Genesis 11:27

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

Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram Nahor and Haran; and Haran begat Lot Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.

Genesis 11:27 Now these [are] the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.Ver. 27. Terah begat Abram.] Who whether he were Terah’ s firstborn, is a great question; but, being an important man, he is first mentioned. (Abram was not Terah’ s first born. Genesis 11:32; Genesis 12:4 This means that Terah was 130 years old when he begot Abram. Editor.)

THE TΤLDΤTH TERAH.(27) Now these are the generations.—This tτldτth, 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 Tτldτth Terah, just as the history of Joseph is called the Tτldτth 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 tτldτth 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 Gen 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).

- 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.

Generations of Terah, 27. This heading is properly the beginning of the history of Abraham, which gives account also of the peoples most intimately related to the covenant people.