historical · Gen 11:27–32 · ✓ Approved

Ur, Haran, and Terah’s household in early reading

Says “Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans” (Gen 11:28; בְּאוּר כַּשְׂדִּים, be'ur kasdim). Haran was “the father of both Milcah and Iscah” (11:29; יִסְכָּה, yiskah). Terah’s household “set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan”, but “when they arrived in Haran, they settled there” (11:31), and “Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran” (11:32).

Josephus places Haran’s death “in a city of the Chaldeans, called Ur; and his monument is shewn to this day”. Keil seeks Ur in the north, perhaps “the old name for Edessa, the modern Urfa”. Pseudo-Jonathan reads Ur as fire: Haran died “in the furnace of fire which the Kasdai had made for Abram his brother”; Calvin reports that the Jews “say that he died in the fire”. Charles finds that legend “apparently unknown” to Jubilees. Pseudo-Jonathan and Augustine take Iscah as Sarai (“Iska, who is Sara”); Keil calls this “irreconcilable with chap. xx. 12”. Augustine adds 70 and 75 to get “145 years” and holds that Scripture “has gone back to the time which had already been passed by the narrative”. These are their readings.

Uncertain Where Ur lay, who Iscah was, and how Terah’s 205 years fit Abram’s departure (12:4; Acts 7:4) are open. No lean is taken, and these readings do not fix the meaning of 11:27–32.

Claims

SaysGen 11:28–32: Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, Ur of the Chaldeans; Haran was the father of Milcah and Iscah; Terah took Abram, Lot and Sarai and set out from Ur for Canaan, settled in Haran, and died there at 205.
UncertainWhere Ur lay, who Iscah was, and how Terah’s 205 years fit Abram’s departure at 75 (Gen 12:4) and Acts 7:4 are open; no lean is taken, and the early readings do not fix the meaning.

Citations

BSB public domain Gen 11:28–29, 11:31–32
OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 11:28–29
Josephus (Whiston) public domain Ant. 1.6.5 = 1.148–153 (Whiston, 1817, vol. 1), p. 26 (n35); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Keil, Pentateuch vol. 1 (Clark, Martin trans., 1868), on Gen 11:28–29, p. 179 (n182); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
Etheridge public domain Etheridge, vol. 1 (1862), Targum of Palestine (Pseudo-Jonathan) on Gen 11:28–29, p. 192 (n204); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain Calvin, Genesis 1 (King, CTS 1847), on Gen 11:28, p. 337 (n346); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
APOT public domain vol. 2 (1913): Charles’s note on Jub 12:1–14, p. 30 (n49); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
Augustine, City of God (NPNF1 vol. 2) public domain Civ. 16.12, 16.15, pp. 318–320 (n341–n343) (trans. Dods, NPNF¹ 2; CCEL npnf102.iv.XVI.12, npnf102.iv.XVI.15); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased

Sources BSB public domain OSHB CC BY 4.0 Josephus (Whiston) public domain Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Etheridge public domain Calvin, Genesis (King) 1 public domain APOT public domain Augustine, City of God (NPNF1 vol. 2) public domain Bible Scholarship & Tool CC BY 4.0

2026-11-12

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