaac as the leader of his people.

He, too, returned to Haran to find a wife and there, as a result of Laban’s trickery, married Laban’s two daughters, Leah and Rachel

• Jacob then attempted to reconcile with Esau. En route, he struggled with an angel and the angel told Jacob that he will be called by a new name, Israel

• Jacob/Israel did reconcile with Esau. They parted in peace. Jacob then traveled back to Shechem where Abraham had set up an altar to God. Isaac later died in Hebron. Both Jacob and Esau returned to Hebron for his funeral

• Jacob went on to father twelve sons; six by Leah (Reuben, Simeon, Levi ,Judah, Issachar and Zebulon), two by Leah’s maidservant Zilpah (Gad and Asher), two by Rachel (Joseph and Benjamin) and two by Rachel’s maidservant Bilhah (Dan and Napthali). These twelve became the patriarchs of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Jacob also had a daughter, Dinah, by Leah

• Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt. In a time of famine, Joseph’s brothers sought food in Egypt and wound up reuniting with Joseph. Joseph’s brothers and father were welcomed to settle with Joseph in Egypt in the land of Goshen. Their descendants remained welcome in Egypt until a pharaoh “who did not know Joseph” took the throne setting the scene for Moses and the events of the Exodus 2.14

A Bit More About “the Pharaohs who knew Joseph”• Not long after the birth of Abraham, the Lower Kingdom of Egypt (the Northern

section of Egypt) was overrun by a people known as the Hyksos. The word Hyksos was first thought to mean Shepherd Kings. The current favored translation is Foreign Rulers

• An Egyptian Stele calls the Hyksos King, Apophos, a “chieftain of the Retjenu” (a tribe from Canaan) so many scholars believe that these Hyksos kings were likely Semitic people from the land of Canaan. These Hyksos kings were probably the kings who knew Joseph. The Jewish historian Josephus suggested that the Hyksos were actually the Hebrew people themselves (Against Apion: Bk.1 Sect. 73). In any case, the Hyksos probably looked on Joseph as a fellow Semite

• The Hyksos seemed to have ruled in Egypt from @1720 BCE until sometime around 1570 BCE when they were driven from Lower Egypt during the 18thDynasty. This new dynasty of Pharaohs were probably the Pharaohs “who did not know Joseph” and began to treat the Hebrew people harshly

• The Pharaoh at the time of Moses was believed to be Ramses II. He began his rule @ 1290 BCE. Assuming the Hebrews entered Egypt during the reign of the Hyksos around 1720 BCE and left Egypt during the reign of Ramses II around 1290 BCE, that places the Israelites in Egypt for about 430 years, some of those years in prosperity and some in slavery but a total of 430 years. This is the exact amount of time that Exodus (12:40) indicates that the Israelites were in Egypt

2.15

The Testament of Jacob• Just before Jacob died, he issued a series of predictions for each of his

sons. This is called “The Testament of Jacob”. Jacob said the following about Judah, “Judah is a lion’s cub, you have grown up on prey, my son. He crouches, lies down like a lion, like a lioness—who would dare rouse him? The scepter shall never depart from Judah, or the mace from between his feet, until tribute comes to him and he receives the people’s obedience. (Gen 49: 9-10)

• This passage is often taken to point to the future Kingdom of Judah and the line of David that will come from that kingdom. Again, scholars debate that this passage may have been added for political reasons

• Jacob died and his son Joseph asked the Hyksos Pharaoh to allow Joseph to fulfill the promise that he made to his father and return Jacob’s body to the land of Canaan so that it could be buried with Jacob’s grandfather Abraham, his grandmother Sarah, his father Isaac and his wives, Leah and Rebekah at Hebron, near the Vale of Mamre.

• This story of Jacob, coming at the end of the book of Genesis acts as a transition point from the pre-history and patriarchal history of the first book of the Torah to the next four books which tell the story of Moses and the Exodus

2.16

Questions Began to be AskedGiven some of the points raised in the slides just presented, modern biblical scholars have begun to question if some of the people, places and things mentioned in Genesis really existed.

2.16

Consider the names of Abraham’s family members. Did he really have family members with those names or was Genesis trying to say something like, “And that’s how the town of Haran got its name, from Abram’s brother who settled there.” And a similar thing could be said for his grandfather Serug (the ancient town of Serugi), his father Terah (the ancient town of Turakhi) and his deceased brother Nahor (the ancient town of Nakhiri). Just like modern places became famous because George Washington might have slept there. Ancient places might have become famous because of their association with Abram/Abraham. Or inversely, perhaps this was an attempt to give Abram/Abraham greater status by claiming that towns were named after his family membersDid a similar thing happen with places where Abraham allegedly encamped. Were they mentioned to kind of say, “and that’s why there is a shrine located at…” Did the dimensions of God’s gift of the land to Abram/Abraham just happen to fit the Kingdom of Israel at the time of David and Solomon or were they chosen to justify the occupation of those lands by the Israelites at the time of David?Similarly, was the Testament of Jacob written to justify the kingdom being ruled from a city in Judah and was the story of Melchizidek written to justify Jerusalem as being the city where the Ark of the Covenant was positioned and the Temple was built?

Some Possible Answers

2.16

The questions being asked by some biblical scholars were not unreasonable.Some of their possible answers as listed on the previous slides are also not unreasonableIt is also true that none of the possible answers have been proven to be trueIn a later unit, we will look at some different answers to these and other questions such as the anachronisms of Abraham’s treaty with the Philistines and calling Ur a city of the Chaldeans that are also not unreasonable and also not proven but come from an entirely less conspiratorial perspective