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1Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah, the son of a Benjamite, a mighty man of valor. 2He had a son whose name was Saul, an impressive young man; and there was not among the children of Israel a more handsome person than he. From his shoulders and upward he was taller than any of the people.

3The donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. Kish said to Saul his son, “Now take one of the servants with you, and arise, go look for the donkeys.” 4He passed through the hill country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they didn’t find them. Then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and they weren’t there. Then he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they didn’t find them.

5When they had come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant who was with him, “Come! Let’s return, lest my father stop caring about the donkeys and be anxious for us.”

6The servant said to him, “Behold now, there is a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor. All that he says surely happens. Now let’s go there. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go.”

7Then Saul said to his servant, “But behold, if we go, what should we bring the man? For the bread is spent in our sacks, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?”

8The servant answered Saul again and said, “Behold, I have in my hand the fourth part of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way.” 9(In earlier times in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he said, “Come! Let’s go to the seer;” for he who is now called a prophet was before called a seer.)

10Then Saul said to his servant, “Well said. Come! Let’s go.” So they went to the city where the man of God was. 11As they went up the ascent to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said to them, “Is the seer here?”

12They answered them and said, “He is. Behold, he is before you. Hurry now, for he has come today into the city; for the people have a sacrifice today in the high place. 13As soon as you have come into the city, you will immediately find him before he goes up to the high place to eat; for the people will not eat until he comes, because he blesses the sacrifice. Afterwards those who are invited eat. Now therefore go up; for at this time you will find him.”

14They went up to the city. As they came within the city, behold, Samuel came out toward them to go up to the high place.

15Now Yahweh had revealed to Samuel a day before Saul came, saying, 16“Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man out of the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He will save my people out of the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon my people, because their cry has come to me.”

17When Samuel saw Saul, Yahweh said to him, “Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! He will have authority over my people.”

18Then Saul approached Samuel in the gateway, and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”

19Samuel answered Saul and said, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for you are to eat with me today. In the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is in your heart. 20As for your donkeys who were lost three days ago, don’t set your mind on them, for they have been found. For whom does all Israel desire? Is it not you and all your father’s house?”

21Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? And my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me like this?”

22Samuel took Saul and his servant and brought them into the guest room, and made them sit in the best place among those who were invited, who were about thirty persons. 23Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion which I gave you, of which I said to you, ‘Set it aside.’” 24The cook took up the thigh, and that which was on it, and set it before Saul. Samuel said, “Behold, that which has been reserved! Set it before yourself and eat; because it has been kept for you for the appointed time, for I said, ‘I have invited the people.’” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.

25When they had come down from the high place into the city, he talked with Saul on the housetop. 26They arose early; and about daybreak, Samuel called to Saul on the housetop, saying, “Get up, that I may send you away.” Saul arose, and they both went outside, he and Samuel, together. 27As they were going down at the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us.” He went ahead, then Samuel said, “But stand still first, that I may cause you to hear God’s message.”

Person

Abraham

Also called Abram
Lived
1997 BC – 1821 BC (approximate)
Born
Ur of the Chaldees
Father Terah
Spouse HagarKeturahSarah
Children Ishmael (Son of Hagar)MedanMidianZimranShuahJokshanIshbakIsaac
Siblings Haran (brother of Abraham)Nahor (brother of Abraham)
 Biography | Hershel Wayne House

The man Abram appears suddenly on the scene in the book of Genesis. He was born in the area around the modern Persian Gulf at Ur of the Chaldeans. According to Genesis 11:26, 27, his father was Terah (Gen 11:26, 27), and married the daughter of his father by someone other than his own mother (Gen 11:29). After being visited by the true God, who called him to leave his home in Ur and go to a place that God would lead him (Gen 12:1-3; Josh 24:3; Neh 9:7; Isa 51:2; Acts 7:2, 3),  he left his home in Ur, along with his father Terah, his wife, and other relatives, and moved to Haran (Gen 31; Neh 9:7; Acts 7:4). After residing in Haran for a period of time, Abram then moved to Canaan (Gen 12:4-6; Acts 7:4).

When Abram was initially called by God, God told him that the land to which he was being led would be given land from the river Euphrates, which includes the land Canaan (Gen 21:1, 7; 15:7-21; Ezek 33:24). Upon coming to Canaan, Abram moved to Bethel (house of God) (Gen 12:8), near the location of Ai, conquered later by Joshua. Between these cities, Abram and Lot looked toward the city of Sodom and the cities of the plain. 

Due to a famine in Canaan, Abram went to Egypt, where he revealed some weakness in his character. First, God had given Abram a promise of the land from which he left to go to Egypt, but he failed to trust in God's care for him and his family. Second, upon arriving in Egypt he identified Sarai as his sister, rather than his wife, which in one way was accurate since she was the daughter of Terah, the father of Abram, but his subterfuge caused a serious problem, in that Abram's wife was apparently attractive so he was taken into the home of the Pharaoh, who provided much wealth to Abram (Gen 12:10-20; 26:1).

Despite all of this, Abraham was chosen by God to be the father of many nations (Gen 12:3). We discover in Genesis 15 that the covenant he made with Abraham was unilateral and unconditional. His success would be based on the work of God.

Short Outline of Abraham's Life

Biblical verses that deal with Abraham, the Father of Nations

Copyright © 2026 Hershel Wayne House. All rights reserved.
 Biography | Hershel Wayne House

We first encounter Abraham (father of many nations) as Abram (great father) in Genesis 11:26-31. He was the son of Terah, brother of Nahor and Haran, and uncle of Lot. Abram's brother Haran died while Abram was still in Ur of the Chaldees (Gen 11:28), where he also married Sarai, his half-sister. We discover toward the end of Genesis 11 that his father Terah left Ur, and went to the land of Canaan, via a city named Haran, where Terah died.

The story of Abraham becomes important in chapter 12, in which we are introduced to important biblical characters, locations, and events that set the stage for the remainder of the Bible. Yahweh came to Abram and commanded him to go to a land that He would show him. In this passage, Yahweh sets forth a unilateral and unconditional covenant, in which He promised to make from him a great nation, make his name great, and through him bless all of the families of the earth.1

"Abraham (Abram) was first of the patriarchs, father of Isaac and Ishmael, grandfather of Jacob and the traditional ancestor of the Jewish people. Abraham (originally Abram, which means "exalted father") came from Ur in Mesopotamia. His father, Terah, took him (with his wife, Sarah, and his nephew, Lot) to Haran. God called Abraham to leave this new home and to find another home elsewhere in Canaan. After a brief stay in Egypt, Abraham settled near Hebron where he became involved in a local political quarrel when Lot was taken prisoner by an alliance of four eastern chieftains. Abraham launched a successful attack against this confederacy and on his victorious return encountered the mysterious Melchizedek, king of Salem, to whom he gave a tenth of all the spoil he had taken in the battle.

For many years of their marriage, he and Sarah were childless, but God assured Abraham that he would eventually become the father of a great nation. Sarah disbelieved and persuaded Abraham to beget a child by her maid, Hagar, who bore him his first son, Ishmael. When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, God appeared to him, and instituted with him a covenant of circumcision, giving him the new name of Abraham (meaning "father of a multitude") and told him that a son, to be named Isaac was shortly to be born to Sarah. When the boy was in his childhood, God ordered Abraham to take him up to a mountain in the land of Moriah and offer him up as a sacrificial victim. Abraham prepared to do so, but was prevented at the last moment from carrying out the sacrifice, and told that he would be blessed for his faithfulness in being ready to offer up his son.

When Sarah died Abraham bought the plot of ground (the field of Ephron in Machpelah) that became the burial place for many generations of his descendants. He subsequently made arrangements for the marriage of Isaac, and took another wife, Keturah, who bore him Zimran, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. At the age of one hundred and seventy five, Abraham died and was buried in Machpelah.

The principal narrative of the part of Genesis dealing with Abraham's history is interrupted in various places by other stories involving the patriarch. These include the parallel stories of his sojourns in Egypt and in Gerar. On both occasions Abraham lied about his relations with Sarah, jeopardising the fulfilment of God's promise (as both Pharaoh and Abimelech intended to take Sarah for themselves), while protecting himself. Both times God intervened to save him from the consequences of his deception. In another story we read of Abraham's intercession on behalf of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were destroyed for their wickedness."2

  1. See Genesis 12:1 for an explanation of God's covenant with Abraham. ↩︎

  2. Based on the website Mini-Biografias de Personajes Biblicos Web de Recursos Cristianos) (trans. Mini-Biographies of Biblical Characters, Christian Resources Web). ↩︎

Copyright © 2026 Hershel Wayne House. All rights reserved.
Person & place data: Theographic Bible Metadata by Robert Rouse (Viz.Bible), CC BY-SA 4.0.