In the so-called later priestly stories regarding Abraham (see
especially Gen. 17) he is portrayed as a devoted servant of the
law, chiefly intent upon observing the simple ceremonial
institutions revealed to him in that primitive age. With him the
later priests associated the origin of the distinctive rite of
circumcision. In Genesis 14 Abraham is pictured as a valiant
warrior who espoused the cause of the weak and won a great victory
over the united armies of the Eastern kings. Like a knight of
olden times, he restored the captured spoil to the city that had
been robbed and gave a liberal portion, to the priest king
Melchizedek, who appears to have been regarded in later Jewish
tradition as the forerunner of the Jerusalem priesthood. In the
still later Jewish traditions, of which many have been preserved,
he is pictured sometimes as an invincible warrior, before whom even
the great city of Damascus fell, sometimes as an ardent foe of
idolatry, the incarnation of the spirit of later Judaism, or else
he is thought of as having been borne to heaven on a fiery chariot,
where he receives to his bosom the faithful of his race. Thus each
succeeding generation or group of writers made Abraham, as the
traditional father of their race, the embodiment of their highest
ideals.
The Abraham of the early prophetic narratives, however, is a
remarkably consistent character. He exemplifies that which is
noblest in Israel's early ideals. How is Abraham's faith
illustrated in the prophetic stories considered in the preceding
paragraph? His unselfishness and generosity? His courtly
hospitality? Was his politeness to strangers simply due to his
training and the traditions of the desert or was it the expression
of his natural impulses? Was Abraham's devoted interest in the
future of his descendants a noble quality? How are his devotion
and obedience to God illustrated? In the light of this study
describe the Abraham of the prophetic narratives. Is it a perfect
character that is thus portrayed? Is it the product of a primitive
state of society or of a high civilization?