Abraham and Sanballat

Abstract

Several important features of the narrative character of Abraham allude to the features of the historical person of Sanballat, the first Israelite governor of the Persian province of Samaria. The most important common features of Abraham and Sanballat are the origin in the city of Haran, a non-Yahwistic name, being related to the cult of the moon god Sin, being given the land of Israel as a hereditary possession, founding the central sanctuary of Yahweh on Mount Gerizim, and respecting an important priest from Jerusalem. These and other common features point to the origin of the book of Genesis in the secular elite of the Persian province of Samaria ca. 350–340 B.C. https://doi.org/10.17159/2312–3621/2021/v34n1a3.

Keywords

• Abraham
• Sanballat
• Samaria
• Mount Gerizim
• Persian period