(31) Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan; but when they had come as far as Haran, they settled there.

(1) GOD said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

(2) I will make of you a great nation,

And I will bless you;

I will make your name great,

And you shall be a blessing.

(3) I will bless those who bless you

And curse the one who curses you;

And all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you.”

(4) Abram went forth as GOD had commanded him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

(6) “You alone are GOD. You made the heavens, the highest heavens, and all their host, the earth and everything upon it, the seas and everything in them. You keep them all alive, and the host of heaven prostrate themselves before You. (7) You are the ETERNAL God, who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and changed his name to Abraham. (8) Finding his heart true to You, You made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite—to give it to his descendants. And You kept Your word, for You are righteous.

(11)“I will make you a great nation, I will bless you [vaavarekhekha], I will render your name great, and you shall be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2).
“I will make you a great nation” – he said to Him: ‘Did you not [already] produce seventy nations from Noah?’ He said to him: ‘That nation in whose regard it is written: “For who is a great nation [to whom God is so close]?” (Deuteronomy 4:7), I will produce from you.’

(3) והיה ברכה AND BE THOU A BLESSING — Blessings are entrusted to you; hitherto they were in My power — I blessed Adam and Noah — but from now on you shall bless whomsoever you wish (Genesis Rabbah 39:11)

(5) And you shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I make you the father of a multitude of nations.

(2) עמק המלך THE KING'S VALE

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The Midrashic explanation is that it was the valley where all the nations unanimously agreed (הושוו) in appointing Abraham as prince and leader over them (Genesis Rabbah 43:5).

(7) GOD appeared to Abram and said, “I will assign this land to your offspring.” And he built an altar there to GOD who had appeared to him.

(8) From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and he built there an altar to GOD and invoked GOD by name.

(3) And he proceeded by stages from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been formerly, between Bethel and Ai, (4) the site of the altar that he had built there at first; and there Abram invoked GOD by name.

(18) And Abram moved his tent, and came to dwell at the terebinths of Mamre, which are in Hebron; and he built an altar there to GOD.

(1)“The Lord said to Abram: Go you, from your land, and from your birthplace, and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1).
“The Lord said to Abram: Go you, from your land…” – Rabbi Yitzḥak began: “Listen, daughter, see, and incline your ear. Forget your people and your father’s house” (Psalms 45:11).

Rabbi Yitzḥak said: This is analogous to one who was passing from place to place, and saw a building with a [candle] burning in it. He said: ‘Is it possible that this building has no one in charge of it?’ The owner of the building looked out at him and said: ‘I am the owner of the building.’ So, because Abraham our patriarch was saying: ‘Is it possible that this world is without someone in charge?’ The Holy One blessed be He looked at him and said to him: ‘I am the owner of the world.’

“The king will desire your beauty, as he is your master” (Psalms 45:12) – to show your beauty in the world. “And bow to him” (Psalms 45:12) – that is, “the Lord said to Abram.”

After this mighty man [=Abraham] was weaned, he began to explore and think. Though he was a child, he began to think [incessantly] throughout the day and night, wondering: How is it possible for the sphere to continue to revolve without having anyone controlling it? Who is causing it to revolve? Surely, it does not cause itself to revolve.
He had no teacher, nor was there anyone to inform him. Rather, he was mired in Ur Kasdim among the foolish idolaters. His father, mother, and all the people [around him] were idol worshipers, and he would worship with them. [However,] his heart was exploring and [gaining] understanding.
Ultimately, he appreciated the way of truth and understood the path of righteousness through his accurate comprehension. He realized that there was one God who controlled the sphere, that He created everything, and that there is no other God among all the other entities. He knew that the entire world was making a mistake. What caused them to err was their service of the stars and images, which made them lose awareness of the truth.
Abraham was forty years old when he became aware of his Creator. When he recognized and knew Him, he began to formulate replies to the inhabitants of Ur Kasdim and debate with them, telling them that they were not following a proper path.
He broke their idols and began to teach the people that it is fitting to serve only the God of the world. To Him [alone] is it fitting to bow down, sacrifice, and offer libations, so that the people of future [generations] would recognize Him. [Conversely,] it is fitting to destroy and break all the images, lest all the people err concerning them, like those people who thought that there are no other gods besides these [images].
When he overcame them through the strength of his arguments, the king desired to kill him. He was [saved through] a miracle and left for Charan. [There,] he began to call in a loud voice to all people and inform them that there is one God in the entire world and it is proper to serve Him. He would go out and call to the people, gathering them in city after city and country after country, until he came to the land of Canaan - proclaiming [God's existence the entire time] - as [Genesis 21:33] states: "And He called there in the name of the Lord, the eternal God."
When the people would gather around him and ask him about his statements, he would explain [them] to each one of them according to their understanding, until they turned to the path of truth. Ultimately, thousands and myriads gathered around him. These are the men of the house of Abraham.
He planted in their hearts this great fundamental principle, composed texts about it, and taught it to Isaac, his son. Isaac also taught others and turned [their hearts to God]. He also taught Jacob and appointed him as a teacher.
[Jacob] taught others and turned [the hearts] of all those who gathered around him [to God]. He also taught all of his children.

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(10) There was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. (11) As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. (12) If the Egyptians see you, and think, ‘She is his wife,’ they will kill me and let you live. (13) Please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may remain alive thanks to you.” (14) When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw how very beautiful the woman was. (15) Pharaoh’s courtiers saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s palace.

(7) And there was quarreling between the herders of Abram’s cattle and those of Lot’s cattle.—The Canaanites and Perizzites were then dwelling in the land.— (8) Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, between my herders and yours, for we are, after all, kin. (9) Is not the whole land before you? Let us separate: if you go north, I will go south; and if you go south, I will go north.”

(4) He cohabited with Hagar and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was lowered in her esteem. (5) And Sarai said to Abram, “The wrong done me is your fault! I myself put my maid in your bosom; now that she sees that she is pregnant, I am lowered in her esteem. GOD decide between you and me!” (6) Abram said to Sarai, “Your maid is in your hands. Deal with her as you think right.” Then Sarai treated her harshly, and she ran away from her.

(15) And God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, you shall not call her Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. (16) I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she shall give rise to nations; rulers of peoples shall issue from her.” (17) Abraham threw himself on his face and laughed, as he said to himself, “Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old, or can Sarah bear a child at ninety?” (18) And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live by Your favor!”

(24) Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin,

(3) With ten trials was Abraham, our father (may he rest in peace), tried, and he withstood them all; to make known how great was the love of Abraham, our father (peace be upon him).

The ten tests with which Abraham, our father, was tested are all [in] the words of Scripture. The first is his emigration by His statement, may He be blessed - "Go forth from your land, etc." (Genesis 12:1). And the second one is the famine that was found in the Land of Canaan when he came there and it was [the land of] his destiny - "and I will make you into a great nation" (Genesis 12:2). And this was a great test, and it is its saying, "And there was a famine in the land" (Genesis 12:10). And the third was the injustice of the Egyptians towards him in the taking of Sarah to Pharaoh. The fourth is his fighting against the four kings. The fifth is his taking of Hagar as a wife after he despaired of giving birth through Sarah. The sixth is the circumcision that he was commanded about in the days of his old age. The seventh is the injustice of the king of Gerar towards him in his also taking Sarah. The eighth is the expulsion of Hagar after his being built (having a child) from her. The ninth is the distancing of his son, Yishmael, and that is His, may He be blessed, saying, "Let not it be bad in your eyes about the youth, etc." (Genesis 21:12). And Scripture already testified how this thing was difficult in his eyes, in its stating, "And the thing was very bad in the eyes of Abraham" (Genesis 21:11). Yet he observed the commandment of God, may He be blessed, and expelled him. And the tenth is the binding of Yitzchak.

“He benefitted Abram for her sake; he acquired flocks, cattle, donkeys, slaves, maidservants, female donkeys, and camels” (Genesis 12:16).“Pharaoh commanded men in his regard and they sent away him and his wife, and everything that was his” (Genesis 12:20).
“He benefitted Abram for her sake; he acquired flocks, cattle…Pharaoh commanded men in his regard and they sent away him [and his wife]” –

Rabbi Pinḥas said in the name of Rabbi Hoshaya the Great: The Holy One blessed be He said to Abraham our forefather: ‘Go and pave the way before your descendants.’ You find that everything that is written in Abraham’s regard is written regarding his descendants.

In Abraham’s regard it is written: “There was famine in the land” (Genesis 12:10); in Israel’s regard it is written: “For these two years the famine is in the midst of the land” (Genesis 45:6).

In Abraham’s regard it is written: “Abram descended to Egypt to sojourn there” (Genesis 12:10); in Israel’s regard it is written: “Our ancestors descended to Egypt” (Numbers 20:15).

In Abraham’s regard it is written: “To sojourn there”; in Israel’s regard it is written: “We have come to sojourn in the land” (Genesis 47:4).

In Abraham’s regard it is written: “As the famine was severe in the land” (Genesis 12:10); in Israel’s regard it is written: “The famine was severe in the land” (Genesis 43:1).

In Abraham’s regard it is written: “It was when he drew near” (Genesis 12:11); in Israel’s regard it is written: “Pharaoh drew near” (Exodus 14:10). In Abraham’s regard it is written: “They will kill me, and keep you alive” (Genesis 12:12); in Israel’s regard it is written: “Every son who is born, you shall cast him into the Nile [and every girl you shall keep alive]” (Exodus 1:22).

In Abraham’s regard it is written: “Please, say you are my sister; so that it may be well with me [yitav li] because of you…” (Genesis 12:13); in Israel’s regard it is written: “God favored [vayeitev] the midwives” (Exodus 1:20).

In Abraham’s regard it is written: “It was upon Abram’s arrival in Egypt” (Genesis 12:14); in Israel’s regard it is written: “These are the names of the children of Israel who arrived in Egypt” (Exodus 1:1).

In Abraham’s regard it is written: “And Abram was very wealthy in livestock, [in silver, and in gold]” (Genesis 13:2); in Israel’s regard it is written: “He took them out with silver and with gold” (Psalms 105:37).

In Abraham’s regard it is written: “Pharaoh commanded [men] in his regard, [and they sent away him and his wife]” (Genesis 12:20); in Israel’s regard it is written: “The Egyptians urged the people, [to send them away in haste]” (Exodus 12:33).

In Abraham’s regard it is written: “He went on his journeys” (Genesis 13:3); in Israel’s regard it is written: “These are the journeys of the children of Israel” (Numbers 33:1).

(1) AND ABRAM PASSED THROUGH THE LAND. I will tell you a principle by which you will understand all the coming portions of Scripture concerning Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is indeed a great matter which our Rabbis mentioned briefly, saying: “Whatever has happened to the patriarchs is a sign to the children.” It is for this reason that the verses narrate at great length the account of the journeys of the patriarchs, the digging of the wells, and other events. Now someone may consider them unnecessary and of no useful purpose, but in truth they all serve as a lesson for the future: when an event happens to any one of the three patriarchs, that which is decreed to happen to his children can be understood. ...

(18) And King Melchizedek of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High. (19) He blessed him, saying,
“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,

Creator of heaven and earth.

(

20)And blessed be God Most High,

Who has delivered your foes into your hand.”And [Abram] gave him a tenth of everything.

(21) Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the possessions for yourself.”

(22) But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I swear to the ETERNAL, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth: (23) I will not take so much as a thread or a sandal strap of what is yours; you shall not say, ‘It is I who made Abram rich.’

Blessed are You, Adonoy, our God, and God of our fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, the Almighty, the Great, the Powerful, the Awesome, most high Almighty, Who bestows beneficent kindness, Who possesses [DR: who is the creator of] everything, Who remembers the piety of the Patriarchs, and Who brings a redeemer to their children’s children, for the sake of His Name, with love.

King, Helper, and Deliverer and Shield. Blessed are You, Adonoy, Shield of Abraham.