Abraham 2
The Covenant at Haran
Abraham leaves Ur with a father who turns back to idols, hears the Lord state the covenant in His own words, and is told what to say of Sarai on the road to Egypt.
Last revised
Start reading Background
Abraham 2 is the part of Abraham’s own account that runs beside Gen. 11:27–12:13. It begins in Ur of the Chaldees, where a famine has taken Abraham’s brother Haran, and follows the family to the land they named Haran, to the Lord’s appearing there, and on through Canaan to the border of Egypt. Genesis tells this briefly. Here Abraham tells what he was told: the Lord states the covenant in His own words, and warns him what to say about Sarai. How Abraham came to be leaving, and how the record came to the Church, is told in Abr. 1; this chapter assumes it.
The record came out in pieces. Joseph Smith worked on the translation during the summer and fall of 1835 and “completed at least the first chapter and part of the second chapter.” All five chapters and three illustrations were then printed in the Church’s newspaper in Nauvoo, the Times and Seasons, between March and May 1842. The first installment ended where Abraham reaches “the place of Sechem” and calls on the Lord “because we had already come into the land of this idolatrous nation” (Abr. 2:18); the next began with the Lord’s answer there, “Unto thy seed will I give this land” (Abr. 2:19).
Chapters 1 and 2 are one story in the book: the Lord who delivers Abraham at the altar in Ur is the Lord who appears to him at Haran.
The thread through the chapter
The chapter begins with a household going backward and ends with a household going forward. Abraham’s father “turned again unto his idolatry” and stays in Haran; Abraham prays, and the Lord appears. What the Lord says first is a task: Abraham is to be “a minister to bear my name,” and his seed are to carry “this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations.” The covenant is spoken in the first person by one who names Himself Jehovah. Abraham’s answer is the verb that runs through the book’s first two chapters: his fathers “hearkened not” to his voice, the Lord “hearkened” to it, and now Abraham says, “I will do well to hearken unto thy voice.” The rest of the chapter is that obedience at work, in leaving, in building altars, and in doing as he is told about Sarai.
Tap any highlighted phrase to open a note beneath its versein the margin.
Famine, and a father who turns back
The Lord caused a famine in Ur, and Haran, Abraham’s brother, died, but Terah, their father, still lived there. Abraham married Sarai, and Nehor married Milcah; both were daughters of Haran. The Lord had told Abraham to leave his country, his kindred, and his father’s house for a land He would show him, so Abraham left Ur to go to Canaan, taking Lot and Sarai, and his father followed. They came to a land they named Haran. The famine eased, and Terah stayed there, since there were many flocks, and he went back to his idolatry.
1 Now the Lord God caused the famine to wax sore in the land of Ur, insomuch that Haran, my brother, died; but Terah, my father, yet lived in the land of Ur, of the Chaldees.
2 And it came to pass that I, Abraham, took Sarai to wife, and Nehor, my brother, took Milcah to wife, who were the daughters of Haran.
3 Now the Lord had said unto me: Abraham, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee.
4 Therefore I left the land of Ur, of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and I took Lot, my brother’s son, and his wife, and Sarai my wife; and also my father followed after me, unto the land which we denominated Haran.
5 And the famine abated; and my father tarried in Haran and dwelt there, as there were many flocks in Haran; and my father turned again unto his idolatry, therefore he continued in Haran.
The Lord appears and states the covenant
Abraham and Lot pray, and the Lord appears. He tells Abraham to take Lot and go, for He means to take him away from Haran to make him a minister to bear His name in a strange land, which He will give to Abraham’s seed forever when they listen to His voice. He describes Himself as the Lord who dwells in heaven, whose footstool is the earth, and whom the sea, the wind, and the mountains obey. His name is Jehovah, and He knows the end from the beginning. He promises to make Abraham a great nation, to bless him, and to make his name great, so that his seed will bear the ministry and Priesthood to all nations. All who receive the gospel will be counted his seed and will honor him as father. In him and in his seed, in his Priesthood, all the families of the earth will be blessed with the blessings of salvation and eternal life.
6 But I, Abraham, and Lot, my brother’s son, prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord appeared unto me, and said unto me: Arise, and take Lot with thee; for I have purposed to take thee away out of Haran, and to make of thee a minister to bear my name in a strange land which I will give unto thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession, when they hearken to my voice.
7 For I am the Lord thy God; I dwell in heaven; the earth is my footstool; I stretch my hand over the sea, and it obeys my voice; I cause the wind and the fire to be my chariot; I say to the mountains—Depart hence—and behold, they are taken away by a whirlwind, in an instant, suddenly.
8 My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee.
9 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations;
10 And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father;
11 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal.
Abraham answers
When the Lord has withdrawn, Abraham says in his heart that he sought Him earnestly and has found Him. The Lord sent an angel to deliver him from the gods of Elkenah, so he will listen to the Lord’s voice and depart in peace.
12 Now, after the Lord had withdrawn from speaking to me, and withdrawn his face from me, I said in my heart: Thy servant has sought thee earnestly; now I have found thee;
13 Thou didst send thine angel to deliver me from the gods of Elkenah, and I will do well to hearken unto thy voice, therefore let thy servant rise up and depart in peace.
From Haran to the south
Abraham, sixty-two years old, leaves Haran with Lot, Sarai, their goods, and the people they won there. They live in tents on the way to Canaan, and “eternity was our covering and our rock and our salvation.” At Jershon Abraham builds an altar and prays that the famine will be turned away from his father’s house. At Sechem, in the plains of Moreh, in a land of idolaters, he sacrifices and calls on the Lord, who tells him the land will be given to his seed. Abraham builds another altar east of Bethel and calls on the Lord again. Going south, he finds the famine continuing and decides to go down into Egypt.
14 So I, Abraham, departed as the Lord had said unto me, and Lot with me; and I, Abraham, was sixty and two years old when I departed out of Haran.
15 And I took Sarai, whom I took to wife when I was in Ur, in Chaldea, and Lot, my brother’s son, and all our substance that we had gathered, and the souls that we had won in Haran, and came forth in the way to the land of Canaan, and dwelt in tents as we came on our way;
16 Therefore, eternity was our covering and our rock and our salvation, as we journeyed from Haran by the way of Jershon, to come to the land of Canaan.
17 Now I, Abraham, built an altar in the land of Jershon, and made an offering unto the Lord, and prayed that the famine might be turned away from my father’s house, that they might not perish.
18 And then we passed from Jershon through the land unto the place of Sechem; it was situated in the plains of Moreh, and we had already come into the borders of the land of the Canaanites, and I offered sacrifice there in the plains of Moreh, and called on the Lord devoutly, because we had already come into the land of this idolatrous nation.
19 And the Lord appeared unto me in answer to my prayers, and said unto me: Unto thy seed will I give this land.
20 And I, Abraham, arose from the place of the altar which I had built unto the Lord, and removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched my tent there, Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east; and there I built another altar unto the Lord, and called again upon the name of the Lord.
21 And I, Abraham, journeyed, going on still towards the south; and there was a continuation of a famine in the land; and I, Abraham, concluded to go down into Egypt, to sojourn there, for the famine became very grievous.
At the edge of Egypt
As they near Egypt the Lord tells Abraham that Sarai is very beautiful, and that when the Egyptians see her they will say she is his wife, kill him, and keep her alive. He is to have her say she is his sister, so that he will live. Abraham tells Sarai all that the Lord said and asks her to say it, so that it may be well with him for her sake.
22 And it came to pass when I was come near to enter into Egypt, the Lord said unto me: Behold, Sarai, thy wife, is a very fair woman to look upon;
23 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see her, they will say—She is his wife; and they will kill you, but they will save her alive; therefore see that ye do on this wise:
24 Let her say unto the Egyptians, she is thy sister, and thy soul shall live.
25 And it came to pass that I, Abraham, told Sarai, my wife, all that the Lord had said unto me—Therefore say unto them, I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my soul shall live because of thee.
Seeing Christ in Abraham 2
The one who appears to Abraham at Haran says, “My name is Jehovah” (Abr. 2:8), and Jehovah is the premortal Jesus Christ. He is the Lord who delivered Abraham at the altar (Abr. 1:16) and who now tells him what the covenant is. Among the promises given to Abraham is that Jesus Christ would be born through his lineage. All the families of the earth are to be blessed “even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal” (Abr. 2:11), and Paul ties being Abraham’s seed to Christ: “if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29).
Worth exploring next
Read Abr. 1, where Abraham seeks the blessings of the fathers and is delivered at the altar, and Gen. 12, where the same journey is told in a few verses. Gen. 17:1–8 and Gen. 22:15–18 state the covenant again, and Gal. 3:6–9, 26–29 tells how the gospel was preached to Abraham and what it means to be his seed. D&C 132:29–37 speaks of Abraham and the covenant, and Abr. 3 goes on to what the Lord showed him next.
This chapter elsewhere in scripture
- Gen. 12:1–20 — The same journey from Haran to Canaan and on to Egypt, told briefly in Genesis; Abraham 2 runs beside verses 1–13 and adds the Lord’s statement of the covenant and His instruction about Sarai.
- Gen. 11:27–32 — Terah’s family and their move from Ur to Haran, which Abraham 2:1–5 tells from Abraham’s side.
Sources & further reading
- The Holy Scriptures (Latter-day Saint editions), text and chapter headings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- Genesis 12–17; Abraham 1–2, Scripture Helps: Old Testament (2025).
- “Abraham, covenant of”, Bible Dictionary.
- “Jehovah”, Guide to the Scriptures.
- Scripture Central, “How Can We Receive the Blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant?”, KnoWhy #408, Aug. 21, 2019.
- Abraham 2:1–13, Pearl of Great Price Student Manual (Church Educational System, 2017).
- Shon D. Hopkin, “The Covenant among Covenants: The Abrahamic Covenant and Biblical Covenant Making”, In From Creation to Sinai: The Old Testament through the Lens of the Restoration, ed. Daniel L. Belnap and Aaron P. Schade (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book), 223–50.
- Russell M. Nelson, “The Everlasting Covenant”, Liahona, Oct. 2022.
- John Gee, “The Wanderings of Abraham”, In From Creation to Sinai: The Old Testament through the Lens of the Restoration, ed. Daniel L. Belnap and Aaron P. Schade (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book), 251–78.
- Stephen O. Smoot, John Gee, Kerry Muhlestein, and John S. Thompson, “Did Abraham Lie about His Wife, Sarai?”, BYU Studies Quarterly 61, no. 4 (2022): 125–28.
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, “Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham”, Gospel Topics Essays.
- The Joseph Smith Papers, Book of Abraham and Facsimiles, 1 March–16 May 1842, Times and Seasons 3 (1842), pp. 703–6, 719–26, Joseph Smith Papers.