World Religions › Ancient civilizations › Abraham, shared ancestor of Jews, Christians and Muslims
The covenant between God and Abraham's descendants
c. 1800 BC (traditional)· Belief or practice· Judaism, Christianity & Islam
Faith & scriptureHeld by believers on faith and scripture; history can neither confirm nor rule it out.
The binding agreement that, scripture teaches, God made with Abraham: land and descendants in return for faithfulness.
See it on the World Religions map →What it is
In Genesis, God promises Abraham that his descendants will be as many as the stars, inherit the land of Canaan and be a blessing to all nations. Circumcision becomes its sign, still practiced by Jews as brit milah on a boy's eighth day. The covenant (Hebrew berit) is later renewed with Moses at Sinai, adding the law. Christians speak of a 'new covenant' through Jesus, the source of the name 'New Testament'; the Quran also speaks of God's covenants with prophets.
Why it matters
It frames the bond between God and a people as a binding, two-way agreement, shaping Jewish identity and ties to the land, and Christian and Islamic theology.
Think of it like
Like a deed covenant that runs with the land: the promise binds and benefits each later generation, not just the original parties.
Faith and history
Scripture (Genesis 12, 15 and 17). Scholars note parallels with Hittite and Assyrian treaties and royal land grants, suggesting a familiar ancient legal form; history cannot verify the event itself.
Questions and debates
When the covenant texts were written is debated by scholars, and who counts as Abraham's true heirs is debated among Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Connections (3)
▸Abraham, shared ancestor of Jews, Christians and Muslims entered The covenant between God and Abraham's descendantsFaith & scripture
The connection
Genesis teaches that God called Abraham to leave his homeland for Canaan and made a covenant, a binding agreement: land, countless descendants and blessing, with circumcision as its sign. Jewish tradition sees this as the founding of the people of Israel; Christians and Muslims also claim Abraham's heritage in different ways.
When and where
In Genesis 12, 15 and 17, set in Canaan around 2000–1700 BC by tradition; most scholars think the texts were written much later, in the first millennium BC.
How do we know?
This is scripture held on faith and cannot be verified historically; scholars compare its form to ancient Near Eastern treaties and land grants.
Questions and debates
When the covenant stories were written, and whether they preserve older oral traditions, is debated; faiths differ on who inherits the covenant.
▸Moses renewed The covenant between God and Abraham's descendantsFaith & scripture
The connection
The covenant began, scripture teaches, as God's promise to Abraham of land and descendants. At Sinai God renewed it with the whole people through Moses, adding the law: Israel would keep God's commandments, and God would be their God. The people agreed, and Moses sealed it with sacrifice.
When and where
Set at Mount Sinai (also called Horeb) after the Exodus, by tradition in the 13th century BC; told in Exodus 19–24 and recalled in Deuteronomy.
How do we know?
Scripture only; history can neither confirm nor rule out the event. Scholars note its form resembles ancient treaties between overlord kings and their vassals.
Questions and debates
Whether that treaty form reflects Late Bronze Age Hittite models or Assyrian treaties of the 600s BC is debated, which bears on when the texts were written.
▸Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai are the core of The covenant between God and Abraham's descendantsFaith & scripture
The connection
In the Bible the Ten Commandments are the covenant's basic terms. They are carved on two tablets called 'the tablets of the covenant' and kept in the Ark of the Covenant. The rest of the Torah's law is often read as spelling out these ten in detail.
When and where
Mount Sinai in the biblical story: Exodus 20 and 34 and Deuteronomy 5; the Ark later rested in Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem.
How do we know?
This is the Bible's own framing, a matter of faith: Deuteronomy 4:13 says God 'declared his covenant... the ten commandments' and wrote them on stone.
Questions and debates
Exodus 34 gives a different, mostly ritual list also called 'the ten words'; scholars debate which list came first and how the two relate.