Genesis 11:31

Hebrew Bible

29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai. And the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no children. 31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 The lifetime of Terah was 205 years, and he died in Haran.

Genesis 15:7

Hebrew Bible

5 The Lord took him outside and said, “Gaze into the sky and count the stars—if you are able to count them!” Then he said to him, “So will your descendants be.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord credited it as righteousness to him. 7 The Lord said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, by what can I know that I am to possess it?”

Genesis 24:4

Hebrew Bible

4 You must go instead to my country and to my relatives to find a wife for my son Isaac.” 5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me to this land? Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” 6 “Be careful never to take my son back there!” Abraham told him. 7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, promised me with a solemn oath, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel before you so that you may find a wife for my son from there. 8 But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, you will be free from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!” 9 So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and gave his solemn promise he would carry out his wishes. 10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all kinds of gifts from his master at his disposal. He journeyed to the region of Aram Naharaim and the city of Nahor.

 Notes and References

"... Genesis 15:7 ... This verse reads, “I am YHWH, who brought you out of Ur ...” There is a well-known conflict in the texts as to whether Abraham set out from Ur or Haran, a conflict that already troubled the medieval commentators (see Rashi and Ramban). In P, Abraham’s father first takes the family from Ur to Haran, and Abraham subsequently goes from Haran to Canaan (Genesis 11:31; 12:4-5). In J, God tells Abraham to “go from your land and from your birthplace” (Genesis 12:1). This place is not named in J. When Abraham later sends his servant back to “my land and my birthplace” (Genesis 24:4), the servant goes to “the city of Nahor,” which turns out to be Haran (Genesis 24:10; 27:43; 28:10). These facts suggest that the original reading of Genesis 15:7 would have been “Haran” and that the Redactor who combined J with P changed it to “Ur” to make it consistent with what precedes ..."

Friedman, Richard Elliott The Hidden Book in the Bible (p. 288) Harper San Francisco, 1998


"... The phrase 'of the Chaldeans' is a later editorial clarification for the readers, designating the location of Ur. From all evidence there would have been no Chaldeans in existence at this early date; they are known in the time of the neo-Babylonian empire in the first millennium B.C. ..."

Harris, W. Hall NET Bible (p. 301) Biblical Studies Press, 2019


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