Genesis 11:31

And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Terah	תֶּ֜רַח Te.rach	H8646	Terach · proper noun, a man's name
took	וַיִּקַּ֨ח vai.yi.Kach	H3947	to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Abram	אַבְרָ֣ם 'av.Ram	H87	Abram · proper noun, a man's name
son	בְּנ֗וֹ be.No	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Lot	ל֤וֹט Lot	H3876	Lot · proper noun, a man's name
son	בֶּן ben-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Haran	הָרָן֙ ha.Ran	H2039	Haran · proper noun, a man's name
son’s	בֶּן ben-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct
son	בְּנ֔וֹ be.No	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Sarai	שָׂרַ֣י sa.Rai	H8297	Sarai · proper noun, a woman's name
law	כַּלָּת֔וֹ ka.la.To	H3618	a bride (as if perfect) · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
son	בְּנ֑וֹ be.No	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Abram’s	אַבְרָ֣ם 'av.Ram	H87	Abram · proper noun, a man's name
wife	אֵ֖שֶׁת 'E.shet	H802	a woman · noun, common feminine singular construct
forth	וַיֵּצְא֨וּ vai.ye.tze.'U	H3318	to go (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Ur	מֵא֣וּר me.'Ur	H218	Ur · preposition + proper noun, a place name
Chaldees	כַּשְׂדִּ֗ים kas.Dim	H3778	a Kasdite · proper noun, a place name
go	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
land	אַ֣רְצָה 'Ar.tzah	H776	the earth (at large · noun, common feminine singular construct + directional suffix
Canaan	כְּנַ֔עַן ke.Na.'an	H3667	Kenaan · proper noun, a place name
came	וַיָּבֹ֥אוּ vai.ya.Vo.'u	H935	to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
Haran	חָרָ֖ן cha.Ran	H2771	Charan · proper noun, a place name
dwelt	וַיֵּ֥שְׁבוּ vai.Ye.she.vu	H3427	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Nehemiah 9:7 Thou art the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;
Acts 7:2-4 And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he d…
Genesis 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of…
Genesis 15:7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.
Genesis 24:10 And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, a…
Joshua 24:2-3 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even…
Genesis 11:32-12:1 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.
Genesis 10:19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 11:27–end

Here begins the story of Abram, whose name is famous, henceforward, in both Testaments. We have here, I. His country: Ur of the Chaldees. This was the land of his nativity, an idolatrous country, where even the children of Eber themselves had degenerated. Note, Those who are, through grace, heirs of the land of promise, ought to remember what was the land of their nativity, what was their corrupt and sinful state by nature, the rock out of which they were hewn. II. His relations, mentioned for his sake, and because of their interest in the following story. 1. His father was Terah, of whom it is said (Jos 24:2) that he served other gods, on the other side of the flood, so early did idolatry g…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 11:31

Sarai his daughter-in-law--the same as Iscah [Gen 11:29], granddaughter of Terah, probably by a second wife, and by early usages considered marriageable to her uncle, Abraham. they came unto Haran--two days' journey south-southeast from Ur, on the direct road to the ford of the Euphrates at Rakka, the nearest and most convenient route to Palestine. Next: Genesis Chapter 12

Adam Clarke on Genesis 11:31

They went forth - front Ur of the Chaldees - Chaldea is sometimes understood as comprising the whole of Babylonia; at other times, that province towards Arabia Deserta, called in Scripture The land of the Chaldeans. The capital of this place was Babylon, called in Scripture The beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, Isa 13:19. Ur appears to have been a city of some considerable consequence at that time in Chaldea; but where situated is not well known. It probably had its name Ur אור, which signifies fire, from the worship practiced there. The learned are almost unanimously of opinion that the ancient inhabitants of this region were ignicolists or worshippers of fire, and in that place this sort…

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John Gill on Genesis 11:31

The Church Fathers

(Verse 29) And Abram and Nachor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nachor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran. The father of Milcah was also the father of Iscah. Haran fathered two daughters, Milcah and Iscah, who were both called by the same name. Of these, Milcah became the wife of Nachor, and Sarai became the wife of Abram. At that time, marriage between cousins and between siblings was not yet prohibited by law, as it later became among all people, even among brothers and sisters.
— Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis

Next it is related how Terah with his family left the region of the Chaldeans and came into Mesopotamia and dwelt in Haran. But nothing is said about one of his sons called Nahor, as if Abram had not taken him along with him. For the narrative runs thus: "And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarah his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and led them forth out of the region of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; and he came into Haran, and dwelt there." Nahor and Milcah his wife are nowhere named here.
— Augustine of Hippo, City of God 16.13

But afterwards, when Abraham sent his servant to take a wife for his son Isaac, we find it thus written: "And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his lord, and of all the goods of his lord, with him; and arose, and went into Mesopotamia, into the city of Nahor." This and other testimonies of this sacred history show that Nahor, Abraham's brother, had also left the region of the Chaldeans and fixed his abode in Mesopotamia, where Abraham dwelt with his father. Why, then, did the Scripture not mention him when Terah with his family went forth out of the Chaldean nation and dwelt in Haran, since it mentions that he took with him not only Abraham his son but also Sarah his daughter-in-law and Lot his grandson? The only reason we can think of is that perhaps he had lapsed from the piety of his father and brother, and adhered to the superstition of the Chaldeans and had afterwards emigrated there, either through penitence or because he was persecuted as a suspected person.
— Augustine of Hippo, City of God 16.13

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Abraham — Father of a multitude, son of Terah, named (Gen. 11:27) before his older brothers Nahor and Haran, because he was the heir of the promises. Till the age of seventy, Abram sojourned among his kindred…
Haran — (1.) Heb. haran; i.e., “mountaineer.” The eldest son of Terah, brother of Abraham and Nahor, and father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah. He died before his father (Gen. 11:27), in Ur of the Chaldees. (2.)…
Iscah — Spy, the daughter of Haran and sister of Milcah and Lot (Gen. 11:29, 31).
Lot — (Heb. goral, a “pebble”), a small stone used in casting lots (Num. 33:54; Jonah 1:7). The lot was always resorted to by the Hebrews with strictest reference to the interposition of God, and as a…
Mesopotamia — The country between the two rivers (Heb. Aram-naharaim; i.e., “Syria of the two rivers”), the name given by the Greeks and Romans to the region between the Euphrates and the Tigris (Gen. 24:10; Deut.…
Nahor — Snorting. (1.) The father of Terah, who was the father of Abraham (Gen. 11:22-25; Luke 3:34). (2.) A son of Terah, and elder brother of Abraham (Gen. 11:26, 27; Josh. 24:2, R.V.). He married Milcah,…
Sarai — My princess, the name originally borne by Sarah (Gen. 11:31; 17:15).
Terah — The wanderer; loiterer, for some unknown reason emigrated with his family from his native mountains in the north to the plains of Mesopotamia. He had three sons, Haran, Nahor, and Abraham, and one…
Ur — Light, or the moon city, a city “of the Chaldees,” the birthplace of Haran (Gen. 11:28, 31), the largest city of Shinar or northern Chaldea, and the principal commercial centre of the country as well…
Abraham · Lives in Ur, but removes to Haran — Lives in Ur, but removes to Haran
Babylon · Situated beyond the Euphrates — Situated beyond the Euphrates

Genesis 11:31

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 11:27–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 11:31

Adam Clarke on Genesis 11:31

John Gill on Genesis 11:31

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 11:31

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 11:27–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 11:31

Adam Clarke on Genesis 11:31

John Gill on Genesis 11:31

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 11:31–end

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 11:27–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 11:31

Rashi on Genesis 11:31