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Did Abraham commit adultery?

Yes, sort of. He had conjugal relations with his wife’s handmaid, Hagar, who gave birth to his first child, Ishmael. It isn’t the worst case of adultery but adultery it was. Here are the facts:

Abraham, prompted by God, moved to Canaan from Haran when he was 75 years old. A part of the enticement to move was the promise that Abraham would become, not an average nation, but a great one, a tacit promise of children.

Abraham was 86 years old when Ishmael, his first child, was born. This was anything but usual. For the previous eight generations his predecessors began having children in their early 30’s. By normal standards, Abraham’s first child was fifty plus years late.

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That means Abraham’s paternal instincts were already frustrated when he left for Canaan and it was eleven years later before he had his first child, which, unfortunately, was not the child God promised. [Read more…] about Abraham’s Adultery