Abraham’s Birth Codification
Question
The Chabbad site, and the Talmud summary in my local library, tells us that Abraham’s birth is similar to Jesus’ birth. Both were heralded by stars. In both the astrologers warned the ruler that the impending birth would endanger them, and in both stories the ruler tried to kill the child. The Talmud was written after the birth of Jesus but is supposed to codify earlier beliefs. So which came first? The stories about Abraham’s birth or the stories about Jesus’ birth? I will be giving a talk about Abraham to groups of non-Jewish people and it would be nice to have some scholarly information.
Answers
Even though the written accounts of Abraham’s birth and early life originate with the Talmud that does not mean that they came into being then. Judaism teaches that all of the accounts were an integral part of Jewish history that was passed down by word of mouth from one generation to the next. Over two thousand years after Abraham’s birth was it finally written down.
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