Map of the Journeys of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

History of the Journeys of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

Journeys of Abraham

Abraham, originally called Abram, was called by God to leave his father Terah's house and native city of Ur of the Chaldees (modern day southern Iraq) in return for a new land, family and inheritance in Canaan, the Promised Land (modern day Israel).

Genesis 15:7 - "God said to Abram: 'I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it'."

Nehemiah 9:7 - "You are the Lord God, who chose Abram, and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and gave him the name Abraham."

The city of Ur was an important and wealthy Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia, a major urban center and a major port on the Persian Gulf. The city of Ur controlled much of the trade into Mesopotamia and had business relations with many parts of the known world.

The city had a layered social system, with upper and lower classes, which included slaves. One could enjoy great luxury and splendid mansions in Ur if he belonged to a high social rank. This is the environment that Abraham left behind when he departed, and his story in the Bible starts with a journey.

Travelling in those days was by foot and clans, when they moved from place to place, tended to travel along routes with abundant water. These routes ran near rivers, streams, lakes, and the like.

For this reason, Abraham journeyed along the Euphrates River northward on his way to the city of Haran (modern day southern Turkey, along the border with Syria), before reaching the land of Canaan. Travelling east to west would have been a much shorter distance, but the route would have been far more dangerous.

The book of Joshua tells how Terah (Abraham's father) and Abraham lived "beyond the Euphrates", and worshipped other gods.

Joshua 24:2-3 - Joshua said to all the people: "Thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River (= The Euphrates) in old times; and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River (= The Euphrates), led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed (= descendants) and gave him Isaac."

Then one day, Terah, Abraham and his grandson Lot repented of their involvement with idolatry and decided that the only way out was to leave Ur and travel to the land of Canaan, where they and their descendants could serve God and live in peace.

Genesis 11:31 - "Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there."

So, Abraham, with Terah, Sarah (Abraham's wife) and Lot (Abraham's nephew) departed for Canaan, but settled at first in the city of Haran, and remained there until Terah died.

When Abraham arrived in the land of Canaan there was a severe famine, so Abraham and his household, journeyed down to Egypt, before coming back and settling in Canaan.

Journeys of Isaac

Isaac was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah; he was the husband of Rebekah and the father of the twin brothers Jacob and Esau. He was the only biblical patriarch who did not journey out of Canaan.

Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born and Sarah was past 90.

The land of Canaan witnessed another famine, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham and Isaac had to move and went to live in the city of Gerar, in the land of the Philistines.

Genesis 26:1 - "There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar."

In Gerar, he stayed until he was kicked out by the people living there due to their envy towards him, because they saw that God was blessing him greatly.

Genesis 26:12-14 - "Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him. The man began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. So, the Philistines envied him."

Genesis 26:15-16 - "Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells, which his father's servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. And Abimelech said to Isaac: 'Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we'."

Then Abimelech, king of the Philistines, after witnessing that God was still with Isaac and was blessing him, decided that it was better to be his friend rather than his enemy, so he came to him in peace and the two made a covenant in the city that Isaac later called Beersheba.

Genesis 26:26-27 - "Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army. And Isaac said to them: 'Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?'."

Genesis 26:28-29 - "But they said: 'We have certainly seen that the Lord is with you. So we said: Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord'."

After the covenant with the Philistines, Isaac founded the city of Beersheba and settled there when his servants dug a well and found water.

Genesis 26:32-33 - "It came to pass the same day that Isaac's servants came and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him: 'We have found water'. So, he called it Shebah. Therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day."

Shebah = Oath or Seven

Beersheba = Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven

Journeys of Jacob

Jacob, a.k.a. Israel, and his twin brother Esau were the sons of Isaac and Rebekah, and the grandchildren of Abraham.

After receiving the blessings from his father, Jacob traveled from the land of Canaan to the city of Haran, in Mesopotamia, where his uncle Laban, Rebekah's brother, lived. As Jacob journeyed toward Haran, he camped at Bethel. There he had a vision in which God gave to Jacob the same promises he had given to his grandfather Abraham years before.

Genesis 28:12-13 - "He dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: 'I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants."

Genesis 28:14,19 - "Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' And he called the name of that place Bethel."

Bethel = House of God

In Haran, Jacob fell in love with his cousin, Rachel, Laban's daughter, and agreed to work seven years in exchange for her hand. At the end of the seven years, Laban tricked Jacob into marrying Leah, Rachel's older sister.

After that, he agreed to allow Jacob to marry Rachel, as well, in exchange for seven more years of work. Therefore, Jacob worked for Laban until he was ready to return to his father in the land of Canaan.

Jacob had twelve sons and one daughter, by his two wives, Leah and Rachel, and by their handmaidens, Bilhah and Zilpah, and they became the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Joseph, one of Jacob's son by Rachel, was sold into slavery in Egypt by his older brothers. Jacob journeyed to Egypt in his old age, when a severe drought and famine forced the family to travel there to buy food and Joseph, now second in command in Egypt, brought his father and the entire family to live in Egypt, as well.

Jacob lived in Goshen, in the land of Egypt, seventeen years and died there, but his bones returned to Canaan when Joseph, accompanied by Egyptians, buries him with his fathers in the land that God promised to give to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

This set the stage for the later biblical stories of the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt and their journey back to the land of Canaan.

Can you visit the Biblical lands of Egypt?

Egypt has a central key role in biblical stories: both Abraham and Jacob traveled to Egypt to escape the droughts and famines that had hit the land of Canaan, Joseph became governor of Egypt, second in command after Pharaoh, Moses was born there and brought up in the house of Pharaoh and the Israelites lived there a few hundred years before journeying back to the Promised Land.

Even Jesus ended up there for a short time, when Joseph and Mary escaped Judea with him right after his birth to save him from King Herod.

Traveling to Egypt and visiting that land as a tourist is not just fun, you can also walk in the footsteps of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Jesus, and you can explore biblical and historic sites, from the Old and the New Testaments, that tell stories of the Bible and make it come alive.

One spot Christian tourists never miss when travelling there is Mount Sinai, the site where Moses was given the Ten Commandments by God.

Every year, Egypt sees large numbers of tourists including on organized tours. When planning to visit the land of Egypt you should stay informed with local travel updates.