Genesis 11:27

11:27-32 Here begins the story of Abram, whose name is famous in both Testaments. Even the children of Eber had become worshippers of false gods. Those who are through grace, heirs of the land of promise, ought to remember what was the land of their birth; what was their corrupt and sinful state by nature. Abram's brethren were, Nahor, out of whose family both Isaac and Jacob had their wives; and Haran, the father of Lot, who died before his father. Children cannot be sure that they shall outlive their parents. Haran died in Ur, before the happy removal of the family out of that idolatrous country. It concerns us to hasten out of our natural state, lest death surprise us in it. We here read of Abram's departure out of Ur of the Chaldees, with his father Terah, his nephew Lot, and the rest of his family, in obedience to the call of God. This chapter leaves them about mid-way between Ur and Canaan, where they dwelt till Terah's death. Many reach to Charran, and yet fall short of Canaan; they are not far from the kingdom of God, and yet never come thither.

Now these are the generations of Terah,.... Or the genealogy of his posterity, which is a very short one; for it only gives an account of his three sons as before: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran: and of three grand children, Lot, Milcah, and Iscah, the children of Haran; and chiefly for the sake of Abram it is given, and indeed the above genealogy of Shem, which ends with him; and of whom and whose posterity the remaining part of this book of Genesis treats: and Haran begat Lot: of whom we have some further account in Genesis 13:1.

Genesis 11:27 . Here begins the story of Abram. We have here, 1st, His country: Ur of the Chaldees — An idolatrous country, where even the children of Eber themselves degenerated. 2d, His relations, mentioned for his sake, and because of their interest in the following story. His father was Terah, of whom it is said, Joshua 24:2 , that he served other gods on the other side the flood; so early did idolatry gain footing in the world. His brethren were, Nahor, out of whose family both Isaac and Jacob had their wives; and Haran, the father of Lot, of whom it is here said, Genesis 11:28 , that he died before his father Terah. It is likewise said that he died in Ur of the Chaldees, before that happy removal of the family out of that idolatrous country. His wife was Sarai, who, some think, was the same with Iscah, the daughter of Haran. Abram himself saith, she was the daughter of his father, but not the daughter of his mother, Genesis 20:12 . She was ten years younger than Abram. 3d, His departure out of Ur of the Chaldees, with his father Terah, and his nephew Lot, and the rest of his family, in obedience to the call of God. This chapter leaves them in Haran or Charran, a place about the midway between Ur and Canaan, where they dwelt till Terah’s head was laid; probably because the old man was unable, through the infirmities of age, to proceed in his journey.

THE TÔLDÔTH TERAH. (27) Now these are the generations.—This tôldôth, which extends to Genesis 25:11, is one of the most interesting in the Book of Genesis, as it gives us the history of the patriarch Abraham, in whom God was pleased to lay the foundation of the interme diate dispensation and of the Jewish Church, by whose institutions and psalmists and prophets the light of true religion was to be maintained, and the way prepared for the coming of Christ. But though Abraham is the central figure, yet the narrative is called the Tôldôth Terah, just as the history of Joseph is called the Tôldôth Jacob (Genesis 37:2). The explanation of this is, not that we have in it the history of Lot, and of Moab and Ammon, which are mere subsidiary matters; but that it connects Abraham with the past, and shows that, through Terah and the tôldôth which ended in him, he was the representative of Shem. Terah begat Abram.—Commentators, in their endeavour to make St. Stephen’s assertion in Acts 7:4 agree with the numbers of the Hebrew text, have supposed that Abram was not the eldest son, and that the first place was given him because of his spiritual preeminence. But this is contrary to the rules of the Hebrew language, and the failure of the attempt to deprive Shem of his birthright by a mistranslation of Genesis 10:21 confirms Abram’s claim to the same prerogative.

27–32. The Sons of Terah. (J and P.) 27 . Now these are , &c.] The story of Abram commences here with the heading of a section from P. Cf. Genesis 25:19 , “And these are the generations of Isaac.” Haran begat Lot ] Lot the nephew of Abram, and the traditional ancestor of the peoples east of the Dead Sea. It is natural to suppose that the name has some affinity with that of “Lotan,” a Horite family or tribe ( Genesis 36:20 ; Genesis 36:29 ).

Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat {1} Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. (1) He makes mention first of Abram, not because he was the first born, but for the history which properly belongs to him. Also Abram at the confusion of tongues was 43 years old, for in the destruction of Sodom he was 99 and it was destroyed 52 years after the confusion of tongues.

7. confound their language—literally, "their lip"; it was a failure in utterance, occasioning a difference in dialect which was intelligible only to those of the same tribe. Thus easily by God their purpose was defeated, and they were compelled to the dispersion they had combined to prevent. It is only from the Scriptures we learn the true origin of the different nations and languages of the world. By one miracle of tongues men were dispersed and gradually fell from true religion. By another, national barriers were broken down—that all men might be brought back to the family of God.

Verse 27. - Now (literally, and , intimating the close connection of the present with the preceding section) these are the generations - the commencement of a new subdivision of the history (Keil), and neither the winding-up of the foregoing genealogy ('Speaker's Commentary') nor the heading only of the brief paragraph in vers. 27-32 (Lange; vide Genesis 2:4) - of Terah . Not of Abram; partly because mainly occupied with the career not of Abram's son, in which case "the generations of Abram" would have been appropriate, but of Abram himself, Terah's son; and partly owing to the subsidiary design to indicate Nahor's connection, through Rebekah, with the promised seed (cf. Quarry, p. 415). Terah begat Abram , "Father of Elevation," who is mentioned first not because he happened to be Terah's eldest son (Keil), which he was not ( vide Genesis 11:26), or because Moses was indifferent to the order in which the sons of Terah were introduced (Calvin), but because of his spiritual preeminence as the head of the theocratic line (Wordsworth). Nahor , "Panting," not to be confounded with his grandfather of the same name (ver. 25). Haran , "Tarrying," the eldest son of Terah (ver. 26), and, along with Abram and Nahor, reintroduced into the narrative on account of his relationship to Lot and Milcah.

- Section X - Abraham - XXXVI. The Father of Abram 27. לוט lôṭ, Lot, "veil;" verb: "cover." 28. אוּר 'ûr, Ur, "light, flame." כשׂדים kaśdı̂ym, Kasdim, Cardi, Kurds, Χαλδαῖοι Kaldaioi. כסד kesed, "gain?" Arabic. Ur Kasdim has been identified with Hur, now called Mugheir (the bitumened), a heap of ruins lying south of the Euphrates, nearly opposite its jucnction with the Shat el-Hie. Others place it at Edessa, now Orfa, a short way north of Carrhae. 29. שׂרי sāray, Sarai, "strife;" שׂרה śārâh "strive, rule." מלכה mı̂lkâh Milkah, "counsel, queen;" verb: "counsel, reign." יסכה yı̂sekâh, Jiskah, "one who spies, looks out." 31. הרן hārān, Haran, "burnt place." Χαῤῥαι Charran, Κάῤῥαι Karrai, a town on the Bilichus (Bililk), a tributary of the Frat, still called Harran. This has been identified by some with Harae, on the other side of the Frat, not far from Tadmor or Palmyra. This passage forms the commencement of the sixth document, as is indicated by the customary phrase, "These are the generations." The sense also clearly accords with this distinction; and it accounts for the repetition of the statement, "Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran." Yet the scribe who finally arranged the text makes no account of this division; as he inserts neither the Hebrew letter פ (p) nor even the Hebrew letter ס (s) at its commencement, while he places the threefold פ (p), marking the end of a Sabbath lesson, at its close.

We learn from this that the Jewish rabbis did not regard the opening phrase as a decided mark of a new beginning, or any indication of a new author. Nevertheless, this passage and the preceding one form the meet prelude to the history of Abram - the one tracing his genealogy from Shem and Heber, and the other detailing his relations with the family out of which he was called. God has not forsaken the fallen race. On the contrary, he has once and again held out to them a general invitation to return, with a promise of pardon and acceptance. Many of the descendants of Noah have already forsaken him, and he foresees that all, if left to themselves, will sink into ungodliness. Notwithstanding all this, he calmly and resolutely proceeds with his purpose of mercy. In the accomplishment of this eternal purpose he moves with all the solemn grandeur of longsuffering patience. One day is with him as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Out of Adam's three sons he selects one to be the progenitor of the seed of the woman; out of Noah's three sons he again selects one; and now out of Terah's three is one to be selected. Among the children of this one he will choose a second one, and among his a third one before he reaches the holy family.