length that stretches over whole chains of generations, and so over hundreds of years, through which Abraham remains “the father.” What is peculiar to this extended idea of father is that it is irreplaceable: no one in the long series of generations that begins with Abraham can be father as he was. Paradoxically, Abraham remains father from generation to generation. The fatherhood of all the patriarchs who follow him remains limited to their own sons. None of them becomes father even for two generations.