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Genesis 11:29

in Genesis 11

And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

KJV

And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

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This verse in Genesis 11

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jerome

Hebrew Questions on Genesis · Written before 420.

(Verse 29) And Abram and Nachor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nachor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran. The father of Milcah was also the father of Iscah. Haran fathered two daughters, Milcah and Iscah, who were both called by the same name. Of these, Milcah became the wife of Nachor, and Sarai became the wife of Abram. At that time, marriage between cousins and between siblings was not yet prohibited by law, as it later became among all people, even among brothers and sisters.

This site's exposition

Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves

on Genesis 11:29-30

The wives are named, Sarai and Milcah, and the account halts on one flat line: Sarai was barren; she had no children. She waits twenty-five years for Isaac, and Rebekah at 25:21 and Rachel at 29:31 wait the same way. Barrenness stands one verse before the promise of a great nation.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

City of God 16.12 · Written in the 5th century.

proposed

"And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah." This Iscah is supposed to be the same as Sarai, Abraham's wife.

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron) · Written before 735.

proposed

Abram and Nachor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nachor's wife was Melcha, the daughter of Aran, the father of Melcha and the father of Jescha.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And Abram and Nahor took them wives,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Milcah, the daughter of Haran - Many suppose Sarai and Iscah are the same person under two different names; but this is improbable, as Iscah is expressly said to be the daughter of Haran, and Sarai was the daughter of Terah, and half sister of Abram.

The words behind it

19 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיִּקַּ֨חand he took

    vaiyikachH3947 →966 times

  • אַבְרָ֧םAbram

    ʾavramH87 →61 times

  • וְנָח֛וֹרand Nahor

    venachorH5152 →18 times

  • לָהֶ֖םfor <the> themselves

    lahem

  • נָשִׁ֑יםwives

    nashimH802 →781 times

  • שֵׁ֤ם[the] name of

    shemH8034 →864 times

  • אֵֽשֶׁת־[the] wife of

    ʾeshet-H802 →781 times

  • אַבְרָם֙Abram

    ʾavramH87 →61 times

  • שָׂרָ֔י[was] Sarai

    saraiH8297 →17 times

  • וְשֵׁ֤םand [the] name of

    veshemH8034 →864 times

  • אֵֽשֶׁת־[the] wife of

    ʾeshet-H802 →781 times

  • נָחוֹר֙Nahor

    nachorH5152 →18 times

  • מִלְכָּ֔ה[was] Milcah

    milkahH4435 →11 times

  • בַּת־[the] daughter of

    bat-H1323 →588 times

  • הָרָ֥ןHaran

    haranH2039 →7 times

  • אֲבִֽי־[the] father of

    ʾavi-H1 →1212 times

  • מִלְכָּ֖הMilcah

    milkahH4435 →11 times

  • וַֽאֲבִ֥יand [the] father of

    vaaviH1 →1212 times

  • יִסְכָּֽה׃Iscah

    yiskahH3252 →

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

7 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Genesis 22:20Some time later, Abraham was told, “Milcah has also borne sons to your brother Nahor:6 worksGenesis 24:15Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.6 worksGenesis 17:15Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.5 worksEzekiel 16:3and 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 Hittite.4 worksGenesis 20:12Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father—though not the daughter of my mother—and she became my wife.3 worksGenesis 24:24She replied, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor.”3 works
The other 1 cross-references, with their words ▾
Genesis 12:13Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.”1 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Genesis 24:15

    Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 24:45

      And before I had finished praying in my heart, there was Rebekah coming out with her jar on her shoulder, and she went down to the spring and drew water. So I said to…

    • Isaiah 65:24

      Even before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

    • Psalms 65:2

      O You who listen to prayer, all people will come to You.

    • Daniel 9:20–23

      While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and that of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the LORD my God concerning His holy mountain—

  • Through

    Genesis 22:20

    Some time later, Abraham was told, “Milcah has also borne sons to your brother Nahor:

    it leads to

    • Genesis 24:24

      She replied, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor.”

  • Through

    Genesis 17:15

    Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, do not call her Sarai, for her name is to be Sarah.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 32:28

      Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”

    • Genesis 17:5

      No longer will you be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.

    • 2 Samuel 12:25

      and sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah because the LORD loved him.

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

The Tower of Babel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
The Tower of Babel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 11 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, City of God 16.12; Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Genesis 11 →