Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

“Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Now this is the history of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot. Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees, while his father Terah was still alive. Abram and Nahor married wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah. Sarai was barren. She had no child.”
(Genesis 11:26-30)

Much like with Noah (Genesis 5:32), we are given an approximate birthing year for Terah’s three sons. It is unlikely they were triplets. The order of their names is probably the order of their birth, since Abram was 75 years old when Terah died. At this time there were eleven generations of Noah’s line alive at the same time on the Earth.

The family branches out and we are introduced to Haran’s children – important since the nephew Lot ends up travelling with Abram. Nahor had no children at this point. Even though this entire family group was descended from Noah, not all of them were godly. Joshua 24:2 tells us that some of them worshipped idols: “Joshua said to all the people, “Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor. They served other gods.” Their behaviour certainly wasn’t in line with what God says is right. Abram married his sister and Nahor married his niece. Both of those were expressly forbidden in the Law and punishable by death (Leviticus 18:9-29). God didn’t approve of either. But since He had not yet given the Law to be followed, the sin was not imputed to them (Romans 5:13). God did not hold them responsible for what they did not know to be wrong.

Sarai was barren. So were her descendants Rebekah and Rachel. All three women ended up being miraculously provided children by God.

There is an oral tradition about Haran’s death. It could simply have been mentioned since was unusual for a father to die before a son at this time. But some sages believe that it is mentioned as an allusion to the oral tale. It can be quite long, but the sage Rashi gives us a peek at it when he writes: ‘על פני תרח אביו IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS FATHER TERAH — meaning during his father’s lifetime (Genesis Rabbah 38:13). The Midrashic explanation is that he died through his father. For Terah accused his son Abram before Nimrod of having smashed his idols to pieces, and he cast him into a fiery furnace. Haran waited and said to himself, “If Abram proves triumphant I will be on his side; if Nimrod wins I shall be on his”. When Abram was saved they said to Haran, “Whose side are you on?” Haran replied, “I am on Abram’s side”. They therefore cast him into the fiery furnace and he was burnt to death. It is to this that the name of the place Ur-Kasdim (fire of the Chaldees) alludes (Genesis Rabbah 38:13). Menachem ben Seruk, however, explains that אור means a valley, as (Isaiah 24:15) “Glorify ye the Lord in the valleys (באורים)”, and as (Isaiah 11:8) “the den (מאורת) of the basilisk”. Every hole or deep cleft may be called אור.’ If you want a fuller version, I suggest you read Ramban’s commentary or Rabbeinu Bahya’s commentary.

The sage Ibn Ezra writes: ‘[AND BEGOT ABRAM.] Abraham was born in a place called Ur of the Chaldees. Therefore glorify ye the Lord in the regions of light (be-urim) (Is. 24:15) is like it. It appears to me that at the time of Abraham’s birth Ur of the Chaldees had another name since the Chaldees are descended from Nahor, the brother of Abraham, and that in writing the Torah Moses used the name in vogue in his time when he cited Ur of the Chaldees. Proof that Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldees can be found in the fact that Haran died there and Scripture says, And Haran died…in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees (v. 20). It is also possible that the Chaldees made a flame (altar) and the place thereof was called Ur (the flame, altar) of the Chaldees. In this instance Ur has the meaning of fire, as in whose fire (ur) is in Zion (Is. 31:9).’

The sage Radak writes: ‘ויחי תרח..והרן הוליד את לוט. The offspring of Nachor is not mentioned, as Nachor did not beget any offspring until after the binding of Yitzchok on the altar in Genesis 22,20. Haran’s son Lot had to be mentioned as his son, seeing that Lot joined Avraham in his migration to the land of Canaan.’