And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
Abram and Nahor took them wives. The consuetudinary law of marriage in nomadic tribes obliges a young man to choose his wife from among those who are connected by ties of blood with his own clan. But in Terah's family matrimonial alliances, sanctioned, doubtless, by the customs of a pagan land, were allowed within degrees of consanguinity nearer than are permitted by the code of a more advanced and Christian society (cf. Genesis 20:12). The same practice obtained among the Hebrews in the pre-Mosaic age (cf. Exodus 2:1 with Numbers 26:59).
Iscah. Josephus, Jerome, and most modern commentators consider this to be another name for Sarai, who was ten years younger than Abram (Genesis 17:17). But Iscah is expressly said to be the daughter of Haran; and it seems strange to apply this name to Sarai, when she is mentioned by her own name both in this and the following verse. Ewald thinks that Iscah is introduced here as the wife of Lot (see further the note at Genesis 20:12).