Which prophet is known as the father of the Jewish people?

Abraham is known as the father of the Jewish people. In Jewish tradition, he is Avraham Avinu, or “our father Abraham,” the first Hebrew patriarch and the ancestor through whom the covenant with God begins.

The Book of Genesis presents Abraham as a man called to leave his father Terah’s homeland and settle in Canaan. God promises him land and descendants, even though Abraham and his wife Sarah are initially childless. Their son Isaac becomes the heir of the covenant, and Isaac’s son Jacob—later named Israel—becomes the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Abraham’s importance extends beyond Judaism. Christianity regards him as a spiritual ancestor, while Islam reveres him as the prophet Ibrahim and a major patriarch. The name change from Abram to Abraham is traditionally connected with the promise that he would become “a father of many nations.”

A common mix-up is naming Jacob, Isaac, or Moses. Isaac is Abraham’s son, Jacob is his grandson, and Moses belongs to a later generation who led the Israelites out of Egypt and received the Torah at Sinai.