'Go forth from your native land - to the land that I will show you' (Gen. 12:1). Continuity and Contrast as Decisive Markers of the Abrahamic Way of Life
Abstract
This exegetical study deals with the introductory unit of the Abraham narrative cycle (Gen. 11:27-12:9) within the perspective of the overarching genealogical structure of the book of Genesis. The pivotal motifs of the patriarch's progeny and of the gift of the land of Canaan are treated in their literary context as being introduced in the very first sequence of the Abraham narrative (Gen. 11:27-32) and serving to build up features of continuity, as well as contrast and discontinuity, with the 'way of Abraham', starting in Gen. 12:1ff.
Getting on the move as an answer to God's call and leaving the secure guarantees rooted in the past in favour of a future-oriented promise are the basic features of the Abrahamic 'way of life', which is paradigmatic for all who call themselves 'Abraham's children'.