Abraham (Abram)

In Genesis, Abram leaves Ur of the Chaldees with his father Terah, settles in Canaan at God's call, and receives a covenant promising land and many descendants. God renames him Abraham, "father of a multitude." He fathers Ishmael with Hagar and Isaac with Sarah, is tested by the command to sacrifice Isaac, and dies at 175. He is buried in the cave of Machpelah at Hebron. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all honor him as a founding figure; in the Quran he is the prophet Ibrahim.

Most modern scholars treat the patriarchal stories as later literary traditions rather than biography, though some see older cultural memories in them.

Many later texts expand his life. The Genesis Apocryphon adds his dream of a cedar and a palm before he goes to Egypt. The Apocalypse of Abraham has him reject his father's idols and then rise to heaven on the wings of sacrificed birds, guided by the angel Yahoel, where he sees a fiery throne with wheels full of eyes. Jewish and Islamic legends say Nimrod threw him into a furnace and he walked out unharmed.