Ephrem the Syrian : "By faith Abraham" obeyed and left his father and family "to go" not to his private estate but to "an inheritance" prepared for him. — COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS John Chrysostom : "By faith Abraham when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out not knowing whither he went." "By faith": for (tell me) whom did he see to emulate? He had for father a Gentile, and an idolater; he had heard no prophets; he knew not whither he was going. For as they of the Hebrews who believed, looked to these patriarchs as having enjoyed blessings innumerable, he shows that none of them obtained anything as yet; all are unrewarded; no one as yet received his reward. He escaped from his country and his home, and "went out not knowing whither he went." — Homily on Hebrews 23 Oecumenius : "By faith, Abraham was called." For he would not have followed, if he had not believed that God speaks the truth, to dwell in that land. And the very act of going out was an act of faith. For when God called, he obeyed, believing that he was being called for good. "not knowing where he was going." And the greater aspect of faith is that he did not even know what he was being called to. — The Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Hebrews