Editing Abraham (section)

===Structure and narrative programs===
The Abraham cycle ({{Bibleverse|Genesis|11:27|KJV}}–{{Bibleverse|Genesis|25:11|KJV}}) unfolds as a narrative of mounting tension, centered on the conflict between God's promise that Abram would father a lineage and become the ancestor of numerous nations, and a succession of crises that jeopardize this divine commitment. The storytelling method used here is the “obstacle story,” a [[List of narrative techniques|literary device]] renowned for its enduring and universal popularity across cultures and eras.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Helyer |first=Larry R. |date=1995 |title=Abraham's Eight Crises |url=https://library.biblicalarchaeology.org/article/abrahams-eight-crises/ |website=The BAS Library |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Abraham cycle is not structured by a unified plot centered on a conflict and its resolution or a problem and its solution.{{sfn|Ska|2009|p=28}} The episodes are often only loosely linked, and the sequence is not always logical, but it is unified by the presence of Abraham himself, as either actor or witness, and by the themes of posterity and land.{{sfn|Ska|2009|pp=28–29}} These themes form "narrative programs" set out in {{Bibleverse|Genesis|11:27-31|KJV}} concerning the sterility of Sarah and {{Bibleverse|Genesis|12:1-3|KJV}} in which Abraham is ordered to leave the land of his birth for the land God will show him.{{sfn|Ska|2009|pp=28–29}}