Terah’s 205 years and 145
Says The Hebrew gives Terah חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים וּמָאתַיִם שָׁנָה (“five years and two hundred years,” 205). The Samaritan text reads ויהיו ימי תרח חמש שנים וארבעים ומאת שנה וימת תרח בחרן (“and the days of Terah were five years and forty and a hundred years, and Terah died in Haran,” 145). The Greek agrees with the Hebrew, διακόσια πέντε ἔτη, and adds “in Haran” to the first clause.
Says The figures meet 11:26: Terah was 70 at the birth of his sons, and 12:4 has Abram leave Haran at 75. Acts 7:4 says “After his father died, God brought him out of that place” (BSB).
Uncertain With 205 and Abram born when Terah was 70, Terah would still have lived about sixty years after Abram left. The Samaritan 145 makes Terah die in the year Abram leaves, which fits Acts 7:4 but may be a later harmonizing. Or 11:26 names Abram first without making him the firstborn, so Abram was born later and the Hebrew figure stands; the objection is that 11:26 gives no other age. No lean is taken here.
Says Editorial decision: print the MT (confidence medium).
Claims
- SaysThe Hebrew gives Terah חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים וּמָאתַיִם שָׁנָה (“five years and two hundred years,” 205). The Samaritan text reads ויהיו ימי תרח חמש שנים וארבעים ומאת שנה וימת תרח בחרן (“and the days of Terah were five years and forty and a hundred years, and Terah died in Haran,” 145). The Greek agrees with the Hebrew, διακόσια πέντε ἔτη, and adds “in Haran” to the first clause.
- SaysThe figures meet 11:26: Terah was 70 at the birth of his sons, and 12:4 has Abram leave Haran at 75. Acts 7:4 says “After his father died, God brought him out of that place” (BSB).
- UncertainWith 205 and Abram born when Terah was 70, Terah would still have lived about sixty years after Abram left. The Samaritan 145 makes Terah die in the year Abram leaves, which fits Acts 7:4 but may be a later harmonizing. Or 11:26 names Abram first without making him the firstborn, so Abram was born later and the Hebrew figure stands; the objection is that 11:26 gives no other age. No lean is taken here.
- SaysEditorial decision: print the MT (confidence medium).
Citations
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 11:26, 32 (WLC/OSHB; morph HAcfsa)
- von Gall, Sam. Pent. public domain Gen 11:26, 32, main text; Samaritan text, von Gall p. 18 (leaf n543), archive.org vonGall_SamaritanPentateuch, checked against the printed page (scan)
- LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 11:32, text and apparatus. LXX: Swete, vol. 1 (1901), p. 19 (leaf n50). Checked against the printed page (scan).
- BSB public domain Acts 7:4 (BSB)
Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits
2026-11-12
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