* Gen. xiii. 18, xxiii. (Elohistic narrative).  The tombs of the patriarchs are believed by the Mohammedans to exist to the present day in the cave which is situated within the enclosure of the mosque at Hebron, and the tradition on which this belief is based goes back to early Christian times.

Abraham set out in pursuit of them, and succeeded in delivering his nephew.* God (Jahveh) not only favoured him on every occasion, but expressed His will to extend over Abraham’s descendants His sheltering protection.  He made a covenant with him, enjoining the use on the occasion of the mysterious rites employed among the nations when effecting a treaty of peace.  Abraham offered up as victims a heifer, a goat, and a three-year-old ram, together with a turtle-dove and a young pigeon; he cut the animals into pieces, and piling them in two heaps, waited till the evening.  “And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham; and lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him,” and a voice from on high said to him:  “Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge:  and afterward shall they come out with great substance....  And it came to pass, that when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.”  Jahveh sealed the covenant by consuming the offering.

     * Gen. xiv. 12-24. 2 Gen. xv., Jehovistic narrative.

Two less important figures fill the interval between the Divine prediction of servitude and its accomplishment.  The birth of one of them, Isaac, was ascribed to the Divine intervention at a period when Sarah had given up all hope of becoming a mother.  Abraham was sitting at his tent door in the heat of the day, when three men presented themselves before him, whom he invited to repose under the oak while he prepared to offer them hospitality.  After their meal, he who seemed to be the chief of the three promised to return within a year, when Sarah should be blessed with the possession of a son.  The announcement came from Jahveh, but Sarah was ignorant of the fact, and laughed to herself within the tent on hearing this amazing prediction; for she said, “After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” The child was born, however, and was called Isaac, “the laugher,” in remembrance of Sarah’s mocking laugh.* There is a remarkable resemblance between his life and that of his father.** Like Abraham he dwelt near Hebron,*** and departing thence wandered with his household round the wells of Beersheba.  Like him he was threatened with the loss of his wife.