Genesis 11b-12a

23 Dec 2025 - Theology

Genesis 11:10-32 - 12:9 - The Call of Abram

Why did God choose Abram?

Abram’s Family Tree

Genesis 11:27-30

Terah begat

• Abram (son)
• Nahor (son)
• Haran (son)

Haran begat

• Lot (son)
• Milcah (daughter)
• Iscah (daughter)

Haran dies. Abram marries Sarai. Nahor marries Milcah.

Problems:

• verse 30 is in a weird spot and should be located up where Sarai is first mentioned
• women aren’t mentioned in a genealogical record unless absolutely necessary and relevant to the geneology - why is Iscah mentioned?

Sarai = “my princess” (Hebrew)
Iscah = “my princess” (Chaldean or Mesopotamian)

Are Sarai and Iscah the same person?

Genesis 11:29 - “And Abram and Nahor took wives…” This is grammatically incorrect, with plural subjects but a singular verb. In other words, the Hebrew phrase reads, “Abram and Nahor he took wives”. The teachers taught that when you see this grammatical error, it is the author letting you know that the subjects are performing a benevolent, altruistic act, and they are of one mind together when they do it. The first name gets credit for the idea, in this case Abram. If it is his idea then he chooses the barren daughter of Haran. Haran had died, and it was his job as the father to marry off his daughters. If someone does not care for the daughters, they will struggle and eventually die outside of their father’s house (beit av), without legacy, community, and dignity.

God chose Abram because he trusts the story and looks to the needs of others before his own.

God is still looking for partners.

The Call of Abram

Genesis 11:26-12:9

Abram was born in Ur of the Chaldees.
Ur = “city”, so Ur of the Chaldees = Chaldee City
Terah was 70 years old when he begat his sons (11:26)

Terah wanted to move the family to the land of Canaan, but when they reached the city of Haran, they settled there. They lived there a long time, then Terah died at 205 years old.

Then Adonai spoke to Abram, telling him to leave his beit av in Haran. Abram was 75 when he left the city of Haran. This call is not common, in those days you would stay in your beit av until your father died. To leave would mean to leave his birthplace, lineage, offspring, and family.

Genesis 12:2-3 - God wants to bless Abram so that through their partnership, God will bless the rest of the world.

Problems:

• Why did Lot go with Abram?
• How did Abram and Lot have so many possessions to take to Canaan?
• the city of Haran has the same name as Terah’s son Haran

Acts 7:2-4 - Stephen states that Abram dwelt in Haran until Terah died, then moved to Canaan.

Abram was not the firstborn! 205=70+75+?

Typically in a geneology, the male sons are listed in birth order. However in this case, Abram was listed before his brothers Nahor and Haran (11:26).

Joshua 24:2 - “And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.”

Genesis 31:53 - “The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.”

Based on these verses, it seems that Abraham served a different God than Terah and Nahor, which could be why he is listed first in the Biblical geneology.

References

1. The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
2. The BEMA Podcast, Episode 8: Buried in a Geneology
3. The Torah Portion-by-Portion by Rabbi Seymour Rossel (2007)