Children of Nahor, Son of Terah in Genesis

The Family of Terah and the Children of Nahor

Terah, the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran, is a pivotal figure in the biblical narrative, connecting the early descendants of Shem to the patriarchs of Israel ^[1]. The biblical account in Genesis 11:24-32 provides the primary details about Terah and his family. Terah's son Nahor, who is the focus of this inquiry, married Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran ^[2].

The biblical text lists Nahor's children with Milcah as Uz, Buz, Kemuel, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel ^[5]. Additionally, Nahor had children with his concubine Reumah: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah ^{[5, 6]}. The family connections established through Nahor's marriages and offspring are significant, as they link Abraham's family to other regional families and future biblical characters.

The order of Terah's sons is not explicitly stated in terms of birth order, leading to some interpretive discussion. While Abram is mentioned first in Genesis 11:26-27, some interpreters, like Adam Clarke, suggest that Haran was the eldest, followed by Nahor, and then Abram ^[8]. This interpretation is based on the subsequent narrative and the ages implied by the text.

Terah's decision to leave Ur of the Chaldees with his family, including Abram, Lot (Haran's son), and Sarai (Abram's wife), marks a significant event in the narrative. They journeyed towards Canaan but stopped in Haran, where Terah died at the age of 205 ^[7]. The text does not explicitly state whether Nahor accompanied them to Haran or remained in Ur, though it is noted that Nahor settled in Haran ^{[2, 3]}.

The family of Nahor maintained connections with Abram's family. When Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac, the servant went to Nahor's family in Haran, indicating ongoing familial ties ^[3]. Bethuel, a son of Nahor, had a daughter named Rebekah, who became Isaac's wife.

The biblical account and subsequent interpretations highlight the importance of Nahor's family in the broader narrative of Abraham and the early history of Israel. The children of Nahor are part of the genealogical record that connects the patriarchal family to the surrounding nations and future biblical figures.

The patristic tradition, as seen in Augustine's writings, discusses the details of Terah's migration and the omission of Nahor in the narrative of Genesis 11:31. Augustine questions why Nahor is not mentioned as accompanying Terah, suggesting various possible interpretations ^[9].

In Jewish tradition, as reflected in the Babylonian Talmud, there are discussions about the ages of Terah's sons and the implications for their birth order. The Talmud suggests that the narrative implies Abraham was older than Haran by two years, based on the ages and birth order of the sons ^[10].

The historical and genealogical details surrounding Nahor and his children provide a rich context for understanding the biblical narrative's portrayal of the early patriarchal period. The connections between Nahor's family and Abraham's line underscore the complex web of relationships that shape the story of Israel's ancestors.

The biblical dictionaries, such as Smith's and Easton's, offer additional insights into the names, places, and events associated with Nahor and his family, grounding the narrative in historical and geographical context ^{[2, 3, 4]}.

The narrative of Terah and his sons, including Nahor, serves as a bridge between the early post-flood genealogy and the story of Abraham, highlighting the familial and cultural context from which Abraham emerges. The details about Nahor's children and their significance in the biblical narrative demonstrate the intricate connections within the patriarchal family and their relevance to the broader biblical story.

Sources

Genesis “Genesis 11:27 (BBE) — These are the generations of Terah: Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.”
Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Nahor — (snorting), the name of two persons in the family of Abraham. + His grandfather; the son of Serug and father of Terah. (Genesis 11:22-25) (B.C. 2174.) + Grandson of the preceding son of Terah and brother of Abraham and Haran. (Genesis 11:26,27) (B.C. 2000.) The order of the ages of the family of Terah is not improbably inverted in the narrative; in which case Nahor instead of being younger than Abraham, was really older. He married Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran; and when Abraham and Lot migrated to Canaan, Nahor remained behind in the land of his b”
Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Nahor — Snorting. (1.) The father of Terah, who was the father of Abraham (Gen. 11:22-25; Luke 3:34). (2.) A son of Terah, and elder brother of Abraham (Gen. 11:26, 27; Josh. 24:2, R.V.). He married Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran, and remained in the land of his nativity on the east of the river Euphrates at Haran (Gen. 11:27-32). A correspondence was maintained between the family of Abraham in Canaan and the relatives in the old ancestral home at Haran till the time of Jacob. When Jacob fled from Haran all intercourse between the two branches of the famil”
Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Terah — (station), the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran, and through them the ancestor of the great families of the Israelites, Ishmaelites, Midianites, Moabites and Ammonites. (Genesis 11:24-32) The account given of him in the Old Testament narrative is very brief. We learn from it simply that he was an idolater, (Joshua 24:2) that he dwelt beyond the Euphrates in Ur of the Chaldees, (Genesis 11:28) and that in the southwesterly migration, which from some unexplained cause he undertook in his old age, he went with his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai, and his gra”
STEPBible TBESG “[H5152] H5152H = (H5152H) — A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.11.26; son of: Terah (H8646); brother of: Abraham (H0085), Haran (H2039) and Sarah (H8283); married to Milcah (H4435) and Reumah (H7208); father of: Uz (H5780H), Buz (H0938), Kemuel (H7055), Chesed (H3777), Hazo (H2375), Pildash (H6394), Jidlaph (H3044), Bethuel (H1328A), Tebah (H2875), Gaham (H1514), Tahash (H8477) and Maacah (H4601) § Nahor = "snorting" 1) son of Serug, father of Terah, and grandfather of Abraham 2) son of Terah and brother of Abraham”
Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Thuhash — (badger), son of Nahor by his concubine Reumah. (Genesis 22:24) (B.C. 1880.)”
Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 6, section 5: of the Chaldeans, called Ur; and his monument is shown to this day. These married their nieces. Nabor married Milcha, and Abram married Sarai. Now Terah hating Chaldea, on account of his mourning for Ilaran, they all removed to Haran of Mesopotamia, where Terah died, and was buried, when he had lived to be two hundred and five years old; for the life of man was already, by degrees, diminished, and became shorter than before, till the birth of Moses; after whom the term of human life was one hundred and twenty years, God determini”
Genesis (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Genesis 11:26: And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran - Haran was certainly the eldest son of Terah, and he appears to have been born when Terah was about seventy years of age, and his birth was followed in successive periods with those of Nahor his second, and Abram his youngest son. Many have been greatly puzzled with the account here, supposing because Abram is mentioned first, that therefore he was the eldest son of Terah: but he is only put first by way of dignity. An in stance of this we have already seen, Gen 5:32, where Noah is represented as ha”
Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 13.--WHY, IN THE ACCOUNT OF TERAH'S EMIGRATION, ON HIS FORSAKING THE CHALDEANS AND PASSING OVER INTO MESOPOTAMIA, NO MENTION IS MADE OF HIS SON NAHOR. (part 1): Next it is related how Terah with his family left the region of the Chaldeans and came into Mesopotamia, and dwelt in Haran. But 319 nothing is said about one of his sons called Nahor, as if he had not taken him along with him. For the narrative runs thus: "And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarah his daughter-in-law, his son Abram'”
Babylonian Talmud (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 69b.12: Rather, it is from here that one can deduce that in earlier generations men fathered children at the age of eight, as it is written: “And these are the generations of Terah; Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran” (Genesis 11:27). And Abraham was at least one year older than Nahor, and Nahor was one year older than Haran, so it turns out that Abraham was two years older than Haran. And it is written: “And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milka, daughter of Haran, father of Milka and ”

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