The Line of Abram – Genesis 11:10-32

This is the line of Shem, which leads to Abram.  Shem’s line is given prominence over his brothers, Ham and Japheth, and we will see this prominence worked out as Israel overcomes the Canaanites and takes their land.  He gives birth to many Shemite or Semite peoples, “including the Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic” peoples.”  To be antisemitic is usually indicative of hatred of Jews, though the Arab people are also semitic.

[10] These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. [11] And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.  [12] When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah. [13] And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.  [14] When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber. [15] And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters.  [16] When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg. [17] And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters.  [18] When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu. [19] And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters.  [20] When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug. [21] And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters.  [22] When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor. [23] And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters.  [24] When Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah. [25] And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters.  [26] When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 

[27] Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. [28] Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. [29] And Abram and Nahor took 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 Iscah. [30] Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.

[31] Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. [32] The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran. (Genesis 11:10–32, ESV)

Though we have seen some of Shem’s line in chapter 10, Moses now gives us the line that led to Abram, son of Terah.  Abraham will become the focus of Genesis from now on, and his line.  We notice immediately that people are not living as long as before the flood, by almost half at first and then eventually by only a quarter.  Abram’s life, we will see, is even shorter than that.

Terah has three sons, Abram, who by being listed first is presumably the oldest, Nahor and Haran, but Haran dies young, having sired, however, a son named Lot.  They live in Ur of the Chaldeans, the location of which is disputed.  The famous city of Ur in southern Mesopotamia has traditionally been seen as this Ur, but the title Ur of the Chaldeans suggests this is a way to distinguish this city from the famous one.  A more northerly location perhaps makes more sense also of the direction they go to settle in Canaan, stopping, instead, in Haran (not the same name as Terah’s youngest son).  We may presume that though they know of God’s call to go to Canaan, only Abram makes it there and is not detoured to live in Haran. 

This makes Abram’s faith all the more remarkable, because his wife Sarai is barren.  Abram is leaving his family in Haran with no guarantee of developing his own family.  But he believes what God has told him, what we will see clearly in chapter 12, that God is going to give him a family through Sarai though she is now incapable of bearing children.  We must presume that Abram left Haran long before his father died.  The promise of Genesis 3:15 that the seed or offspring of the woman would strike the serpent’s head and restore the kingdom, is now going to begin to find fulfillment through Abram’s family.  The rest of Genesis will show us a further narrowing of the family line through which the Messiah will come.