that
makes
desolate')
is
to
be
taken
as
a
warning
for
tliose
who
are
in
Judsea
to
flee
to
the
mountains.
It
would
seem
to
follow,
therefore,
that
the
reference
is
to
some
event,
portending
the
fall
of
Jerusalem,
which
might
also
be
Interpreted
by
the
Christians
as
a
premoni-tion
of
the
Parousia
(2
Th
2i
-12).
It
would
seem
natural
to
see
this
event
in
the
coming
of
the
Romans
(Lk
212°),
or
in
the
seizure
of
the
Temple
by
the
Zealots
under
John
of
Gisoala,
before
the
city
was
completely
invested
by
the
Romans.
A
measure
of
probability
is
given
to
the
latter
conjecture
by
the
tradition
(Eusebius,
HE
iii.
v.
3)
that
the
Jewish
Christians,
because
of
a
Divine
oracle,
fled
from
Jerusalem
during
the
early
course
of
the
siege.
Shailer
Mathews.
ABRAHAM.
—
Abram
and
Abraham
are
the
two
forms
in
which
the
name
of
the
flrst
patriarch
was
handed
down
in
Hebrew
tradition.
The
change
of
name
recorded
in
Gn
17''
(P)
is
a
harmonistic
theory,
which
involves
an
impossible
etymology,
and
cannot
be
regarded
as
historical.
Of
Abraham
no
better
ex-planation
has
been
suggested
than
that
it
is
possibly
a
dialectic
or
orthographic
variation
of
Abram,
which
in
the
fuller
forms
Abiram
and
Aburamu
is
found
as
a
personal
name
both
in
Heb.
and
Babylonian.
The
history
of
Abraham
(Gn
ll''-2S'*)
consists
of
a
number
of
legendary
narratives,
which
have
been
somewhat
loosely
strung
together
into
a
semblance
of
biographical
continuity.
These
narratives
(with
the
exception
of
ch.
14,
which
is
assigned
to
a
special
source)
are
appor-tioned
by
critics
to
the
three
main
documents
of
Genesis,
J,
E,
and
P;
and
the
analysis
shows
that
the
biographic
arrangement
is
not
due
solely
to
the
compUer
of
the
Pent.,
but
existed
in
the
separate
sources.
In
them
we
can
recognize,
amidst
much
diversity,
the
outlines
of
a
fairly
solid
and
consistent
tradition,
which
may
be
assumed
to
have
taken
shape
at
different
centres,
such
as
the
sanctuaries
of
Hebron
and
Beersheba.
1.
The
account
of
J
opens
with
the
Divine
call
to
Abraham,
in
obedience
to
which
he
separates
himself
from
his
kindred
and
migrates
to
Canaan
(12'-*).
In
the
proper
Jahwistic
tradition
the
starting-point
of
the
Exodus
was
Harran
in
Mesopotamia,
but
in
ll^aff.
(cf.
15')
we
find
combined
with
this
another
view,
according
to
which
Abraham
came
from
Ur
of
the
Chaldees
in
S.
Babylonia.
In
passing
we
may
note
the
remarkable
fact
that
both
traditions
alike
connect
the
patriarch
with
famous
centres
of
Babylonian
moon-worship.
Arrived
in
Canaan,
Abraham
builds
altars
at
Shechem,
where
he
receives
the
flrst
promise
of
the
land,
and
Bethel,
where
the
separation
from
Lot
takes
place;
after
which
Abraham
resumes
his
southern
journey
and
takes
up
his
abode
at
Hebron
(ch.
13).
This
con-nexion
is
broken
in
1211-2"
by
the
episode
of
Abraham's
sojourn
in
Egypt,
which
probably
belongs
to
an
older
stratum
of
Jahwistic
tradition
representing
him
as
leading
a
nomadic
life
in
the
Negeb.
To
the
same
cycle
we
may
assign
the
story
of
Hagar's
flight
and
the
prophecy
regarding
Ishmael,
in
ch.
16:
here,
too,
the
home
of
Abraham
is
apparently
located
in
the
Negeb.
In
ch.
18
we
find
Abraham
at
Hebron,
where
In
a
theophany
he
receives
the
promise
of
a
son
to
be
born
to
Sarah,
and
also
an
intimation
of
the
doom
impending
over
the
guilty
cities
of
the
Plain.
The
destruction
of
Sodom
and
Gomorrah,
and
the
deliver-ance
of
Lot,
are
graphically
described
in
ch.
19,
which
closes
with
an
account
of
the
shameful
origins
of
Moab
and
Ammon.
Passing
over
some
fragmentary
notices
in
ch.
21,
which
have
been
amalgamated
with
the
fuller
narrative
of
E,
we
come
to
the
last
scene
of
J's
record,
the
mission
of
Abraham's
servant
to
seek
a
bride
for
Isaac,
told
with
such
dramatic
power
in
ch.
24.
It
would
seem
that
the
death
of
Abraham,
of
which
J's
account
has
nowhere
been
preserved,
must
have
taken
place
before
the
servant
returned.
A
note
is
appended
in
25'*-
as
to
the
descent
of
16
Arabian
tribes
from
Abraham
and
Keturah.
2.
Of
E's
narrative
the
first
traces
appear
in
ch.
1.5,
a
composite
and
difiicult
chapter,
whose
kernel
probably
belongs
rather
to
this
document
than
to
J.
In
its
present
form
it
narrates
the
renewal
to
Abraham
of
the
two
great
promises
on
which
his
faith
rested
—
the
promise
of
a
seed
and
of
the
land
of
Canaan
—
and
the
confirmation
of
the
latter
by
an
impressive
ceremony
in
which
God
entered
into
a
covenant
with
the
patriarch.
The
main
body
of
Elohistic
tradition,
however,
is
found
in
chs.
20-22.
We
have
here
a
notice
of
Abraham's
arrival
in
the
Negeb,
followed
by
a
sojourn
in
Gerar,
where
Sarah's
honour
is
compromised
by
the
deliberate
concealment
of
the
fact
that
she
is
married
(ch.
20)
—
a
variant
form
of
the
Jahwistic
legend
of
121°
-'i.
'The
expulsion
of
Hagar,
recorded
in
21'>-2i,
is
an
equally
obvious
parallel
to
J's
account
of
the
flight
of
Hagar
in
ch.
16,
although
in
E
the
incident
follows,
while
in
J
it
precedes,
the
births
of
both
Ishmael
and
Isaac.
The
latter
part
of
ch.
21
is
occupied
with
the
narrative
of
Abraham's
adventures
in
-the
Negeb
—
especially
his
covenant
with
Abimelech
of
Gerar
—
which
leads
up
to
the
consecration
of
the
sanctuary
of
Beersheba
to
the
worship
of
Jahweh.
Here
the
narrative
has
been
supplemented
by
extracts
from
a
Jahwistic
recension
of
the
same
tradition.
To
E,
finally,
we
are
indebted
for
the
fascinating
story
of
the
sacrifice
of
Isaac
in
ch.
22,
which
may
be
fairly
described
as
the
gem
of
this
collection.
3.
In
P,
the
biography
of
Abraham
is
mostly
reduced
to
a
chronological
epitome,
based
on
the
narrative
of
J,
and
supplying
some
gaps
left
by
the
compiler
in
the
older
document.
There
are
just
two
places
where
the
meagre
chronicle
expands
into
elaborately
circumstantial
description.
The
first
is
the
account,
in
ch.
17,
of
the
institution
of
circumcision
as
the
sign
of
the
covenant
between
God
and
Abraham,
round
which
are
gathered
all
the
promises
which
in
the
earlier
documents
are
connected
with
various
experiences
in
the
patriarch's
lite.
The
second
incident
is
the
purchase
of
the
cave
of
Machpelah
after
the
death
of
Sarah,
recorded
at
great
length
in
ch.
23:
this
is
peculiar
to
P,
and
was
evidently
of
importance
to
that
writer
as
a
guarantee
of
Israel's
perpetual
tenure
of
the
land
of
Canaan.
4.
Such
is,
in
outline,
the
history
of
Abraham
as
transmitted
through
the
recognized
literary
channels
of
the
national
tradition.
We
have
yet
to
mention
an
episode,
concerning
which
there
is
great
diversity
of
opinion,
—
the
story
of
Abraham's
victory
over
the
four
kings,
and
his
interview
with
Melchizedek,
in
ch.
14.
It
is
maintained
by
some
that
this
chapter
bears
internal
marks
of
authenticity
not
possessed
by
the
rest
of
the
Abrahamic
tradition,
and
affords
a
firm
foothold
for
the
belief
that
Abraham
is
a
historic
personage
of
the
3rd
millennium
B.C.,
contemporary
with
Hammurabi
(Amraphel?)
of
Babylon
(c.
2300).
Others
take
a
diametrically
opposite
view,
holding
that
it
is
a
late
Jewish
romance,
founded
on
imperfectly
understood
data
derived
from
cuneiform
sources.
The
arguments
on
either
side
cannot
be
given
here:
it
must
suffice
to
remark
that,
even
if
convincing
proof
of
the
historicity
of
ch.
14
could
be
produced,
it
would
still
be
a
question
whether
that
judgment
could
be
extended
to
the
very
different
material
of
the
undisputed
Hebrew
tradition.
It
is
much
more
important
to
inquire
what
is
the
historical
value
of
the
tradition
which
lies
immediately
behind
the
more
popular
narratives
in
which
the
religious
significance
of
Abraham's
character
is
expressed.
That
these
are
history
in
the
strict
sense
of
the
word
is
a
proposition
to
which
no
competent
scholar
would
assent.
They
are
legends
which
had
circulated
orally
for
an
indefinite
time,
and
had
assumed
varied
forms,
before
they
were
collected
and
reduced
to
writing.
The
only
question
of
practical
moment
is
whether
the
legends
have
clustered
round
the
name
of
a
historic
personality,
the
leader
of
an
immigration
of
Arameean
tribes
into
Palestine,
and
at
the
same
time
the
recipient
of
a
new
revelation
of
God
which
prepared
the
way
