This being the case, it is extremely improbable that the characters Abraham, Sarah, Ishmael, Isaac, et al, were real people. Even if one were persuaded of the existence of these characters, it is a stretch to believe the exact word-for-word dialogue between God and Abraham, Abraham and Sarah, etc were preserved in the detail given in Genesis. The one and only way this level of detail can be preserved is with the use of on-the-spot recording by a stenographer or audio recording device. There are no extant original records of the epic of Abraham which date back to the time of his reported adventures.
Biblical scholars place the advent of Abraham around 2000 BC. An entry in Wikpedia states:
A traditional chronology can be constructed from the Masoretic Text as follows: If Solomon's temple was begun when most scholars put it, ca. 960-970 BC/BCE, using e.g. 966, we get 1446 for the Exodus (I Ki. 6:1). There were 400 years reportedly spent in Egypt (Ex. 12:40), and then we only need add years from Jacob's going into Egypt to Abraham. So, we can add that Jacob was supposedly 130 when he came to Egypt (Gen. 47:9), Isaac was 60 years old when he had Jacob (Gen. 25:26) and Abraham was 100 when Isaac was born, and we get 1446 + 400 + 130 + 60 + 100 = 2136 BC/BCE for Abram's birth. (A considerable variety of scriptural chronologies are possible, however.)
The oral tradition is described in The Interpreter’s one-volume commentary on the Bible as follows:
(The Interpreter’s one-volume commentary on the Bible pp 1072-4.Oral Tradition. We must first turn our attention to a factor of fundamental importance in the formation of Israelite literature—the factor of oral tradition. It is generally accepted that no Israelite literature was written extensively before the reign of David. It is altogether unlikely that much of the prophetic literature was composed in writing. The later historical books, the Former Prophets, contain extensive passages which must have been formed in oral tradition before writing. Our questions about literature in society must recognize that the things written were composed and retained orally before their writing, and in some instances they were retained in oral tradition for several centuries.
John L. McKenzie, S.J., S.T.D.
Professor of Old Testament Studies,
University of Notre Dame)
From Wikpedia, it is stated:
Many scholars claim, on the basis of archaeological and philological evidence, that many stories in the Pentateuch, including the accounts about Abraham, Moses were written under king Josiah (7th century BC/BCE) or king Hezekiah (8th century BC/BCE) in order to provide a historical framework for the monotheistic belief in Yahweh. Some scholars point out that the archives of neighboring countries with written records that survive, such as Egypt, Assyria, etc., show no trace of the stories of the Bible or its main characters before 650 BC/BCE.
This evidence establishes the argument that the time lapse between the purported adventures of Abraham and the written record is on the order of 1000 years. There is no way any semblance of accuracy can be maintained orally for that period of time!
The above evidence drives the conclusion that it is highly unlikely that the epic of Abraham as described in Genesis is actual history.