Genesis 11:26
in Genesis 11When Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
KJV
And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
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This verse in Genesis 11
Commentary
6 notes on this verseAnd Terah lived seventy years, and he begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. The seventy interpreters in this generation alone do not differ at all from the Hebrew truth.
This site's exposition
When Reu was 32 years old
on Genesis 11:20-26
The years keep falling. Ten generations run from Shem to Abram here, matching the ten from Adam to Noah in Genesis 5. Abram is named first of Terah's sons, and Adam Clarke reads that order as one of dignity, the place Genesis keeps giving the chosen son.
This site's exposition
When Terah was 70 years old
Terah lived 205 years and Abram left Haran at seventy-five, so Abram was born when Terah was 130. Clarke reads the 70 years as Terah's age when Haran was born, the father of Lot and the eldest. Bede notes that here the Greek years agree with the Hebrew.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
) that when Terah was seventy years old he begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran (which seems to tell us that Abram was the eldest son of Terah, and was born in his seventieth year), yet, by comparing
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
[AND BEGOT ABRAM.] Abraham was born in a place called Ur of the Chaldees.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַֽיְחִי־ | vaychi- | and he lived | H2421 → | 282 times |
| תֶ֖רַח | terach | Terah | H8646 → | 13 times |
| שִׁבְעִ֣ים | shivim | seventy | H7657 → | 91 times |
| שָׁנָ֑ה | shanah | year[s] | H8141 → | 877 times |
| וַיּ֙וֹלֶד֙ | vaiyoled | and he fathered | H3205 → | 496 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אַבְרָ֔ם | ʾavram | Abram | H87 → | 61 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נָח֖וֹר | nachor | Nahor | H5152 → | 18 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָרָֽן׃ | haran | Haran | H2039 → | 7 times |
וַֽיְחִי־and he lived
vaychi-H2421 →282 times
תֶ֖רַחTerah
terachH8646 →13 times
שִׁבְעִ֣יםseventy
shivimH7657 →91 times
שָׁנָ֑הyear[s]
shanahH8141 →877 times
וַיּ֙וֹלֶד֙and he fathered
vaiyoledH3205 →496 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אַבְרָ֔םAbram
ʾavramH87 →61 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
נָח֖וֹרNahor
nachorH5152 →18 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הָרָֽן׃Haran
haranH2039 →7 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Joshua 24:2And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and…
it leads to
- Joshua 24:15
But if it is unpleasing in your sight to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods…
- Genesis 31:30
Now you have gone off because you long for your father’s house. But why have you stolen my gods?”
- Ezekiel 16:3
and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a…
- Genesis 31:53
May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.
- Genesis 35:4
So they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and all their earrings, and Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem.
- Joshua 24:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies20
On this verse
On this chapter
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.