Skip to content
— CH. 1 · INTRODUCTION —

Abraham

2 min listen · Ch. 1 of 4
4 sections

  • Abrahám is a village and municipality in south-west Slovakia, and its name first surfaces in written records in 1266. That single date is the oldest fixed point we have for a settlement that has otherwise kept quiet across the centuries. It sits in the Galanta District, inside the wider Trnava Region, and it carries an alternate spelling, Ábrahám, that hints at a layered past. Who governed this place before Slovakia existed? Why do the surviving records for births, marriages, and deaths begin in specific years and not earlier? And what happened to the census that should have counted its people in one particular year? The answers live in the village's borders, its faiths, and the dusty shelves of a regional archive.

  • Before independent Czechoslovakia was established in 1918, Abrahám did not belong to any Slovak state at all. The village was part of Pozsony County, an administrative unit within the Kingdom of Hungary. That arrangement placed it under Hungarian rule for the long stretch leading up to the twentieth century. The shift in 1918 redrew the map around the village without moving a single house. A place can stay exactly where it is while the country it answers to changes entirely.

  • Roman Catholic church records for Abrahám run from 1688 to 1895, covering births, marriages, and deaths across more than two centuries. Lutheran records sit alongside them, spanning 1701 to 1896, which tells us the village held more than one religious community under one set of fields. Two parallel sets of registers mean two congregations keeping their own count of who was born, who married, and who was buried. The earliest of these books opens in 1688, a starting line for anyone tracing a family back through the village.

  • The census records of 1869 for Abram are not held at the state archive in Bratislava. That gap is a real hole in the documentary trail, a year when the population should have been counted but the paperwork cannot be found on those shelves. For the surviving material, the place to look is the Štátny archív v Bratislave, the state archive in Bratislava, where the genealogical resources for the village are kept. Anyone hunting an ancestor from 1869 will have to reckon with that absence before opening a single other book.

Up Next

IsaacJacob

Common questions

Where is Abrahám located in Slovakia?

Abrahám is a village and municipality in the Galanta District of the Trnava Region in south-west Slovakia. It also appears under the spelling Ábrahám.

When was Abrahám first mentioned in historical records?

Abrahám was first mentioned in historical records in 1266. This is the earliest fixed date documented for the village.

What country did Abrahám belong to before 1918?

Before independent Czechoslovakia was established in 1918, Abrahám was part of Pozsony County within the Kingdom of Hungary.

Where can you find genealogical records for Abrahám?

Genealogical records for Abrahám are held at the state archive in Bratislava, the Štátny archív v Bratislave. The Roman Catholic church records cover 1688 to 1895 and the Lutheran church records cover 1701 to 1896.

Are the 1869 census records for Abrahám available?

The 1869 census records of Abram are not available at the state archive in Bratislava. Researchers cannot access them on those shelves.

See all questions about Abraham →

All sources

121 references cited across the entry

  1. 1Genesis 17:5
  2. 2בבא בתרא צא א
  3. 3Genesis 25:8
  4. 4Jones, Lindsay (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 7. Macmillan Reference USA, 2005, pp. 4551–4552.
  5. 5BookThe Life of Abraham: The Obedience of FaithFrederick Brotherton Meyer et al. — YWAM Publishing — 1996
  6. 6Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs (Ma'arat HaMachpelah)
  7. 7Abraham's Eight CrisesLarry R. Helyer — 1995
  8. 8Freedman, Meyers & Beck, Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible , 2000, p. 551 and
  9. 9(untitled source)
  10. 10Murphy, James G. (1866), A critical and exegetical commentary on the book of Genesis, p. 257, accessed on 4 April 2026
  11. 11(untitled source)
  12. 12JournalThe Chronology of the Pentateuch: A Comparison of the MT and LXXLarsson, Gerhard — 1983
  13. 13(untitled source)
  14. 14(untitled source)
  15. 15(untitled source)
  16. 16JournalNahmanides' Understanding of Abraham's Mesopotamian OriginsKlein, Reuven Chaim — 2016
  17. 17(untitled source)
  18. 18(untitled source)
  19. 19Genesis 12:20: Jerusalem Bible (1966)
  20. 20(untitled source)
  21. 21BookGenesis, with an Introduction to Narrative LiteratureGeorge W. Coats — Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing — 1983
  22. 22BookThe Religion of the PatriarchsAugustine Pagolu — A&C Black — 1 November 1998
  23. 23(untitled source)
  24. 24(untitled source)
  25. 25(untitled source)
  26. 26Noth, Martin, A History of Pentateuchal Traditions (Englewood Cliffs 1972) p. 28
  27. 27(untitled source)
  28. 28United Bible Societies, Translation commentary on Genesis 15:1, accessed on 2 April 2026
  29. 29(untitled source)
  30. 30(untitled source)
  31. 31Ryle, H. E. (1921), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Genesis 15, accessed on 3 April 2026
  32. 32New American Bible Revised Edition
  33. 33English Standard Version
  34. 34Whybray, R. N., 4. Genesis, in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary, p. 51, archived on 2 November 2017
  35. 35JournalAbraham and the Covenant of the Pieces: A Study in AmbivalenceDorothy F. Zeligs — 1961
  36. 36Jewish Encyclopedia, HagarJewishencyclopedia.com
  37. 37(untitled source)
  38. 38(untitled source)
  39. 39(untitled source)
  40. 40(untitled source)
  41. 41(untitled source)
  42. 42(untitled source)
  43. 43(untitled source)
  44. 44(untitled source)
  45. 45(untitled source)
  46. 46(untitled source)
  47. 47(untitled source)
  48. 48(untitled source)
  49. 49(untitled source)
  50. 50(untitled source)
  51. 51(untitled source)
  52. 52(untitled source)
  53. 53(untitled source)
  54. 54(untitled source)
  55. 55(untitled source)
  56. 56(untitled source)
  57. 57(untitled source)
  58. 58(untitled source)
  59. 59(untitled source)
  60. 60(untitled source)
  61. 61(untitled source)
  62. 62(untitled source)
  63. 63(untitled source)
  64. 64(untitled source)
  65. 65(untitled source)
  66. 66(untitled source)
  67. 67(untitled source)
  68. 68(untitled source)
  69. 69,
  70. 70BookA History of IsraelJohn Bright — Westminster John Knox Press — 1959
  71. 71BookThe Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives: The Quest for the Historical AbrahamThomas L. Thompson — Gruyter, Walter de, & Company — 1974
  72. 72BookAbraham in History and TraditionJohn Van Seters — Yale University Press — 1975
  73. 73BookA Century of Biblical ArchaeologyPeter Roger Stuart Moorey — Westminster John Knox Press — 1991
  74. 74Dever (2001) p. 98Dever — 2001
  75. 75BookUnderstanding the History of Ancient IsraelLester L. Grabbe — British Academy — 2007
  76. 76(untitled source)
  77. 77(untitled source)
  78. 78(untitled source)
  79. 79(untitled source)
  80. 80BookYahweh and the Origins of Ancient Israel: Insights from the Archaeological RecordNissim Amzallag — Cambridge University Press — 2023
  81. 81BookThe Future of Biblical Archaeology: Reassessing Methodologies and AssumptionsDaniel E. Fleming — Eerdmans — 2004
  82. 82BookThe Cambridge Companion to GenesisAlice Mandell — Cambridge University Press — 2022
  83. 83JournalPatriarchal Names in ContextAlan Millard — 2024
  84. 84BookIsmaelErnst Axel Knauf
  85. 85JournalBeginnings of Old Babylonian Babylon: Sumu-abum and Sumu-la-ElRients de Boer — 2018
  86. 86BookIsrael's History and the History of IsraelMario Liverani — Routledge — 2014
  87. 87JournalComments on the Historical Background of the Abraham Narrative: Between "Realia" and "Exegetica"Israel Finkelstein et al. — 2014
  88. 88BookThe Heart of Torah: Essays on the Weekly Torah PortionShai Held — U of Nebraska Press — 2017
  89. 89Bava Batra 91a
  90. 90Yamada, Shigeo. "Karus on the Frontiers of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Orient 40 (2005) "
  91. 91"Rashbam on Bava Batra 91a:14:2" . . Retrieved 2021-03-08.
  92. 92Bereishit Rabbah 38
  93. 93BookGinza RbaCarlos Gelbert — Living Water Books — 2011
  94. 94BookGinza: Der Schatz oder Das große Buch der MandäerMark Lidzbarski — Vandenhoek & Ruprecht — 1925
  95. 95BookThe Haran Gawaita and the Baptism of Hibil-ZiwaEthel Stefana Drower — Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana — 1953
  96. 96BookThe Mandaeans of Iraq and IranEthel Stefana Drower — Oxford At The Clarendon Press — 1937
  97. 97BookJohn the Baptist and the Last Gnostics: the Secret History of the MandaeansAndrew Phillip Smith — Watkins — 2016
  98. 98Waters, Reid, Muether (2020)Waters, Reid, Muether — 2020
  99. 99New International Version
  100. 100Good News Translation
  101. 101Firestone, Reuven, "Abraham." Encyclopedia of World History.
  102. 102CommemorationsLutheran Church—Missouri Synod
  103. 103AbrahamWilliam Caxton — Internet Medieval Source Book
  104. 104BookThe Ultimate Guide to the BibleCarol Smith — Barbour — 2000b
  105. 105Khalilullah: The Friend of God
  106. 106(untitled source)
  107. 107(untitled source)
  108. 108BookThe Origins of the Druze People and Religion: With Extracts from Their Sacred WritingsPhilip K. Hitti — Library of Alexandria — 1928
  109. 109BookThe Druze in the Middle East: Their Faith, Leadership, Identity and StatusNissim Dana — Michigan University press — 2008
  110. 110Plaster Cast of the Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus in the Vatican MuseumAnnie Laurie — 2012
  111. 111Abraham's Farewell to Ishmael. George Segal. Miami Art Museum. Collections: Recent Acquisitions.. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  112. 112Abraham the Patriarch in Art – Iconography and LiteratureChristian Iconography – a project of Georgia Regents University.
  113. 113The Holy TrinityAlexander Boguslawski — Rollins.edu
  114. 114NewsAbraham's Quest For GodW. T. Allison — 26 January 1935
  115. 115BookThe Best in Children's Books: The University of Chicago Guide to Children's Literature, 1973–78Zena Sutherland — University of Chicago Press — 1980
  116. 116BookSacrificium Abrahae: H. 402Marc-Antoine Charpentier — Editions du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles — 1995
  117. 117https://en.opera-scores.com/O/S%C3%A9bastien+de+Brossard/Abraham+ou+le+sacrifice+d'Isaac.html#:~:text=Composer:+Brossard+S%C3%A9bastien+de+Full,full+scores+in+pdf|title=Cantata:
  118. 118The CaveSteve Reich — 1990
  119. 119Highway 61 Revisited
  120. 120NewsFrom Odessa to Duluth: The journey of Bob Dylan's grandparents28 March 2022
  121. 121MagazineRolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time9 December 2004