1 Chronicles 1:26 — Word Study
WLCשְׂר֥וּג נָח֖וֹר תָּֽרַח׃
BSASerugSᵉrûwg [a branch, descendant of Reu] NahorNâchôwr [Abraham's grandfather] TerahTerach [father of Abraham, meaning wandering or delay]
| Greek | English | Parsing |
|---|---|---|
| שְׂר֥וּג | Serug | Noun proper masculine |
| נָח֖וֹר | Nahor | Noun proper masculine |
| תָּֽרַח׃ | Terah | Noun proper masculine |
Every word in the verse. Click a row to open it in the panel on the left.
| BSB | Serug, Nahor, Terah, |
| KJV | Serug, Nahor, Terah, |
| ASV | Serug, Nahor, Terah, |
| YLT | Serug, Nahor, Terah, |
| WEB | Serug, Nahor, Terah, |
| BBE | Serug, Nahor, Terah, |
Where they part company is in the rendering of the names, which all agree on.
The verse consists of a simple list of names, reflecting a genealogical structure.
3 commentators on this verse
Jamieson, Ellicott, Cambridge & more — read them ›
clause
The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.
Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.
Deep Study — 1 Chronicles 1:26
Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.
Context — The Genealogy of Abrahamgenerated
1 Chronicles 1:26 presents a brief genealogy that highlights key ancestors of Abraham, emphasizing the continuity of God's promise through generations. This lineage connects to the broader narrative of the Israelites and their covenant relationship with God, as seen in the larger context of the genealogies in Genesis 11:10-32.
Cross References
| Reference | Text (BSB) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luke 3:35 | the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, |
| 2 | Luke 3:34 | the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, |
| 3 | Luke 3:34 | the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, |
The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 3 references, hung on the phrase they belong to
The Key Word — שְׂרוּג, se.Ruggenerated
The name שְׂרוּג (se.Rug) is a proper noun referring to a postdiluvian patriarch, specifically the son of Reu and the father of Nahor. The root of the name suggests a meaning related to 'branch,' indicating his role as a descendant in the line leading to Abraham.
Serug's significance lies in his position within the genealogy, as he is part of the lineage that leads to the patriarch Abraham, a foundational figure in the history of Israel.
How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated
The verse is presented in the Berean Standard Bible, which uses the names Serug, Nahor, and Terah consistently with the other versions, including the KJV, ASV, and WEB.
Sentence Structuregenerated
The structure of this verse is straightforward, consisting of a noun phrase that lists three names: שְׂרוּג, נָח֖וֹר, and תָּֽרַח. This simple enumeration reflects the genealogical style typical in biblical texts.
The names are presented in a sequence that emphasizes their familial connections, with each name representing a significant figure in the lineage of Abraham.
Septuagint Backgroundgenerated
The Septuagint translates שְׂרוּג as σερουξ, נָח֖וֹר as ναξωρ, and תָּֽרַח as θαρα. This choice of words maintains the same familial significance as in the Hebrew text.
The Greek terms used in the Septuagint reflect the same lineage connections, indicating the translators' intent to preserve the genealogical context.
In plain words — the whole versegenerated
1 Chronicles 1:26 lists three ancestors of Abraham: Serug, Nahor, and Terah. Serug is known as a branch in the family line, Nahor is Abraham's grandfather, and Terah is Abraham's father. This genealogy helps trace the lineage of the patriarchs.
Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated
Serug was a postdiluvian patriarch, the son of Reu and the father of Nahor, significant in the genealogy leading to Abraham.
Nahor was Abraham's grandfather, the son of Terah, and he had several children.
The name Terah may mean 'wandering' or 'delay', and he was the father of Abraham.
This genealogy is important as it traces the lineage of Abraham, a key figure in the biblical narrative and the father of the Israelite nation.
Reflection Questionsgenerated
- How does understanding the genealogy of Abraham help us appreciate the biblical narrative?
- In what ways do the names in this genealogy reflect the themes of family and legacy in the Bible?
- What can we learn from the lives of these patriarchs as we study their stories?
- How does this genealogy connect to God's promises throughout Scripture?
Commentators on this verse — 3 expositors, verse by verse
Each of these wrote on 1 Chronicles 1:26 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's CommentaryEber, Peleg, Reu, of the Arabs in the present day.
Read Robert Jamieson on 1 Chronicles 1 →Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English ReadersTEN FROM SHEM TO ABRAHAM; AN OF Genesis 11:10-26, ALL NOTICES (1 Chronicles 1:24-27). Between Arphaxad aud Shelah the LXX., at Genesis 11:12, insert Καίναν = Heb. Kκnan (1 Chronicles 1:2, above). The name is not contained in our present Hebrew text of Genesis. Kenan may have been dropped originally, in order to make Abraham the tenth from Shem, as Noah is tenth from Adam. The artificial symmetry of these ancient lists is evidently designed. Comp. the thrice fourteen generations in the genealogy of our Lord (Matthew 1). 1 Chronicles 1:28-42 enumerate a second series of seventy tribes or peoples, derived from Abraham through the three representative names of Ishmael, Keturah, and Isaac; just…
Read Charles John Ellicott on 1 Chronicles 1 →CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges24–27. The Descent of Abraham from Shem These verses are compressed within the smallest limits from Genesis 11:10-26. For another example of this extreme compression compare 1 Chronicles 1:1-4.
Read Cambridge on 1 Chronicles 1 →The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company
Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.
Modern formal
Serug, Nahor, Terah,
Serug, Nahor, Terah,
Serug, Nahor, Terah,
Serug, Nahor, Terah,
Tyndale line
Serug, Nahor, Terah,
Serug, Nahor, Terah,
Serug, Nahor, Terah;
Serug, Nahor, Terah,
Serug, Nahor, Terah,
Strictly literal
Serug, Nahor, Terah,
Serug, Nahor, Terah,
Serug, Nahor, Terah,
Serug, Nachor, Terach,
Serug, Nahor, Terah,
From the Latin
Serug, Nachor, Thare,
Simplified
Serug, Nahor, Terah,
Serug, Nahor, Terah,
Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.
The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank
This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.
Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.
The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran
The Masoretic Text and the Septuagint agree in the listing of שְׂרוּג, נָח֖וֹר, and תָּֽרַח. There are no variations in these names between the two texts.
שְׂר֥וּג נָח֖וֹר תָּֽרַח׃
3 of the 3 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.
Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.
The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with
This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.
Lexicons — every word in 1 Chronicles 1:26
One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.
Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.
שְׂרוּג (Sruwg) refers to Serug, a postdiluvian patriarch mentioned in Genesis 11:20. The name is derived from a root meaning 'tendril' or 'branch,' indicating a familial connection as a descendant of Peleg. He is noted as the son of Reu and the father of Nahor, making him a significant figure in the genealogy leading to Abraham.
שְׂרוּג n.pr.m. descendant (i.e. younger branch) of Peleg
base
H8286 שְׂרוּג descendant (i.e. younger branch) of Peleg
8286 Sruwg ser-oog'
from 8276; tendril; Serug, a postdiluvian patriarch:--Serug.
see HEBREW for 08276
שְׂרוּג (se.rug) — Serug.
A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.11.20;
son of: Reu (H7466);
father of: Nahor (H5152)
Also named: Sarouch (Σαρούχ "Serug" G4562)
§ Serug = "branch"
son of Reu and great grandfather of Abraham
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
Serug
Branch, the father of Nahor (Gen. 11:20-23); called Saruch in Luke 3:35.
(branch), son of Reu and great grandfather of Abraham. His age is given in the Hebrew Bible as 230 years. (Genesis 11:20-23) (B.C. 2180.)
A descendant of Shem, and an ancestor of Abraham, Ge 11:20-23; Lu 3:35. Jewish tradition says he was the first of his line that fell into idolatry, Jos 24:2.
נָחוֹר (Nachowr) refers to Nahor, a biblical figure associated with the Patriarchs. He is identified as both the father of Terah and the grandfather of Abraham, as well as the son of Serug. The name is linked to the meaning 'snorting.' The entries note his family connections, including his brother Abraham and his marriage to Milcah.
נָחוֹר n.pr.m.
father of Teraḥ
son of Teraḥ and brother of Abr.
base
H5152 נָחוֹר . father of Teraḥ
. son of Teraḥ and brother of Abr.
5152 Nachowr naw-khore'
from the same as 5170; snorer; Nochor, the name of the
grandfather and a brother of Abraham:--Nahor.
see HEBREW for 05170
נָחוֹר (na.chor) — Nahor.
A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.11.22;
son of: Serug (H8286);
father of: Terah (H8646)
Also named: Nachōr (Ναχώρ "Nahor" G3493)
§ Nahor = "snorting"
1) son of Serug, father of Terah, and grandfather of Abraham
2) son of Terah and brother of Abraham
נָחוֹר (na.chor) — Nahor.
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
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
na'-hor (nachor; in the New Testament Nachor):e representative of Naphtali among the 12 spies (Nu 13:14).
(1) Son of Serug and grandfather of Abraham (Ge 11:22-25; 1Ch 1:26).
(2) Son of Terah and brother of Abraham (Ge 11:26,27,29; 22:20,23; 24:15,24,47; 29:5; Jos 24:2).
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 family came to an end (
(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 birth, on the eastern side of the Euphrates.
1. Son of Serug, and father of Terah, Ge 11:22-25 Lu 3:34.
2. Son of Terah, and brother of Abraham and Haran. He married Milcah his niece in Ur of the Chaldees, Ge 11:26,29, but seems to have transferred his residence to Haran, Ge 24:10 27:43. He had twelve sons, and among them Bethuel the father of Rebekah, Ge 22:20-24.
תֶּ֫רַח (Terach) refers to the father of Abraham and also denotes a station in the Exodus journey. The entries indicate that the name may carry meanings related to 'station' or 'delay.' Terach is first mentioned in Genesis 11:24 and is associated with notable family members like Nahor and Haran.
תֶּ֫רַח n.pr.
m. father of Abraham
loc. station of Exodus journey
base
H8646 תֶּ֫רַח . father of Abraham
. station of Exodus journey
8646 Terach teh'-rakh
of uncertain derivation; Terach, the father of Abraham; also
a place in the Desert:--Tarah, Terah.
תֶּ֫רַח (te.rach) — Terah.
A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.11.24;
son of: Nahor (H5152);
father of: Abraham (H0085), Nahor (H5152H), Haran (H2039) and Sarah (H8283)
Also named: Thara (Θάρα "Terah" G2291)
§ Terah = "station"
1) the father of Abraham
Tarah = "delay"
2) a station of Israel in the wilderness
תֶּ֫רַח (te.rach) — Terah.
§ Terah = "station"
a station of Israel in the wilderness
N-proper — Noun proper masculineHNpm
Terah
The wanderer; loiterer, for some unknown reason emigrated with his family from his native mountains in the north to the plains of Mesopotamia. He had three sons, Haran, Nahor, and Abraham, and one daughter, Sarah. He settled in “Ur of the Chaldees,” where his son Haran died, leaving behind him his son Lot. Nahor settled at Haran, a place on the way to Ur. Terah afterwards migrated with Abraham (probably his youngest son) and Lot (his grandson), together with their families, from Ur, intending to go with them to Canaan; but he tarried at Haran, where he spent the remainder of his days, and died at the age of two hundred and five years (Gen. 11:24-32; Josh. 24:2). What a wonderful part the descendants of this Chaldean shepherd have played in the history of the world!
(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 grandson Lot, "to go into the land of Canaan, and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there." (Genesis 11:31) And…
The son of Nahor, and father of Nahor, Haran, and Abraham, Ge 11:24, begot Abraham at the age of seventy-two years, in Ur of the Chaldeans. Upon Abraham’s first call to remove into the land of promise, Terah and all his family went with him as far as Haran, in Mesopotamia, about B. C. 1918, Ge 11:31-32. He died there the same year, aged two hundred and seventy-five years. Scripture intimates plainly that Terah had fallen into idolatry, or had for a time mingled some idolatrous practices with the worship of the true God, Jos 24:2,14; and some think that Abraham himself at fist did the same thing; but that afterwards God, being gracious to him, convinced him of the vanity of this worship, and that he undeceived his father…
to breathe; scent; blow