Abraham in the Bible

Meaning: father of a great multitude

Exact Match

Now indeed those of the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood have commandment to collect tithes from the people according to the law, that is, of their brothers, although having come out of the loins of Abraham.

Verse ConceptsTithesBringing In The Tithe

for Levi was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchizedek met Abraham.

Verse ConceptsAncestorsBodygrandfathers

By [having] faith, Sarah herself received the ability to have children, even though she was [sterile, being] past the age of child-bearing, since she considered God faithful to His promise. [Note: Some translations consider "Abraham" to be the subject of this highly controversial verse. See Lightfoot, pages 222-225].

Verse ConceptsGod, Faithfulness OfBarren WomendisabilitiesOffspringWeakness, SpiritualExploits Of FaithGod's Promise To AbrahamThe Promise Of A BabyPromises respectingHer Strengthfaith and strengthGod's FaithfulnessStrength And FaithWomen's Strengthsarahchildbearing

Therefore, from one man [Abraham], who was as good as dead [i.e., because of having a sterile wife], were born descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the [grains of] sand on the seashore.

Verse ConceptsAn Innumerable NumberStarsSeashoresOnly One PersonSand And Gravel

But the truth is that they were longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. For that reason God is not ashamed [of them or] to be called their God [even to be surnamed their God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob]; for He has prepared a city for them.

Verse ConceptsBeing A PilgrimCityNames For HeavenHeaven,  Redeemed CommunityNot AshamedThirstZion, As A SymbolWhat Heaven Will Be LikeSaints, As PilgrimsCity Of GodA Place PreparedTaken To HeavenHe Is Our GodCitizensMoving To A New Place

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That is why it all turns upon faith; it is to make it a matter of God's favor, so that the promise may hold good for all Abraham's descendants, not only those who are adherents of the Law, but also those who share the faith of Abraham. For he is the father of all of us; as the Scripture says, "I have made you the father of many nations." The promise is guaranteed in the very sight of God in whom he had faith, who can bring the dead to life and call into being what does not exist. Abraham, hoping against hope, had faith, and so became the father of many nations, in fulfilment of the Scripture, "So countless shall your descendants be."

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and so the Scripture came true that says, "Abraham had faith in God, and it was credited to him as uprightness, and he was called God's friend."




"And the oath that he swore to our forefather Abraham,

For the promise made to Abraham and his descendants that the world should belong to him did not come to him or his descendants through the Law, but through the uprightness that resulted from his faith.

I hold that Christ has become an agent of circumcision to show God's truthfulness in carrying out the promises made to our forefathers,

For when God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to make oath by, he did so by himself, and said, "I will certainly bless you richly, and greatly increase your numbers."

Just as Abraham had faith in God and it was credited to him as uprightness. So you see, the real descendants of Abraham are the men of faith. The Scripture foresaw that God would accept the heathen as upright in consequence of their faith, and preached the good news in advance to Abraham in the words, "All the heathen will be blessed through you." read more.
So the men of faith share the blessing of Abraham and his faith. For there is a curse upon all who rely on obedience to the Law, for the Scripture says, "Cursed be anyone who does not stand by everything that is written in the Book of the Law and obey it." That no one is accepted as upright by God for obeying the Law is evident because the upright will have life because of his faith, and the Law has nothing to do with faith; it teaches that it is the man who does these things that will find life by doing them. Christ ransomed us from the Law's curse by taking our curse upon himself (for the Scripture says, "Cursed be anyone who is hung on a tree") in order that the blessing given to Abraham might through Jesus Christ reach the heathen, so that through faith we might receive the promised Spirit. To take an illustration, brothers, from daily life: even a human agreement, once ratified, no one annuls or alters. Now the promises were made to Abraham and his line. It does not say, "and to your lines," in the plural, but in the singular, "and to your line," that is, Christ. My point is this: An agreement already ratified by God cannot be annulled and its promise canceled by the Law, which arose four hundred and thirty years later. If our inheritance rests on the Law, it has nothing to do with the promise. Yet it was as a promise that God bestowed it upon Abraham.

And if you belong to Christ, then you are true descendants of Abraham and his heirs under the promise.

For the Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-girl, and one by the free woman. But the child of the slave-girl was born in the ordinary course of nature, while the child of the free woman was born in fulfilment of the promise. This is an allegorical utterance. For the women are two agreements, one coming from Mount Sinai, bearing children that are to be slaves; that is, Hagar read more.
(and Hagar means Mount Sinai, in Arabia), and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for Jerusalem is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For the Scripture says, "Rejoice, childless woman, who bear no children, Break into shouting, you who have no birth pains! For the desolate woman has more children than the married one!" Now we, brothers, are like Isaac, children born in fulfilment of the promise. But just as then the child born in the ordinary course of nature persecuted the one born through the influence of the Spirit, so it is today. Yet what does the Scripture say? "Drive the slave-girl and her son away, for the slave-girl's son shall not share the inheritance with the son of the free woman." So, brothers, we are children not of a slave but of one who is free.



Then what are we to say about our ancestor Abraham? For if he was made upright by what he did, it is something to be proud of. But not to be proud of before God, for what does the Scripture say? "Abraham had faith in God, and it was credited to him as uprightness." read more.
Now paying a workman is not considered a favor, but an obligation, but a man who has no work to offer, but has faith in him who can make the ungodly upright, has his faith credited to him as uprightness. So David himself says of the happiness of those to whom God credits uprightness without any reference to their actions, "Happy are they whose violations of the Law have been forgiven, whose sins are covered up! Happy is the man whose sin the Lord will take no account of!" Does this happiness apply to those who are circumcised, or to those who are uncircumcised as well? What we say is, Abraham's faith was credited to him as uprightness. In what circumstances? Was it after he was circumcised or before? Not after he was circumcised, but before; and he was afterward given the mark of circumcision as the stamp of God's acknowledgment of the uprightness based on faith that was his before he was circumcised, so that he should be the forefather of all who, without being circumcised, have faith and so are credited with uprightness, and the forefather of those circumcised persons who not only share his circumcision but follow our forefather Abraham's example in the faith he had before he was circumcised. For the promise made to Abraham and his descendants that the world should belong to him did not come to him or his descendants through the Law, but through the uprightness that resulted from his faith. For if it is the adherents of the Law who are to possess it, faith is nullified and the promise amounts to nothing! For the Law only brings down God's wrath; where there is no law, there is no violation of it. That is why it all turns upon faith; it is to make it a matter of God's favor, so that the promise may hold good for all Abraham's descendants, not only those who are adherents of the Law, but also those who share the faith of Abraham. For he is the father of all of us; as the Scripture says, "I have made you the father of many nations." The promise is guaranteed in the very sight of God in whom he had faith, who can bring the dead to life and call into being what does not exist. Abraham, hoping against hope, had faith, and so became the father of many nations, in fulfilment of the Scripture, "So countless shall your descendants be." His faith did not weaken, although he realized that his own body was worn out, for he was about a hundred years old, and that Sarah was past bearing children. He did not incredulously question God's promise, but his faith gave him power and he praised God in the full assurance that God was able to do what he had promised. That was why it was credited to him as uprightness.

Just as Abraham had faith in God and it was credited to him as uprightness. So you see, the real descendants of Abraham are the men of faith. The Scripture foresaw that God would accept the heathen as upright in consequence of their faith, and preached the good news in advance to Abraham in the words, "All the heathen will be blessed through you." read more.
So the men of faith share the blessing of Abraham and his faith.

Faith enabled Abraham to obey when God summoned him to leave his home for a region which he was to have for his own, and to leave home without knowing where he was going. Faith led him to make a temporary home as a stranger in the land he had been promised, and to live there in his tents, with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him. For he was looking forward to that city with the sure foundations, designed and built by God.

Faith enabled Abraham, when he was put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had accepted God's promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, of whom he had been told, "Your posterity is to arise through Isaac!" For he believed that God was able to raise men even from the dead, and from the dead he did indeed, to speak figuratively, receive him back.

Was not our forefather Abraham made upright for his good deeds, for offering his son Isaac on the altar? You see that in his case faith and good deeds worked together; faith found its highest expression in good deeds, and so the Scripture came true that says, "Abraham had faith in God, and it was credited to him as uprightness, and he was called God's friend." read more.
You see a man is made upright by his good deeds and not simply by having faith.






He answered, "Brothers and fathers, listen. The glorious God appeared to our forefather Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, and he said to him, 'Leave your country and your relatives and come to the country that I will show you.'

Faith enabled Abraham to obey when God summoned him to leave his home for a region which he was to have for his own, and to leave home without knowing where he was going.


Do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our forefather,' for I tell you God can produce descendants for Abraham right out of these stones!

And did not this woman, who is a descendant of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen years, have to be released from those bonds on the Sabbath day?"

There you will weep and gnash your teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, while you are put outside.

Jesus said to him, "Salvation has come to this house today, for he too is a descendant of Abraham.

They answered, "We are descended from Abraham, and have never been anyone's slaves. How can you say to us, 'You will be set free'?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. Now a slave does not belong to a household permanently; but a son does. read more.
So if the Son sets you free you will be really free. I know that you are descended from Abraham, yet you want to kill me, because there is no room in your hearts for my teaching. It is what I have seen in the presence of my Father that I tell, and it is what you have heard from your father that you do." They answered, "Our father is Abraham." Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, then do what Abraham did. But instead you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth he has heard from God. Abraham would not have done that.








Faith enabled Abraham, when he was put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had accepted God's promises was ready to sacrifice his only son,

Was not our forefather Abraham made upright for his good deeds, for offering his son Isaac on the altar?









and so the Scripture came true that says, "Abraham had faith in God, and it was credited to him as uprightness, and he was called God's friend."


There you will weep and gnash your teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, while you are put outside.

And I tell you, many will come from the east and from the west and take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the Kingdom of Heaven,

And it came about that the beggar died and was carried away by the angels to the companionship of Abraham, and the rich man too died and was buried. And in Hades he looked up, tormented as he was, and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus beside him. And he called to him and said, 'Father Abraham! take pity on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in torment, here in the flames!' read more.
And Abraham said, 'My child, remember that you received your blessings in your lifetime, and Lazarus had his misfortunes in his; and now he is being comforted here, while you are in anguish. Besides there is a great chasm set between you and us, so that those who want to go over from this side to you cannot, and they cannot cross from your side to us.' And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers; let him warn them so that they will not also come to this place of torture.' Abraham answered, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.' But he said, 'No! Father Abraham, but if someone will go to them from the dead, they will repent!' He answered, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead!' "














So he left the country of the Chaldeans and went to live in Haran, and from there after the death of his father, God caused him to move into this country where you now live.







For the Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-girl, and one by the free woman. But the child of the slave-girl was born in the ordinary course of nature, while the child of the free woman was born in fulfilment of the promise. This is an allegorical utterance. For the women are two agreements, one coming from Mount Sinai, bearing children that are to be slaves; that is, Hagar read more.
(and Hagar means Mount Sinai, in Arabia), and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for Jerusalem is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For the Scripture says, "Rejoice, childless woman, who bear no children, Break into shouting, you who have no birth pains! For the desolate woman has more children than the married one!" Now we, brothers, are like Isaac, children born in fulfilment of the promise. But just as then the child born in the ordinary course of nature persecuted the one born through the influence of the Spirit, so it is today. Yet what does the Scripture say? "Drive the slave-girl and her son away, for the slave-girl's son shall not share the inheritance with the son of the free woman."



For this man Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was on his way back from defeating the kings, and gave him his blessing, to whom Abraham apportioned one tenth of all the spoil, who is first, as his name shows, king of righteousness and then king of Salem, which means king of peace??3 with no father or mother or ancestry, and with no beginning to his days nor end to his life, but like no one but the Son of God, continues as priest forever. Now see how great this man must have been to have the patriarch Abraham give him a tenth of the spoil. read more.
Those of the descendants of Levi who are appointed to the priesthood are directed by the Law to collect tithes from the people, that is, from their own brothers, although they are descended from Abraham like themselves. But this man, whose ancestry is not connected with theirs, collected tithes from Abraham himself, and gave his blessing to the man who had received the promises from God. But, beyond any doubt, it is the inferior that is blessed by the superior. In the one case, mortal men collect tithes; but in the other, one who, it is intimated, lives on. In one way of putting it, Levi himself, the collector of the tithes, through Abraham paid him tithes, for none of Abraham's posterity was yet begotten at the time of his meeting with Melchizedek.



For the Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-girl, and one by the free woman. But the child of the slave-girl was born in the ordinary course of nature, while the child of the free woman was born in fulfilment of the promise. This is an allegorical utterance. For the women are two agreements, one coming from Mount Sinai, bearing children that are to be slaves; that is, Hagar read more.
(and Hagar means Mount Sinai, in Arabia), and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for Jerusalem is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. For the Scripture says, "Rejoice, childless woman, who bear no children, Break into shouting, you who have no birth pains! For the desolate woman has more children than the married one!" Now we, brothers, are like Isaac, children born in fulfilment of the promise. But just as then the child born in the ordinary course of nature persecuted the one born through the influence of the Spirit, so it is today. Yet what does the Scripture say? "Drive the slave-girl and her son away, for the slave-girl's son shall not share the inheritance with the son of the free woman."






For this man Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham as he was on his way back from defeating the kings, and gave him his blessing,














So he left the country of the Chaldeans and went to live in Haran, and from there after the death of his father, God caused him to move into this country where you now live.















Faith enabled Abraham, when he was put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had accepted God's promises was ready to sacrifice his only son,










































































nor are they all children of Abraham because they are descended from him, but he was told, "The line of Isaac will be called your descendants." That is to say, it is not his physical descendants who are children of God, but his descendants born in fulfilment of the promise who are considered his true posterity. For this is what the promise said: "When I come back at this time next year, Sarah will have a son." read more.
And that is not all, for there was Rebecca too, when she was about to bear twin sons to our forefather Isaac. For before the children were born or had done anything either good or bad, in order to carry out God's purpose of selection, which depends not on what men do but on his calling them, she was told, "The elder will be the younger's slave." As the Scripture says, "I loved Jacob, but I hated Esau."




You are the descendants of the prophets and the heirs of the agreement that God made with your forefathers when he said to Abraham, 'Through your posterity all the families of the earth will be blessed.'



Thus showing mercy to our forefathers, And keeping his sacred agreement, "And the oath that he swore to our forefather Abraham, That we should be delivered from the hands of our enemies, read more.
And should serve him in holiness and uprightness, unafraid, In his own presence all our lives.

Now the promises were made to Abraham and his line. It does not say, "and to your lines," in the plural, but in the singular, "and to your line," that is, Christ.




Faith enabled Abraham, when he was put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had accepted God's promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, of whom he had been told, "Your posterity is to arise through Isaac!" For he believed that God was able to raise men even from the dead, and from the dead he did indeed, to speak figuratively, receive him back.

Faith enabled Abraham to obey when God summoned him to leave his home for a region which he was to have for his own, and to leave home without knowing where he was going.









Your forefather Abraham exulted at the thought of seeing my coming. He has seen it, and it has made him glad."








He did not incredulously question God's promise, but his faith gave him power and he praised God













Abraham, hoping against hope, had faith, and so became the father of many nations, in fulfilment of the Scripture, "So countless shall your descendants be."


Your forefather Abraham exulted at the thought of seeing my coming. He has seen it, and it has made him glad."


Now the promises were made to Abraham and his line. It does not say, "and to your lines," in the plural, but in the singular, "and to your line," that is, Christ.


For of course it was not angels but the descendants of Abraham that he came to help.



























Your forefather Abraham exulted at the thought of seeing my coming. He has seen it, and it has made him glad."




Was not our forefather Abraham made upright for his good deeds, for offering his son Isaac on the altar?






and he said to him, 'Leave your country and your relatives and come to the country that I will show you.' So he left the country of the Chaldeans and went to live in Haran, and from there after the death of his father, God caused him to move into this country where you now live. He gave him no property in it, not a single foot, but he promised to give it to him and his posterity after him permanently, though he had no children at that time. read more.
This was what God said: 'His descendants will be strangers, living in a foreign land, and they will be enslaved and misused for four hundred years, and I will sentence the nation that has enslaved them,' God said, 'and afterward they will leave that country and worship me on this spot.' And he made the agreement of circumcision with him, and so Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.

Faith enabled Abraham to obey when God summoned him to leave his home for a region which he was to have for his own, and to leave home without knowing where he was going. Faith led him to make a temporary home as a stranger in the land he had been promised, and to live there in his tents, with Isaac and Jacob, who shared the promise with him. For he was looking forward to that city with the sure foundations, designed and built by God. read more.
Faith made even Sarah herself able to have a child, although she was past the time of life for it, because she thought, that he who had made the promise would keep it. And so from one man, for any prospect of descendants as good as dead, there sprang a people in number like the stars in the heavens or the countless sands on the seashore. All these people lived all their lives in faith, and died without receiving what had been promised; they only saw it far ahead and welcomed the sight of it, recognizing that they themselves were only foreigners and strangers here on earth. For men who recognize that show that they are in search of a country of their own. And if it had been the country from which they had come to which their thoughts turned back, they would have found an opportunity to return to it. But, as it is, their aspirations are for a better, a heavenly country! That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city to receive them. Faith enabled Abraham, when he was put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had accepted God's promises was ready to sacrifice his only son,





Faith enabled Abraham, when he was put to the test, to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had accepted God's promises was ready to sacrifice his only son, of whom he had been told, "Your posterity is to arise through Isaac!" For he believed that God was able to raise men even from the dead, and from the dead he did indeed, to speak figuratively, receive him back.







And so after waiting patiently, he received what God had promised him.


























Does this happiness apply to those who are circumcised, or to those who are uncircumcised as well? What we say is, Abraham's faith was credited to him as uprightness.

That was why it was credited to him as uprightness.















from whom every family in heaven or on earth takes its name,








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