L’itinerario geografico-teologico di Abramo. I: Da Ur alle Querce di Mamre (Gn 11,27–14,24)

The purpose of the article is to investigate whether the stories concerning the Abrahamic cycle have at the level of the final redactor(s) the meaning of a mere anthological collection or instead as have been proposed, a coherent theological sketch. In particular, we want to investigate whether the patriarch's continuous geographical movements have a symbolic-theological value. In the first section of the Abrahamic cycle (Gen 11:27–14:24) there emerges a story of multiple displacements: from Ur of the Chaldeans to Harran (11:27-32); from Harran to the land of Canaan (12:1-9); from Canaan to Egypt (12:10-20); from Egypt back to Canaan, with a first fairly stable residence in Mamre, near Hebron (13:1-18). These journeys of Abraham do not simply represent the itinerary of a nomad, but in the editor's perspective, they have a rich symbolic-theological meaning: a difficult but decisive itinerary towards the land of God, a land that increasingly becomes the land of faith. This could constitute a significant interpellation to the exilic and post-exilic community which was also in search of a land of faith.