The Birth of Abram

Abram was born in a time of great trembling in the earth. Four centuries had passed since the Flood, and the memory of God’s covenant had faded from most of the nations. The sons of Noah multiplied, but they multiplied also in pride, ambition, and the worship of the works of their own hands. Cities rose along the rivers of Shinar, fortified with towers and temples, and kings demanded offerings as though they were themselves divine. Nimrod, the mighty one, ruled over these lands with a will of iron—first among the kings of the earth and the terror of all who opposed him (Genesis 10:8–10).

Yet even in those darkening generations, the ancient patriarchs foresaw that the Lord would not leave mankind without hope. Noah warned his sons that corruption would rise after his death, and he prophesied that God would raise up from their own bloodline a “righteous branch” through whom knowledge would be renewed in the earth (Jubilees 10:13). To Shem he declared that the covenant would rest upon his tents (Genesis 9:26), and ancient tradition affirms that Shem preserved these words with expectation, knowing that truth would rise again from his lineage (Josephus, Antiquities 1.3.1). Thus, even as idolatry spread across Shinar, the elders of the patriarchal house waited for the child whom God had appointed—one who would cast down idols, overthrow false worship, and restore the Ancient Order among the sons of men.

Terah stood at the end of a long patriarchal line descending from Shem—Shem, Arphaxad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, and finally Terah (Genesis 11:10–26). Yet the spiritual strength of this lineage had diminished with each generation. Scripture identifies Shem as the covenant-holder, and ancient tradition affirms that Eber alone among the later patriarchs refused to join the rebellion at Babel. Beyond these two, the record is largely silent regarding faithfulness. Ancient writings state that in the days of Serug, idolatry spread like a plague, for “the people turned to strange gods, and Serug taught them the ways of the Chaldeans, to worship images and carved idols” (Book of Jasher 11:7–13). By the time of Terah, the decline was complete, for Scripture plainly says, “Your fathers… served other gods” (Joshua 24:2). Ancient records affirm the same, describing his house as filled with carved images and the rituals of Shinar (Book of Jasher 11:19–21). Thus Terah was shaped more by the idolatrous world of Shinar than by the covenant of his forefathers, and when he hid Abram after the omen of the great star, it was not from devotion to prophecy but from fear for his own flesh and blood (Book of Jasher 8:1–4, 8:19).

In those days a great sign appeared in the heavens, seen by the watchers of Shinar before Abram was born. A star rose from the east with a brilliance that consumed the lights around it, and the astrologers came before Nimrod declaring that a child would soon be born who would cast down his idols and overturn his kingdom (Book of Jasher 8:1–4), (Chronicles of Jerahmeel 12), (al-Tabari, History of the Prophets and Kings). Terrified, Nimrod commanded that every male child born in that year be slain (Book of Jasher 8:13–15), (Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 27). This decree reflected the ancient pattern of kings who, when warned by heavenly signs, sought to secure their dominion by destroying the sons of the righteous—just as Pharaoh later slew the male children of Israel (Josephus, Antiquities 2.9.2). Thus, before Abram had drawn his first breath, the powers of Shinar rose in rebellion against the purpose for which he had been sent.

In the midst of this terror, Terah served in the courts of Nimrod, a prince among his officers, and his wife Amthelo was nearing the day of her delivery. The king’s decree weighed heavily upon every household, for the agents of Shinar searched dwelling by dwelling seeking newborn sons to destroy. Terah feared above all the wrath that would fall upon his own house if a male child were found within it (Book of Jasher 8:13–15). Amthelo also felt the dread of those days, for no mother in Shinar was spared the fear that her infant might be seized. As her hour drew near, the danger pressed closer, and the fate of her child hung in the balance (Chronicles of Jerahmeel 12), (al-Tabari).

When the night of Amthelo’s travail arrived, Terah’s fear reached its height, for he knew the officers of the king would soon demand to see the child. Acting in desperation, Terah took a newborn son of one of his servants, born that very night, and delivered the infant to the officers as though it were his own. The child was slain according to the king’s command (Chronicles of Jerahmeel 12), (al-Tabari). Meanwhile Amthelo hid her trueborn son, knowing the watchers would return again before the night was spent. Thus Abram entered the world under the shadow of death, preserved only by the resolve of his mother and the blind confidence of a king who believed the danger removed (Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 27).

Before dawn, Amthelo slipped away from the city with her infant and fled into the high country. There she found a cave hidden among the stones and concealed her son within it. The ancient records speak of this refuge, declaring that the child was hidden away from the wrath of the king, nourished in secret and guarded while the soldiers of Shinar scoured the land (Book of Jasher 8:25–27), (Chronicles of Jerahmeel 12). And while Nimrod believed the threat removed, the child whom heaven had appointed was preserved in solitude beyond the reach of the kingdom that sought his life (al-Tabari).

In that lonely cave the child grew under the watchful care of heaven. Though no man nurtured him, the Lord sustained him, and ancient records declare that light shone upon the infant and preserved his life in those early days when no earthly provision could reach him (Book of Jasher 8:26–27). Amthelo returned in secret whenever she could, bringing what she was able, for Terah dared not openly seek the child lest suspicion fall upon his house (Older Sefer ha-Yashar traditions). Thus the cave became Abram’s sanctuary, and the hand that preserved him stirred his heart toward the light.

As Abram grew, the solitude of the cave sharpened his mind and awakened his spirit. Surrounded only by the works of God, he began to reason concerning the nature of the world. The ancient accounts testify that he soon perceived the vanity of the idols worshipped in Shinar, for even in his youth he questioned how lifeless images of stone could govern the heavens (Book of Jasher 9:6–7). This was the beginning of his faith, for the Lord Himself became his first teacher (Chronicles of Jerahmeel 12).

When Abram was grown enough to walk and speak clearly, Terah brought him forth from the cave, believing the danger had passed (Book of Jasher 9:5). Yet the world of Ur was strange to him. Seeing men bow before the works of their own hands, he rebuked the folly of idols, declaring that such powerless things could neither create nor save (Book of Jasher 9:6–7), (Chronicles of Jerahmeel 12). His childhood spent under the care of heaven had formed a clarity that the city could not dim, and even Terah trembled at the boldness of the child who spoke against the gods of Shinar.

In the days that followed, Abram observed the sun, moon, and stars, reasoning that none of them could be God, for each obeyed a path it did not choose (Book of Jasher 9:8–10). Thus he came to know that behind all things stood one true God—the Maker of heaven and Sustainer of life (Chronicles of Jerahmeel 12). His understanding deepened day by day, and the contrast between the living God he perceived and the lifeless idols of his father’s house soon became too great to contain.

But Abram’s reasoning did not remain within Terah’s household. Servants whispered his words into the streets. Some were troubled, others stirred, and soon the elders of the city heard that the son of an idol-maker spoke openly against the gods of Shinar (Book of Jasher 9:11–12). Terah trembled, for he feared that word would reach the king, and he knew that Nimrod’s wrath was swift against any who questioned the gods of the realm (Chronicles of Jerahmeel 12). The danger that had surrounded Abram at birth once again gathered around him, this time stirred by the fire of truth awakening in his soul.

The turning point came when Abram confronted the idols of his father’s house openly. Seeing Terah burn incense before the images, he declared before all who stood near that such gods were powerless to save or to harm, for they neither spoke nor saw nor moved of themselves (Book of Jasher 11:15–17). Unable to restrain the fire within him, Abram entered the chamber where Terah kept his most honored idols and left them broken and scattered upon the floor, showing by deed what he had long understood in his heart—that no carved image could stand before the truth of the living God. When Terah discovered what had been done, fear overtook him, for he knew that if word reached the king, his entire household would be counted guilty of treason against the gods of Shinar (Chronicles of Jerahmeel 12).

Terah could no longer endure the turmoil rising within his household. Each day brought new whispers from the city, and he feared that Abram’s boldness would soon reach the ears of Nimrod himself. Torn between preserving his bloodline and fearing the king, Terah wavered—even considering whether surrendering the boy might save his own life (Book of Jasher 11:17–21). But before he could act, word of Abram’s awakening reached those elders who still remembered the covenant of the fathers. Among them were the household of Shem, the ancient patriarch who had preserved the knowledge handed down from Noah and who recognized the signs of a child raised up by God for a greater work.

When the patriarchs heard that a boy in Terah’s house had reasoned against idols and discerned the true God by the witness of the heavens, they knew the time had come to intervene. Messengers from Shem were sent quietly, instructing Terah that the child must not remain in a house of idolatry, nor under the shadow of a king whose decree had once sought his life (Book of Jasher 9:5), (Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 27), (Chronicles of Jerahmeel 13). Terah dared not refuse. Fear that Abram’s presence might one day reveal his earlier deception before the king compelled him to consent. Thus the boy was delivered into the care of Shem and Noah, where the covenant of the fathers was kept in purity.

The summons came quietly, carried by trusted messengers of the patriarchs. Shem had heard enough to know that the boy could not remain in the house of an idolater, nor under the power of a king whose decree had once sought his life. When the word reached Terah that the ancient patriarch desired to take the boy and instruct him, he dared not refuse; for though Terah served Nimrod, he also knew the honor, age, and authority that rested upon the house of Shem. And fearing that keeping Abram near might one day expose his deception before the king, he consented without protest (Book of Jasher 9:5–7).

Thus Abram was taken from Ur and brought into the dwelling of Shem and Noah, where the covenant of the fathers was preserved in purity. There he found a refuge far removed from the idols of Shinar and from the terror of Nimrod’s court. In that household the teachings he had sought in solitude were now given to him openly, for Shem recognized in the boy the very wisdom and discerning spirit that had marked the heirs of the Ancient Order since the days of Adam. Under the instruction of these patriarchs—men who had walked with God from the time of the Flood—Abram learned the ways of righteousness, the ordinances of the covenant, and the order of the priesthood that had passed from father to son since the beginning (Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 27), (Chronicles of Jerahmeel 13).

And so the child who had been hidden from birth, preserved from the death decree of a king and sustained by the hand of heaven in the solitude of a cave, was now set apart to be taught by the last surviving elders of the pre-Flood world. In the tents of Shem and Noah he received the first true instruction of his life, and the light that had awakened in his heart began to grow into the mantle of a prophet. Here the foundations of the Ancient Order were restored to him, and the boy destined to stand against the tyranny of Shinar was prepared for the work that God had appointed from the beginning.

References

Genesis 10:8–10 (KJV)
“And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD… And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.”
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Book of Jubilees 10:13 (R.H. Charles Translation)
“And Noah advised his sons with wisdom and righteousness… that they should teach their children so that the whole earth might not again fall into corruption… And he told them that from his seed would arise a righteous branch.”
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Genesis 9:26 (KJV)
“And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.”
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Josephus — Antiquities of the Jews 1.3.1 (Whiston Translation)
“Noah… after the Flood, lived three hundred and fifty years… and he exhorted his sons to observe righteousness… and he foretold that prosperity would come to Shem, for God would dwell in his tents.”
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Genesis 11:10–26 (KJV)
The genealogy of Shem through Arphaxad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, and Terah is listed in full, concluding: “And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.”
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Joshua 24:2 (KJV)
“Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham… and they served other gods.”
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Josephus — Antiquities of the Jews 2.9.2 (Whiston Translation)
“The king of Egypt commanded that they should cast every male child of the Hebrews into the river… for he had been forewarned by one of the sacred scribes that a child was to be born who would bring the kingdom low.”
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Older Sefer ha-Yashar Traditions
Medieval and earlier citations of the Sefer ha-Yashar record the same events found in later printed editions: the star-omen, the decree to kill the male children, the substitution of an infant, and Abram’s concealment in a cave.
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al-Tabari, Ta’rikh al-Rusul wa’l-Muluk (History of the Prophets and Kings), trans. Brinner
Contains the narrative that Nimrod’s astrologers foresaw Abram’s birth, that the king decreed death upon newborn boys, and that Terah substituted another child to protect his own son.
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Book of Jasher 11:7–13 (J.H. Parry & Co., 1887 edition)
7 “And Serug lived thirty years and he begat Nahor.” 8 “And Serug lived after he had begotten Nahor, two hundred years, and he died.” 9 “And in the days of Serug, the people began to turn aside from the Lord, and they rebelled against Him and began to serve other gods.” 10 “And they forsook the Lord who had created them, and there was not a man found in those days who knew the Lord.” 11 “And they served the gods of wood and stone, and they began to carve images and to worship them.” 12 “And the children of men began to make graven images and images of brass and iron…” 13 “And Serug taught them the ways of the Chaldeans, to worship images and carved idols.”
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Book of Jasher 11:19–21
19 “And Terah took a wife and her name was Amthelo… and she conceived and bare him Abram.” 20 “And Terah made gods of wood and stone, and he bowed down to them…” 21 “And Terah had twelve gods of large size… and he bowed down to them and sacrificed to them.”
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Book of Jasher 8:1–4
1 “And it was in the night that Abram was born, that all the servants of Terah and all the wise men of Nimrod came and ate and drank in the house.” 2 “And they lifted up their eyes and saw a great star coming from the east, and it ran in the heavens…” 3 “And the wise men said… this only betokens the child that has been born to Terah this night.” 4 “And this child will grow up and be fruitful, and multiply, and supersede all the kings…”
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Book of Jasher 8:13–15
13 “And when they had spoken these words, the king heard their words, and they seemed good in his sight.” 14 “And he sent and called Terah… saying, ‘Bring me the child that thou hast fathered this night, and we will slay him.’” 15 “And Terah hastened… but he took a child born to one of his servants and brought the child to the king.”
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Book of Jasher 8:25–27
25 “And the child was concealed in a cave, and his mother brought food secretly.” 26 “And the Lord was with the child in the cave, and he grew and became strong.” 27 “And the child was in the cave ten years, and no one knew of him except his mother.”
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Book of Jasher 8:26–27
26 “And the Lord was with the child in the cave… and the child became great.” 27 “And the light of the Lord shone upon him, and he lived.”
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Book of Jasher 9:5
“And when the child had grown up, he was brought forth from the cave by his father.”
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Book of Jasher 9:6–7
6 “And Abram said unto his father, ‘What is this work of thine? These images… have no breath in them.” 7 “And Abram’s heart was set against the gods of his father…”
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Book of Jasher 9:8–10
8 “And when Abram saw the sun shining in the day, he thought within himself and said, ‘Surely now this sun is God.’” 9 “But at evening the sun set, and Abram said, ‘This cannot be God.’” 10 “And when he saw the moon and stars, he reasoned likewise… saying, ‘Surely there is a God who created them.’”
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Book of Jasher 9:11–12
11 “And Abram’s words came to the ears of the people… and they were greatly astonished at the child.” 12 “And Abram continued to call out in the city, saying, ‘None of these gods which ye serve can deliver you.’”
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Book of Jasher 11:15–17
15 “And Abram took the hatchet… and he broke all his father’s idols.” 16 “And he left the hatchet in the hand of the largest idol.” 17 “And when Terah returned… Abram said, ‘The big god rose up and smote the others.’”
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Book of Jasher 11:17–21
17 “And Terah’s anger burned within him… and he feared for his life.” 18 “And Terah said in his heart, ‘Perhaps it is better to deliver Abram to the king.’” 19–21 Describe Terah’s fear and indecision as rumors spread.
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The Chronicles of Jerahmeel, Chapter 12 (Translated by Moses Gaster, 1899)
“…and the watchers of the heavens saw a star rising from the east, and its light outshone all the stars… and they said, ‘A child is to be born who will destroy the kingdom.’” “And the king commanded that all the male children born that year should be slain.” “And Terah brought unto the king a child born in his house, but it was not his own son…” “And the mother hid her child in a cave in the mountains, for fear of the king.”
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The Chronicles of Jerahmeel, Chapter 13
“…and the child grew in the cave, and the light of heaven was with him.” “And when he saw the sun, he said, ‘This is the great God,’ but when it set, he said, ‘It is not God.’” “And he broke the idols of his father, for he said, ‘These have no spirit in them.’” “And the elders who remained faithful heard of the boy… and they brought him to Shem to be instructed.”
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Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, Chapter 27
“The astrologers saw a great star in the east… and they said to Nimrod, ‘A son is to be born who will destroy your kingdom.’” “And the king commanded to slay the male children.” “And Terah hid his son in a cave for thirteen years.” “And Shem, son of Noah, took the child and taught him the ways of the Lord.”
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al-Tabari, Ta’rikh al-Rusul wa’l-Mulūk (History of the Prophets and Kings), translated by William M. Brinner
“The astrologers came to Nimrod and said: ‘A boy has been born in this night in the land, and his star has risen, and it indicates that he will destroy you and your kingdom.’” “And Nimrod commanded that all the male children born in that year should be killed.” “And Terah took another child and brought him to the king, and the king thought he had slain the son of Terah.” “And the true child was hidden in a cave in the mountains, and the mother came secretly and nursed him.”
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Older Sefer ha-Yashar Traditions
Medieval and early citations of the Sefer ha-Yashar preserve the same events later found in the printed 1625 Venice edition and in the Parry & Co. 1887 English edition: the omen of the star at Abram’s birth, Nimrod’s decree to slay the male infants, Terah’s substitution of another child, and Abram’s concealment in a cave for many years.
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Book of Jasher 8:1–4
See full quotation above under “Book of Jasher 8:1–4 — The Omen of the Star.”
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Book of Jasher 8:25–27
See full quotation above under “Book of Jasher 8:25–27 — Abram Hidden in the Cave.”
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Book of Jasher 9:6–7
See full quotation above under “Book of Jasher 9:6–7 — Abram Questions Idolatry.”
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Book of Jasher 9:5
See full quotation above under “Book of Jasher 9:5 — Abram Brought From the Cave.”
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Chronicles of Jerahmeel, Chapter 12
See full quotation above under “Chronicles of Jerahmeel Chapter 12.”
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Chronicles of Jerahmeel, Chapter 13
See full quotation above under “Chronicles of Jerahmeel Chapter 13.”
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Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer, Chapter 27
See quotations above under “Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 27.”
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