Genesis 11:26

Terah lived seventy years. This text seems to imply that Abram, Nahor, and Haran were triplets, born when their father Terah was 70 years old. That such was not the case is evident from the following considerations. Terah died in Haran at the age of 205 years (ch. 11:32). Abram journeyed to Canaan at the age of 75 (ch. 12:4). Abram’s call to leave Haran came after his father’s death, as explicitly stated in Acts 7:4.

Abram cannot then have been older than 75 at the death of his father, and Terah was at least 130 years old when Abram was born. Therefore, ch. 11:26 means that Terah began to beget sons when he was seventy years old. Youngest of the three sons, Abram is mentioned first because of his importance as ancestor of the Hebrews. Although it is not certain which of the two remaining sons of Terah, Nahor or Haran, was the elder, the fact that Nahor married Haran’s daughter (ch. 11:29) may point to Haran as Nahor’s senior.

Abram. “Father of elevation” or “exalted father,” pointing to his honored position as ancestor of God’s chosen people. His name was later changed by God to Abraham (ch. 17:5). The name appears in Egyptian records as that of an Amorite ruler of a Palestinian city at the very time Abram lived. It appears also in a contemporary cuneiform document from Babylonia, showing that the name was not uncommon.

Nahor. This son of Terah was named after his grandfather.

Haran. This name has no meaning in Hebrew. It is similar to Haran, Charon, the city where Terah settled. The name of the city, related to an Assyrian root word meaning “highway,” may indicate its location astride one of the principal trade routes between Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean.

As with the antediluvian chronology, the Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX credit patriarchs from the Flood to the birth of Abram with considerably longer lives than do the Hebrew text and English translations based upon it (see on ch. 5:32). Whereas the KJV has 352 years between the Flood and Abram’s birth, the Samaritan LXX, 1,132 or 1,232 (according to variant readings).

The LXX insertion of Cainan between Arphaxad and Salah may, however, be justified. In this the LXX is confirmed by Luke, who also lists Cainan in this position (Luke 3:35, 36). In spite of apparent disagreement between Moses (and 1 Chron. 1:24) on the one hand and Luke and the LXX on the other, no real difficulty exists. The Scriptures contain numerous and striking instances of the omission of names from genealogical lists. In tracing his own ancestry back to Aaron, Ezra for instance, omits at least six names (see Ezra 7:1-5; cf. 1 Chron. 6:3-15).

Centuries later Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus omits four kings of Judah, and possibly other ancestors of our Lord (see on Matt. 1:8, 17). Moses’ possible omission of Cainan from the list of Gen. 11:10–26 should not therefore be considered an inaccuracy, but rather an example of what was a common practice among Hebrew writers.

Whatever may be the case, the list as given by Moses must be considered at least fairly complete. Ellen G. White refers to an “unbroken line” of righteous men — from Adam to Shem — who passed down the knowledge of God that Abram inherited. This has been taken by some to imply that Abram must have been instructed by Shem personally; if so, then Abram was born some years before Shem’s death, which is dated 500 years after the Flood.