The first of the great patriarchs of the Old Testament. Originally called Abrahm, he was renamed Abraham (meaning ‘ancestor of many nations’) when God told him he would father a people who whom he would make an everlasting covenant: the nation of Israel. Symbols are white, flowingbeard and sacrificial knife. (Taylor, 2003) His call, and God’s promise to Abraham are shown by painting a shield of deepblue, with many starswithonestar much larger and brighter than the others, signifying the Messiah. (Webber, 1927)
