CRITICAL NOTES.—
Genesis 11:28. Ur of the Chaldees] “Ur in Heb. means light, and was probably so called from the Persian idolatry of fire worship, prevalent among this people. Abram was called by God out of this region of idolaters, to be a follower of the true God” (Jacobus).—
Genesis 11:29. The father of Iscah] This name is nowhere else mentioned. Jewish traditions consider it as identical with Sarai, one name having been borne before she left Chaldea, the other afterwards. Alford thinks that this view is inconsistent with what is stated in Genesis 17:17, and remarks that “Marriage with near relatives was the practice of Terah’s family” (Genesis 24:3-4; Genesis 28:1-2).—
Genesis 11:30. But Sarai was barren] Inserted as bearing upon the following history.—
Genesis 11:31. And Terah took Abraham his son] “Terah was an idolater (Joshua 24:2), so that this, his journey, can hardly be supposed to have been an obedience on his part to that Divine intimation which we learn from the subsequent Jehovist account, was made to his son” (Alford).—They came unto Haran] The Greek has Charran (Acts 7:2). Terah intended to go to Canaan, but stopped here, probably on account of increasing age and infirmity.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Genesis 11:27-32
THE DAWN OF ABRAM’S HISTORY
Here we have the commencement of the sixth document, indicated by the usual preface, “These are the generations.” This portion is intended to bring Abram before us, and therefore goes to the roots of his history, showing us from what a source so eminent an example of righteousness sprung. The history is brief, but it may be considered as a condensed outline of Abraham’s life. Here we find him—
I. Possessed of great moral courage. Terah, the father of Abram, was an idolator (Joshua 24:2). Both himself and his children were ignorant of the true object of worship, or if they had any knowledge of this, they did not retain that knowledge, but suffered themselves to be led away by the impiety around them. Such is the hole of the pit from whence this sublime character was digged. Abram is the next great name in the sacred record to Noah, and their moral histories are very similar. Noah passed through the flood, and through an age of extraordinary wickedness to the victory of faith; and Abram passed through heathenism to become the chief example, in those early times, of belief in God. Abram had the moral courage to leave these idolatrous associations. In Genesis 11:31 Terah, his father, is represented as the leader of the migration to Canaan. But it is probable that the history in Genesis 12 is anticipated, and that Abram listening to the Divine call, persuaded his father also to obey. The courage of the father of the faithful influenced all his family, and they were ready to follow the leading of the Providence of God to better things. The great moral revolutions of the world have been brought about by the influence of men to whom God had spoken. By obeying the early suggestions of the Divine Spirit, men have been led on to glorious results, of which at the first they had no suspicion. Here also we find Abram—
II. Under the shadow of a future trial. (Genesis 11:30.) Sarai’s barrenness was, no doubt, a great trial to him, in that early age when men naturally desired a numerous offspring. But in his subsequent history this circumstance was not only a natural cause of regret, but it raised a difficulty in the way of his faith. This fact stood in his way, and for long years he had to endure the conflict of hoping against hope. The shadow of a coming trial now rested upon Abraham in order that his faith might prove itself strong by encountering difficulties.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Genesis 11:27. The present paragraph is of special interest for the coming history. Its opening word and (A. V. now), intimates its close connection with the preceding document; and, accordingly, we observe that the one is merely introductory to the other. The various characters brought forward are all of moment. Terah is the patriarch and leader of the migration for part of the way. Abram is the subject of the following narrative. Nahor is the grandfather of Rebekah. Haran is the father of Lot, the companion of Abram, of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, and grandmother of Rebekah, and of Iskah. Iskah alone seems to have no connection with the subsequent narrative.—(Murphy.)
Small hath the line of the Church been from the beginning, in comparison with the line of the world.—(Hughes.)
If we seek for the origin of some of the greatest religious and social revolutions which the world has known, we often find it in a small group of men.
Genesis 11:28. Properly, in his presence, so that he must have seen it; it does not, therefore, mean simply in his life-time. The first case of a natural death of a son before the death of his father, is a new sign of increasing mortality.—(Lange.)
Death is described as the land “without any order,” and truly without any order does he snatch away the sons of men. He strikes down the children before the face of their parents.
Providence ordaineth the land of the nativity of some to be the place of their expiring.—(Hughes.)
Genesis 11:29. Sarai was, according to Genesis 20:12, the daughter of Terah by another wife than Abram’s mother, and was ten years younger than her husband (Genesis 17:17).—(Alford.)
1. The subject spoken of, Sarai; she that was to be the mother of the Church, of whom, purposely, the Spirit writeth this which followeth to show forth the power of God.
2. The condition spoken of her—under two expressions.
(1) She was barren, i.e., naturally she was so, and that from her youth and first marriage—the fitter object for God to work upon by His power.
(2) To her was no child. That is, hitherto she had no child, when she was now taking her journey with her husband and grandfather. God records the trials of His saints, not for their reproach but for His own glory.—(Hughes.)
Long and silent trials are often the portion of the greatest saints.
Genesis 11:31. It is evident from Genesis 12:1, that this expedition was undertaken in consequence of the Divine call to Abraham to come out from a land of idolaters; but from the deference paid to the head of a family, Terah is here represented as chief in the movement, though really acting in obedience to the monitions of his son. Nahor and his wife Milcah, it would appear, were unwilling to go, at least at present; yet as we find them in the course of the history settled at Haran, and Abraham and Isaac sending to them for wives, we may conclude that they afterwards “repented and went.” Thus the whole of Terah’s family, though they did not go to Canaan, yet were probably preserved from Chaldean idolatry, and fixing themselves in Haran, maintained for a considerable time the worship of the true God. The narrative suggests to us, that while the most exemplary marks of respect are due from children to parents, yet parents themselves may sometimes be called to follow their children as leaders, when they have obtained clearer light as to the path of duty, and go forth at the evident call of God. But even in such cases a proper spirit of filial reverence will give as much precedency as possible to parental actions.—(Bush.)
A godly man in the performance of the highest duties will consider the claims of natural propriety. St. Paul does not scruple to refer the Corinthians to the teaching of nature, and to urge them to have regard to what is seemly.
Religious duty can be performed so as not to interfere with the claims of natural relationship.
Terah’s migration to Canaan—
(1) Its spirited beginning;
(2) its failure to go on. Abraham and his kinsmen—
(1) He was probably the author of the movement;
(2) they, probably, the cause of his tarrying in Haran.—(Lange.)
St. Paul tells us that Abraham went forth “not knowing whither he went.” Here it is stated that the “land of Canaan” was the object and purpose of this migration. So it was in the Divine destination, but not as a definite resolve of their own. The historian evidently writes from the standpoint of subsequent facts. They went forth under the leading of Providence, having just light enough for each successive portion of the journey—the end not yet revealed. Faith asks not to see the whole of its course spread before it, but only light enough to take the next step. He who gives that faith will take care of the whole course, and secure the success of the end.
They came to Haran, and dwelt there. Broken down with fatigue, he halts for a season at Haran to recruit his wasted powers. Filial piety, no doubt, kept Abram watching over the last days of his venerable parent, who, probably, still clung to the fond hope of reaching the land of his adoption. Hence, they all abode in Haran for the remainder of the five years from the date of Abram’s call to leave his native land.—(Murphy.)
Genesis 11:32. Time and place are appointed to die as to be born in. It is good to be ready in every place.—(Hughes.)
Terah was two hundred and five years old. If Abram, therefore, was seventy-five years old when he migrated from Mesopotamia, and Terah was seventy-five years old at his birth, then must Abraham have set forth sixty years before the death of Terah. And this is very important. The migration had a religious motive which would not allow him to wait till the death of his father. As Delitzsch remarks, the manner of representation in Genesis disposes of the history of the less important personages before relating the main history. The Samaritan text has set the age of Terah at one hundred and forty-five, under the idea that Abraham did not set out on his migration until after the death of Haran. The representation of Stephen (Acts 7:4) connects itself with the general course of the narration.—(Lange.)
Terah, like Moses, failed to enter the Land of Promise. God had provided for him a better country, where the purposes so incompletely fulfilled here will reach completion. There are no broken and rudimentary structures in the city of God.
We are forcibly reminded of our pilgrim state by the fact that many of God’s people have died on journeys. However imperfectly we may have realised our ideal of life, it is well to be prepared for that last solemn journey which we must take alone, and where no help can avail but the rod and staff of God.
The history here given of the post-diluvians has a striking resemblance in structure to that of the ante-diluvians. The preservation of Noah from the waters of the flood is the counterpart of the creation of Adam, after the land had risen out of the roaring deep. The intoxication of Noah by the fruit of a tree corresponds with the fall of Adam by eating the fruit of a forbidden tree. The worldly policy of Nimrod and his builders is parallel with the city-building and many inventions of the Cainites. The pedigree of Abram, the tenth from Shem, stands over against the pedigree of Noah, the tenth from Adam. And the paragraph now before us bears some resemblance to that which precedes the personal history of Noah. All this tends to strengthen the impression made by some other phenomena already noticed, that the book of Genesis is the work of one author, and not a mere pile of documents by different writers.—(Murphy.)