What Kind of Hero Is Abraham?

The Sages interpret this awkward locution to refer to converts. See Rashi, ad loc:

“אשר עשו בחרן” – שהכניסן תחת כנפי השכינה אברהם מגייר את האנשים ושרה מגיירת הנשים ומעלה עליהם הכתוב כאלו עשאום (לכך כתיב אשר עשו)

“That they made in Haran” – that they put under the wings of the divine presence. Abraham converted the men and Sarah converted the women, and the verse considers it as if they made them (that is why it says “that they made”).

Alternatively, “They went out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan…”.

Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1973.

Editor’s note: In contrast, King David follows the more expected pattern. See discussion, e.g., in Richard Lederman, “King David and Oedipus Rex,” TheTorah.com (2015).

See, for instance, the Claymation video on Youtube, “Bible Animation—Abraham.”

Editor’s note: For some discussion of this portrayal, see the two part series by Seth (Avi) Kadish, “How Did Abraham Discover God: Part 1 – The Rationalist Approach,” and “How Did Abraham Discover God: Part 2 – The Experiential Approach,” TheTorah.com (2013).

Bet ha-Midrash 2, ed. Jellinek (Jerusalem: Bamberger et Varman, 1938), 118-119.

Lord Raglan, The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth, and Drama (London: Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1936).

Otto Rank, The Myth of the Birth of the Hero—A Psychological Interpretation of Mythology (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004 [1909]).

Erich Auerbach, “Odysseus’ Scar,” in Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature (New York: Doubleday & Co., 1953), 3-23.

Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative (New York: Basic Books, 1981).