Genesis Part I - Calling in the Name of God

Genesis 12 gives us no information about who Abraham is, his history and why he was chosen to enter into a relationship with God. Instead, all we have is this singular observation:

“There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord (12:8).”

This act of calling on the name of the Lord, ויקרא בשם ה', evokes two earlier passages in Genesis (what I call in this post "Genesis part 1").

Firstly, establishing a name for themselves, is the central motivation behind the Tower of Babel project which ended in those people being punished for hubris:

יא,ג וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל-רֵעֵהוּ, הָבָה נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים, וְנִשְׂרְפָה, לִשְׂרֵפָה; וַתְּהִי לָהֶם הַלְּבֵנָה, לְאָבֶן, וְהַחֵמָר, הָיָה לָהֶם לַחֹמֶר.  יא,ד וַיֹּאמְרוּ הָבָה נִבְנֶה-לָּנוּ עִיר, וּמִגְדָּל וְרֹאשׁוֹ בַשָּׁמַיִם, וְנַעֲשֶׂה-לָּנוּ, שֵׁם:  פֶּן-נָפוּץ, עַל-פְּנֵי כָל-הָאָרֶץ


3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

The word used for “make a name for ourselves,” is the same word shem which used in chapter 12. The desire for making a name for oneself, is contrasted by character of Abraham who calls out in the name of God. Secondly, another manifestation of this theme is found in Genesis 4:

ד,כו וּלְשֵׁת גַּם-הוּא יֻלַּד-בֵּן, וַיִּקְרָא אֶת-שְׁמוֹ אֱנוֹשׁ; אָז הוּחַל, לִקְרֹא בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה.

Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on [or proclaim] the name of the Lord.

The language here “proclaiming the name of the Lord,” is exactly the same as what's found by Abraham in chapter 12. Commentators debate what this verse is supposed to mean and whether this calling in the name of God was good or bad. (You can read a discussion on this topic here.)

According to Cassuto in his commentary on Genesis - it was good:

As for Adam and Eve, we have already noted in our commentary on the previous verse why they were unable, during their period of mourning, to call upon the name of the Lord, and were forced to restrict themselves to the name ’Elohim. But on the birth of Enosh, when Adam and Eve perceived that not only had a third son been born to them to replace the first two sons whom they had lost, but that, as additional compensation, they had also been vouchsafed a grandson through their third son, forming the beginning of a new generation and bringing incipient hope for the future, they were comforted from their mourning. They again felt, because of the blessing that rested upon their home, the nearness of the Lord, and once more they were able to call upon the name of the Lord in religious joy.
This interpretation is well suited to the wording of the verse. The adverb Then cannot refer, as is usually held, to the lifetime of Enosh, but only to what has been previously mentioned, namely, the time when Enosh was born. With respect to the verb הוּחַל huhal, it should be borne in mind that in classical Hebrew no distinction is made between the initial performance of an action and its reiteration. Just as the verb בָּנָה bana can mean both to build and rebuild, so the verb הֵחֵל hehel can signify to commence and recommence; here it connotes recommence.
Then men began once more to call upon the name of the Lord— a happy ending and a parallel to the close of the next section (vi 8): But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Although no information is given about Abraham and his background, this calling in the name of God enters into a conversation with these earlier passages and implies a resolution to what were failed attempts at forging a lasting relationship with God.