Abraham is known as thepatriarch of theIsraelite people throughIsaac, the son born to him andSarah in their old age and the patriarch ofArabs through his sonIshmael, born to Abraham andHagar, Sarah's Egyptian servant. He also took Keturah as a wife after the death of Sarah, and she bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah (Gen. 25).

Although Abraham's forefathers were fromUr of the Chaldees in southernMesopotamia (in present-day Iraq)^[1] according to the biblical narrative, theirdeityYahweh led Abraham on a journey to the land ofCanaan, whichhe promised to his children.

The genealogy of Abraham appears inGenesis 5,Genesis 10:1–7,20,22–23,31–33, andGenesis 11. Thedocumentary hypothesis attributes these genealogies to thePriestly source.^[2]

Abram and Sarai prospered materially but they had no children. Abram thought to leave his estate to a trusted servant, butGod promised him a son and heir. When he was 86 years old, Sarai suggested and Abram agreed that a practical way to have a child was through Sarai’s servantHagar. Hagar conceived right away and in timeIshmael was born. This situation brought strife rather than happiness between Hagar and Sarai. Nevertheless, God saw Hagar’s suffering and promised that although this was not the child promised to Abram, he would nevertheless make Ishmael’s descendants into a great nation also.^[3]

InGenesis 17, "Almighty God" changed Abram’s name to Abraham, for he would be a father of many nations. In addition, his wife Sarai's name was changed to Sarah, for she would be a mother of nations. Three visitors came to Abraham and said that he would have a son. Sarah believed she was too old to have a child and laughed. Yet she did conceive (Genesis 21:1-7) and had a baby namedIsaac. After the death of his mother, Sarah, Isaac married Rebekah. Abraham then marriedKeturah, who bore him six more sons –Zimran,Jokshan,Medan,Midian,Ishbak andShuah.

The following is a family tree for the descendants of the line ofNoah's sonShem, throughAbraham toJacob and his sons. Dashed lines are marriage connections.

Not all individuals in this portion of the Bible are given names. For example, one English translation of the Bible states in Genesis 11:13 that "After the birth of Shelah, Arphachshad lived 403 years and begot sons and daughters." The previous line (11:12) only clarifies the name of one child, stating that at 35-years-old, "Arphachshad . . . begot Shelah."^[4] Some other children, such asCainan, are only described in later translations that are not considered part of the original, canonical text of the Hebrew Bible.

The family members and descendants ofAbraham are calledaal-Ibrahim, figuratively "The (people of) Abraham".

The Quran says:

"… but surely, We had given the 'Family of Abraham'—the Writings and the Wisdom—and conferred to them a Kingdom of magnificence." ⁠—Sūrat an-Nisā' 4,āyāt 54;al-Qur'ān.^[10]

• Abraham
• Bible genealogy

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