The promises concerning Ishmael in Genesis 16 which at first might seem negative and odd to the Western mind are to be understood in the light of the angel’s command to Hagar: “return to your mistress and submit to her” (Gen 16:9). God’s plan to bless Ishmael required him to be educated and prepared by […]
Abraham the Faithful
God freely offers Abraham the promise of an heir who will found a great nation and the promise of land, but God can only bring these about if Abraham and Sarah trust enough. This is the second major theme of the Abraham stories: his faithfulness to God’s promise. It is summed up in Gen 15:6 […]
Promise and Covenant
The Abraham cycle links the promise of land and a son to a series of covenants, or formal agreements, between Yahweh and Abraham. In Gen 12 and 15, they are free gifts of God, very much like the royal grants of kings to favourite courtiers. In Gen 17, it uses the language of mutual obligation […]
THE STORY OF ABRAHAM and SARAH
Gen 1-11 is generally seen as the preface to the story of Israel and tells the lessons from the origins of humanity. Genesis then focuses on the history of one family that lived in northern Mesopotamia. Gen 11:27-32 gives the family tree for Abraham in such a way that his grandfather, father and brothers are […]