'Forefather' in the Bible

And behold, the Lord stood above and around him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your [father’s] father and the God of Isaac; I will give to you and to your descendants the land [of promise] on which you are lying.

The territory of the sons of Dan went beyond these; so the sons of Dan went up to fight against Leshem (Laish) and captured it. Then they struck it with the edge of the sword and took possession of it and settled there [between the tribes of Naphtali and Manasseh]; they renamed Leshem, Dan, after the name of their father (ancestor) Dan.

They named the city Dan, after Dan their forefather who was born to Israel (Jacob); however, the original name of the city was Laish.

Then a man of God (prophet) came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Did I not plainly reveal Myself to the house of your father (ancestor) when they were in Egypt in bondage to Pharaoh’s house?

Moreover, I selected him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to go up to My altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before Me. And [from then on] I gave to the house of your father all the fire offerings of the sons of Israel.

Therefore the Lord God of Israel declares, ‘I did indeed say that your house and that of [Aaron] your father would walk [in priestly service] before Me forever.’ But now the Lord declares, ‘Far be it from Me—for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be insignificant and contemptible.

He walked in all the sins [of idol worship] that his father [Rehoboam] committed before him; and his heart was not entirely devoted to the Lord his God, like the heart of his father (forefather) David.

Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did his father (forefather) David.

Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried with his fathers in the city of his father David, and Jehoram his son became king in his place.

He did right in the sight of the Lord, though not like David his father (ancestor). He acted in accordance with everything that his father Joash had done.

Jotham slept with his fathers [in death], and was buried with them in the City of David his father (ancestor). Ahaz his son became king in his place.

Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord his God, as his father (ancestor) David had done.

Hezekiah did right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that David his father (ancestor) had done.

“Go back and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father (ancestor): “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears. Behold, I am healing you; on the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.

He did what was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father (ancestor) David, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

These were their offices and positions for their service in the house of the Lord according to the ordinance given to them by their father (ancestor) Aaron, just as the Lord God of Israel had commanded him.

Therefore David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly and said, “Blessed (praised, adored, and thanked) are You, O Lord God of Israel (Jacob) our father, forever and ever.

Then a letter came to Jehoram from Elijah the prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of David your father (ancestor): ‘Because you have not walked in the ways of your father Jehoshaphat nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah,

Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned for sixteen years in Jerusalem. He did not do right in the sight of the Lord, as his father (forefather) David had done.

He did right in the sight of the Lord, in accordance with everything that David his father (forefather) had done.

Hezekiah stationed the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, with harps, and with lyres, in accordance with the command of David [his ancestor] and of Gad the king’s seer, and of Nathan the prophet; for the command was from the Lord through His prophets.

He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father (forefather) and did not turn aside either to the right or to the left.

For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young (sixteen), he began to seek after and inquire of the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, and the carved and cast images.

and do not presume to say to yourselves [as a defense], ‘We have Abraham for our father [so our inheritance assures us of salvation]’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children (descendants) for Abraham.

He will be great and eminent and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,

Your father Abraham [greatly] rejoiced to see My day (My incarnation). He saw it and was delighted.”

who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David, Your servant, said,‘Why did the nations (Gentiles) become arrogant and rage,And the peoples devise futile things [against the Lord]?

And he answered, “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory [the Shekinah, the radiance of God] appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather humanly speaking, has found? [Has he obtained a favored standing?]

And not only that, but this too: Rebekah conceived twin sons by one man [under the same circumstances], by our father Isaac;

for Levi was still in the loins (unborn) of his forefather [Abraham] when Melchizedek met him (Abraham).

Was our father Abraham not [shown to be] justified by works [of obedience which expressed his faith] when he offered Isaac his son on the altar [as a sacrifice to God]?