Walking the Bible by Bruce Feiler Page A

Land of Israel. David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, when asked what his claim to the land was, held up the Bible. If we weren’t here today, the Bible would have no meaning.”
    “So when you read the Bible, and you read about Abraham coming to Hebron, do you feel an attachment?”
    “When we pray three times a day, we say in the beginning, ‘The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.’ And when we stand here and realize, this is where they are, this is where they lived, this is where they’ve been for the last 3,700 years—it does something to a person. You’re living in a city, and it’s a city. It smells, it’s dirty, but it’s also very spiritual. And that’s what keeps people here. The only way to live here is to have that spiritual pull that gives you energy to put up with what you have to put up with.”
    “Is that spiritual connection to the place, or the patriarchs?”
    He thought for a second. “The connection is to God. He’s the one who brought us here. Abraham didn’t come here because he wanted to. He came here because God told him to come. And it’s not just him. It’s a history that runs from Abraham to David, who lived here for seven and a half years. Moses sent the spies, and they came to Hebron. Just the other day I held this jug in my hand. It was four thousand years old. And it was me. There is this chain that goes from four thousand years ago to today. How can you erase it? How can you say it doesn’t exist? The fact that we can be here—and are here—means we are preserving it for my children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They should have access to it. It shouldn’t be a place that once existed. It should be a place that always exists.”
    I took the bus back to Jerusalem that afternoon and a few days later hooked up with Avner to continue our trip south, to the region whereAbraham first put down roots. Following the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (and before Hebron), Abraham travels south to Gerar, where he meets King Abimelech. Echoing the earlier incident in Egypt, Abraham says that Sarah is his sister. Abimelech takes Sarah for himself, but is warned off by God. The king summons Abraham and asks why he told a lie. “I thought surely there is no fear of God in this place,” Abraham says, “and they will kill me because of my wife.” And besides, he says, she actually is his sister, since they have the same father (though different mothers). Abimelech, like the pharaoh, repents by giving Abraham sheep, oxen, and slaves, adding, “Here, my land is before you; settle wherever you please.” Abraham prays to God, who rewards Abimelech with children.
    God then rewards Sarah with a child as well. In Genesis 21, Isaac, the long-promised next generation, is born. “God has brought me laughter,” Sarah says. While joyous, the presence of Isaac, whose name derives from a Near Eastern root meaning laughter and gaiety, actually confuses the issue of the patriarch’s succession. Sarah recognizes this and responds with an action that would prove to be one of the most monumental in world history: expelling Hagar and Ishmael from their home. “Cast out that slave woman and her son,” Sarah announces, “for the son of that slave shall not share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.” Abraham is troubled by Sarah’s action, but God comforts him. “Do not be distressed over the boy or your slave; whatever Sarah tells you, do as she says, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be continued for you.” As for Ishmael, God continues, “I will make a nation of him, too, for he is your seed.” It’s this line that Muslims cite as their claim to be one of God’s chosen people, directly descended from Abraham.
    The next morning Abraham gives Hagar some bread and water and sends her into the desert. When the water runs out, near Beer-sheba, Hagar leaves the teenage boy under a bush so she doesn’t see him die, then bursts into tears. God