He is, on first appearance, an elusive character. We know the name of his father—Terah—and his homeland—Ur. He has two brothers, Nahor and Haran, the Book of Genesis tells us, and a barren wife, Sarai. And we know that at some uncertain time, his father, Terah, gathered the family together, “and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan; but when they had come as far as Haran, they settled there…and Terah died in Haran” (Genesis 11:27–32).

That is all we have learned when, suddenly, in Genesis 12:1, Terah’s eldest son emerges from the shadows. God speaks directly to Abraham (then called Abram), instructing him to leave home, and then blesses him:

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