Genesis 11:26-32

Bible Study Lesson for July 1

Genesis 11:26-32

Genesis 1-11 are sometimes called the primeval history, because they focus on the origins of the whole world. In chapter 10, we had a genealogy that explained where many of the nations came from and how they related to each other. The focus  was on mighty kings and empire builders, like Nimrod the mighty hunter. In chapter 11, after the destruction of Babel, we resume the genealogy, but in this case we follow one line to find the origin of one family. In verse 26 we are introduced to a man named Terah who has three sons.

As we talked about in Genesis 5, this type of genealogy is important because it follows a consistent pattern from generation to generation. The formula goes: “When [father] had lived [number] years, he became the father of [son]. And [father] lived after the birth of son [number]  years, and had other sons and daughters.” Recognizing the pattern helps us see when the pattern is broken and calls our attention to something different and important. This happens in verse 26 when we meet Terah and the genealogy gives way to story telling. 

Verse 26- Terah

Instead of following the formula of the previous verses, in which one son gets named, in verse 26 Terah has three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. These three sons will shape a lot of the story going forward with Abram driving most of the action. Nahor’ s family will intermarry with Abram’s family. Haran’s son Lot will be a traveling companion for his uncle Abram  and appear in the next few episodes in the story.

Verses 27-30- Setting up the story

As with the sons of Noah, the repetition of Terah’s sons’ names marks the introduction of a new phase in the story. Haran is dismissed as quickly as he is introduced. He is important to the story mainly as the father of Lot. Haran’s death seems to have consequences in the story. It is possible that the death of his son caused Terah to move and maybe even name the place where he settled after his dead son (v. 31).

The wives of Nahor and Abram set a pattern for the marriage practices of the Patriarchs. Nahor marries his niece Milcah, the daughter of the deceased brother Haran. Their family will remain in Haran and their granddaughter Rebecca will become Isaac’s wife. Rebecca’s nieces Leah and Rachel (Nahor’s great granddaughters) will be wives of Abram’s grandson Jacob. 

It will be important to the family to remain separate from the nations that inhabit Canaan and the surrounding area. Keeping this separation is so important that they only marry people within the family. This will be an important theme going forward in the story. In Leviticus 18:6-18, many of these marriage relationships will be condemned, but at this point in the story, those laws obviously haven’t been written yet.

Abram’s wife Sarai is barren and this becomes the main narrative tension for the next several chapters. Here, though, it is presented as a plain fact. At this point in the story, if we didn’t already know the importance of Abram, we would assume that the future hope of this family rests with Nahor and Milcah or perhaps Lot. We already know the ending, but if we didn’t, we’d have to wait until Genesis 12:2, which we’ll cover next week.

Verses 31-32- Leaving Home

Terah’s decision to leave Ur has always intrigued me, but it doesn’t seem like the narrative is particularly interested in giving a reason. Specifically, Terah’s proposed destination of Canaan foreshadows God’s command to Abram in the next chapter.  All we have here is Terah’s decision. He decides to settle his family in a town on the other side of the river from Canaan, which he perhaps names after his son Haran. This is where we will find Abram in the next verse when God tells him to relocate. God will not tell Abram right away that he will finish his father’s journey, but that is just what he will do. Terah’s story comes to a close; he dies, leaving Abram, Nahor, and Lot (along with their families) in Haran. 

Conclusion

The family of Terah, out of all of the families of the earth, will occupy the central place of the narrative for the rest the book of Genesis and indeed the rest of the Bible. At this point, Terah’s family story is one of tragedy. His son Haran is dead. Abram’s wife Sarai is incapable of producing an heir. Perhaps the best hope for the family is the middle son, Nahor, or Haran’s heir, Lot. But God will have a different plan.

This passage is a bridge from the hopelessness of the nations to the hope of the salvation that God has prepared in the family of Abram, son of Terah. But at this point, Abram’s situation represents the hopelessness that characterizes the world. Sarai’s barrenness is a good metaphor for the loss of humanity’s future after the Flood and Babel. In time, God will bring the dead hopes of this family to life and through that living hope God will restore the hopes of the world.

In the ancient mind, it was common to see a patriarch’s whole line after him in the patriarch himself. So when Abram is in view, Jewish and early Christian readers would see everyone who comes after: Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and his brothers, and on and on to King David and the Messiah Jesus. This family line dwells in Abram and it will be salvation, first for Israel and then for the nations of the earth. But at this point in the story, there is no hope for Abram and Sarai to have a son. The great lineage is stopped, like water pooling behind a dam or a kink in a garden hose. The lineage calls out for God to intervene. God will break into the story and promise Abram a son. God will open Sarai’s womb and a son will be born.

Hope, at this early stage, is a fragile thing. God’s promise requires faith precisely because it so often runs counter to the natural order of things. Sarai will become Sarah and give birth in her nineties. Rebekah and Rachel will have their own struggles with fertility. Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, will carry the hope of the world to a Roman cross. On that cross, the hope of the world will die with Jesus. But on the third day, by the power of God, the man and the hope will be resurrected.