Skip to content
God's MapOpen the map

Abraham

our father in faith

Who was Abraham?

The name
Abram and Abraham are two forms of the same name, which means “the father is exalted.” When God changed it, he told him he would be the father of many nations. Genesis 17:5; NABRE note on Gn 17, 5
Also called
Abram Genesis 11:26; Genesis 17:5 · Abram the Hebrew Genesis 14:13
From
Ur of the Chaldeans Genesis 11:31; Genesis 15:7
Occupation
He had flocks and herdsmen; he was very rich in livestock, silver and gold Genesis 13:2, 7
Feast day
October 9: Saint Abraham, patriarch and father of all believers
Abraham, an artistic recreation

What the Bible says

Genesis 12:1-4

1And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father’s house, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. 2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed. 3I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and IN THEE shall all the kindred of the earth be blessed: 4So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot went with him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went forth from Haran.

Genesis 15:5-6

5And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven and number the stars, if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy seed be. 6Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.

Genesis 21:1-3

1And the Lord visited Sara, as he had promised: and fulfilled what he had spoken. 2And she conceived and bore a son in her old age, at the time that God had foretold her. 3And Abraham called the name of his son, whom Sara bore him, Isaac.

Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.

The path of Abraham

  1. Before Jesus. He lived in Ur of the Chaldeans. With his father Terah, his wife Sarah and his nephew Lot, he went to live in Haran. Genesis 11:27-31
  2. Before Jesus. God asked him to leave his land and his father’s house. Abraham set out at seventy-five years of age. Genesis 12:1-4
  3. Before Jesus. God promised him descendants as many as the stars in the sky. Abraham believed, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Genesis 15:5-6
  4. Before Jesus. At Mamre he welcomed three visitors and gave them food. One of them announced that Sarah would have a son. Genesis 18:1-10
  5. Before Jesus. He was a hundred years old when Isaac, his son with Sarah, was born. Genesis 21:2-5
  6. Before Jesus. God put him to the test and asked him to offer Isaac. The angel of the Lord stopped him, and Abraham offered a ram instead. Genesis 22:1-2, 11-13
  7. Before Jesus. He died at one hundred and seventy-five. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him beside Sarah. Genesis 25:7-10
  8. Afterward. Matthew begins the list of Jesus’ ancestors with Abraham, and he calls Jesus “the son of Abraham.” Matthew 1:1-2

Words of Abraham

“Lord, if I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away from thy servant.” Genesis 18:3

When he saw three men near his tent and ran to meet them.

“O that Ismael may live before thee.” Genesis 17:18

When God promised him a son by Sarah, and he prayed for Ishmael, his first son.

“Wilt thou destroy the just with the wicked?” Genesis 18:23

When the Lord told him what was going to happen to Sodom.

“Seeing I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes.” Genesis 18:27

While he was asking God not to destroy Sodom if there were righteous people in it.

“God will provide himself a victim for an holocaust, my son.” Genesis 22:8

When Isaac, on the way up the mountain, asked him where the victim for the sacrifice was.

What they were like

The greatest thing they did

In the Church today

Feast day: October 9, Saint Abraham, patriarch and father of all believers (commemoration). Roman Martyrology (2004), October 9

In art, recognized by: He serves three visitors at table, under a tree: the “hospitality of Abraham” From Gn 18, 1-8; this is how Christian art shows him; With the knife in his hand, while an angel stops him; nearby, Isaac and a ram caught in a thicket From Gn 22, 9-13; this is how Christian art shows him

What people ask

Why did God change his name?

God told him he would no longer be called Abram, but Abraham, because he was making him the father of many nations. Genesis 17:5

Did Abraham actually sacrifice Isaac?

No. When he already had the knife in his hand, the angel of the Lord stopped him. Abraham offered a ram in place of his son. Genesis 22:10-13

Why is he called “our father in faith”?

Because he believed God’s promise, hoping against hope. Through that faith he was made the father of all who believe. Catechism 146; Romans 4:18

Who was Ishmael?

Abraham’s first son. His mother was Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave. God promised that Ishmael too would be the father of a great nation. Genesis 16:1, 15; Genesis 21:13

How long did he live?

The Bible says one hundred and seventy-five years. Genesis 25:7

Daily life He lived in tents and moved with his flocks from place to place. Genesis 12:8-9; Genesis 13:3 Wherever he stayed, he built an altar to the Lord and…

The rest of this page (daily life, failings, little-known facts, for you…) is part of the subscription.

See the map

Who Abraham is connected to

More people

All the people of the Bible · The Twelve Apostles · Women of the Bible

See Abraham on the map