# Abraham — Two Treatises of Government character guide

> Abraham in Two Treatises of Government by John Locke.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0005-iii-of-adam-s-title-to-sovereignty-by-creation

## Snapshot

The biblical patriarch invoked in disputes over paternal power and property, whose story Locke uses to test whether fatherhood alone confers dominion.

## Who they are

Abraham enters the argument as a scriptural precedent for how paternal authority and property rights actually operated among the patriarchs, not as Filmer imagines them. The tension lies in whether his dealings with sons and servants demonstrate absolute fatherly rule or something more contractual and limited. His presence in the First Treatise matters because Locke needs biblical history itself to show that even the patriarchs did not exercise the unbounded sovereignty Filmer attributes to them.

## Relationships

### [Adam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/adam)

_family_

Abraham is a descendant of Adam, and their connection is used to discuss inheritance of dominion and covenant.

### [Isaac](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/isaac)

_family_

Abraham is the father of Isaac, and their relationship is central to the patriarchal succession and promise of inheritance.

### [Jacob](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/jacob)

_family_

Abraham is the grandfather of Jacob, and Jacob inherits the covenant promises made to Abraham.

### [Sarah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/sarah)

_family_

Abraham and Sarah are husband and wife, and their relationship is central to the birth of Isaac and the covenant.

### [Adam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/adam)

_family_

Abraham is a descendant of Adam, and their connection is used to discuss inheritance of dominion and covenant.

### [Isaac](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/isaac)

_family_

Abraham is the father of Isaac, and their relationship is central to the patriarchal succession and promise of inheritance.

### [Sarah](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/sarah)

_family_

Abraham and Sarah are husband and wife, and their relationship is central to the birth of Isaac and the covenant.

### [Jacob](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/jacob)

_family_

Abraham is the grandfather of Jacob, and Jacob inherits the covenant promises made to Abraham.

## In the story

### [Book I: Of Government](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/book-i-of-government)

Abraham is mentioned in Filmer's arguments regarding fatherhood and political power.

### [Of Monarchy, by Inheritance from Adam](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/ix-of-monarchy-by-inheritance-from-adam)

Mentioned in the context of patriarchal succession; Locke's reasoning about equal rights to property undermines any exclusive inheritance claim.

### [XI: Who Heir?](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/chapters/xi-who-heir)

Locke uses the example of God's grant of Canaan to Abraham and his seed to illustrate the absurdity of a grant without a clear heir.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters/abraham
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/two_treatises_of_government_se/characters