Abraham facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
For other people of the same name, see Abraham (name).
Abraham
Rembrandt Abraham Serving the Three Angels.jpg
Abraham Serving the Three Angels by Rembrandt
Information
Spouse(s) Sarah
Hagar
Keturah
Birth name Abram
Birthplace Ur Kaśdim, Mesopotamia
Death place Hebron, Canaan
Resting Place Cave of Machpelah
Influenced Abrahamic religions

Abraham (originally Abram) is a man in the Book of Genesis and the Qu'ran. There, he is said to be the father of all Jews. This is because he is their ancestor.

Abraham is given a high position of respect in three major world faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In Judaism he is the founding father of the Covenant, the special relationship between the Jewish people and God&nbsp – leading to the belief that the Jews are the Chosen People of God.

In Christianity, the Apostle Paul taught that Abraham's faith in God – preceding the Mosaic law – made him the prototype of all believersd. Abraham is not so large in Christianity as he is in Judaism and Islam. It is Jesus as the Jewish Messiah who is central to Christianity, and the idea of a divine Messiah is what separates Christianity from the other two religions.

In Islam, the prophet Muhammad claimed Abraham, whose submission to God constituted Islam, was a "believer before the fact" and undercut Jewish claims to an exclusive relationship with God and the Covenant.

Abraham was the father of Isaac with his wife Sarah. He also had Ishmael with Hagar, Sarah's handmaid, and he had other children with Keturah, whom he married after Sarah's death.

He was the grandfather of Jacob and Esau. Abraham is believed to be the founding patriarch of the Israelites, Ishmaelites and Edomites.

Abraham was the third son of Terah and the grandson of Nahor. Abraham's older brothers were named Nahor and Haran.

He died at age 175, and was buried in the cave of Machpelah by his sons Isaac and Ishmael.

Images for kids

  • Molnár Ábrahám kiköltözése 1850

    A painting of Abraham's departure

  • Tissot Abram's Counsel to Sarai

    Abraham's Counsel to Sarai

  • Wenceslas Hollar - Abraham and Lot separating (State 2)

    Depiction of the separation of Abraham and Lot

  • Meeting of abraham and melchizadek

    Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek

  • Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 024

    The vision of the Lord directing Abraham to count the stars

  • Foster Bible Pictures 0032-1

    Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, imagined here in a Bible illustration from 1897

  • Tissot Abraham and the Three Angels

    Abraham and the Three Angels

  • Tissot Abraham Sees Sodom in Flames

    Abraham Sees Sodom in Flames

  • PikiWiki Israel 11347 Abrams well

    Abraham's well at Beersheba

  • Foster Bible Pictures 0033-1

    Abraham sending Hagar away from home


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