And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor;
| Word | Hebrew | Strong’s | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| after | אַחֲרֵי֙ 'a.cha.Rei | H310 | properly · cardinal number, masculine plural construct |
| things | הַדְּבָרִ֣ים ha.de.va.Rim | H1697 | a word · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute |
| told | וַיֻּגַּ֥ד vai.yu.Gad | H5046 | properly · conjunction + verb, hophal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular |
| Abraham | לְאַבְרָהָ֖ם le.'av.ra.Ham | H85 | Abraham · preposition + proper noun, a man's name |
| saying | לֵאמֹ֑ר le.Mor | H559 | to say (used with great latitude) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct |
| Milcah | מִלְכָּ֥ה mil.Kah | H4435 | Milcah · proper noun, a woman's name |
| born | יָלְדָ֨ה yale.Dah | H3205 | to bear young · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular |
| children | בָּנִ֖ים ba.Nim | H1121 | a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural absolute |
| brother | אָחִֽיךָ 'a.Chi.kha | H251 | a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular |
| Nahor | לְנָח֥וֹר le.na.Chor | H5152 | Nochor · preposition + proper noun, a man's name |
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 from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
This is recorded here, 1. To show that though Abraham saw his own family highly dignified with peculiar privileges, admitted into covenant, and blessed with the entail of the promise, yet he did not look with contempt and disdain upon his relations, but was glad to hear of the increase and prosperity of their families. 2. To make way for the following story of the marriage of Isaac to Rebekah, a daughter of this family.
Abraham lifted up his eyes . . . and behold . . . a ram, &c.--No method was more admirably calculated to give the patriarch a distinct idea of the purpose of grace than this scenic representation: and hence our Lord's allusion to it (Joh 8:56). Next: Genesis Chapter 23
Behold, Milcah, she hath also borne children unto thy brother - This short history seems introduced solely for the purpose of preparing the reader for the transactions related Genesis 24, and to show that the providence of God was preparing, in one of the branches of the family of Abraham, a suitable spouse for his son Isaac.
And it came to pass, after these things,.... Abraham's taking his son Isaac to the land of Moriah, building an altar on one of the mountains there, and laying him on it with an intention to sacrifice him, and offering of a ram in his stead, and the return of them both to Beersheba: that it was told Abraham; by some person very probably who was lately come from those parts where the following persons lived; though Jarchi suggests this was told him by the Lord himself, and while he was thinking of taking a wife for Isaac of the daughters at Aner, or Eshcol, or Mamre; and to prevent which the following narration was given him: saying, behold Milcah, she hath also borne children unto thy broth…
Read the whole note in the console(Verse 20) And they reported to Abraham, saying: Behold, Milcah has also borne children to your brother Nahor: Uz his firstborn, and Buz his brother, and Camuel the father of the Syrians, and Chesed. Uz was the firstborn of Nahor, brother of Abraham, by his wife Milcah, the daughter of Haran. From his descendants came Job, as it is written at the beginning of his book: There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job. Therefore, some wrongly assume that Job is of the lineage of Esau, since that which is written at the end of his book, Because it was translated from the Syrian language, and he is the fourth generation from Esau, and the rest of what is contained there, is not found in the Hebrew volumes. Secundus was born to Melcha Buz, whom the Seventy wanted to translate as Bauz. And from this lineage comes Balaam the diviner (Numbers 24:3 et seq.; Joshua 13:22), as the Hebrews report, who is called Eliu in the book of Job: at first a holy man and prophet of God, but later, through disobedience and desire for gifts, while wanting to curse Israel, is called by the divine name. And it is said in the same book: And Eliu, the son of Barachiel the Buzite, was angry (Job 32:2), descending from this very Buzi lineage. Camuel is indeed the father of Damascus. For it is called Aran, which is written here for Syria: and it is read by the same name in Isaiah. Chased is also the fourth, from whom the Chaldeans, that is, the Chaldeans, were later called.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
And they rose up, and went together to Beer-sheba. Moses repeats, that Abraham, after having passed through this severe and incredible temptation, had a quiet abode in Beersheba. This narration is inserted, together with what follows concerning the increase of Abraham's kindred, for the purpose of showing that the holy man, when he had been brought up again from the abyss of death, was made happy, in more ways than one. For God would so revive him, that he should be like a new man. Moses also records the progeny of Nahor, but for another reason; namely, because Isaac was to take his wife from it. For the mention of women in Scripture is rare; and it is credible that many daughters were born…
Descendants of Nahor. - With the sacrifice of Isaac the test of Abraham's faith was now complete, and the purpose of his divine calling answered: the history of his life, therefore, now hastens to its termination. But first of all there is introduced quite appropriately an account of the family of his brother Nahor, which is so far in place immediately after the story of the sacrifice of Isaac, that it prepares the way for the history of the marriage of the heir of the promise. The connection is pointed out in Gen 22:20, as compared with Gen 11:29, in the expression, "she also." Nahor, like Ishmael and Jacob, had twelve sons, eight by his wife Milcah and four by his concubine; whereas Jacob…
Read the whole note in the consoleA report came from the east that Abraham’s brother Nahor (see 11:27-29) was flourishing. The actors in the following narrative are introduced here. 22:20 Milcah, Nahor’s wife, was also his niece (see 11:29).
אחרי הדברים האלה AFTER THESE THINGS [IT WAS TOLD ABRAHAM] etc. — When he returned from Mount Moriah Abraham was pondering and he said, “If my son had really been slain, he would have died without children! I must marry him to one of the daughters of Aner or Eshcol or Mamre”. The Holy One, blessed be He, therefore had the announcement made to him that Rebecca, the one fit to be his (Isaac’s) consort, had been born. This is what is meant by “after these things or words” — namely, “after the words” that expressed the thoughts aroused by the Binding of Isaac (Genesis Rabbah 57:3). גם היא SHE ALSO — She also had a number of families equal in all respects to those which Abraham was to have — name…
Read the whole note in the consoleHenry, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, Clarke, Gill, Calvin and Keil & Delitzsch are in the public domain; Tyndale Open Study Notes © Tyndale House Publishers, CC BY-SA 4.0 — all from the Free Use Bible API (bible.helloao.org). Rashi: the Rosenbaum & Silbermann Pentateuch (public domain) and the Judaica Press and Metsudah Tanakh (CC BY), via Sefaria. Spurgeon's Treasury of David: public domain (lyteword's markdown edition, CC0).
