And Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
26. seventy years ] The birth of Terah’s firstborn is postponed for a period twice as long as in the case of the other patriarchs since Shem. Shem was 100 years old when he begat Arpachshad ( Gen 11:10). This greater duration of time is connected with the features of faith and discipline attaching to the careers of the greater personages in the Israelite ancestry.
Abram ] According to the Hebrew tradition, the name means “the father ( ab) is exalted ( ram).” It might also mean “Ram (= Ramman) is father.” Compare, in the one case, Jehoram (= Jah is exalted); in the other, Abijah (= Jah is father). See note on Gen 17:5.
Nahor ] See on Gen 11:22.
Haran ] This name has by some scholars been derived from the Heb. har = “a mountain,” and explained as meaning “Highlanders.” “Beth-haran” is the name of a town built by the “children of Gad” (Num 32:36) and mentioned along with “Beth-Nimrah.” Possibly, therefore, Haran was also the name of a local deity.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 26. And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.] Haran was certainly the eldest son of Terah, and he appears to have been born when Terah was about seventy years of age, and his birth was followed in successive periods with those of Nahor his second, and Abram his youngest son. Many have been greatly puzzled with the account here, supposing because Abram is mentioned first, that therefore he was the eldest son of Terah: but he is only put first by way of dignity. An in stance of this we have already seen, Ge 5:32, where Noah is represented as having Shem, Ham, and Japheth in this order of succession; whereas it is evident from other scriptures that Shem was the youngest son, who for dignity is named first, as Abram is here; and Japheth the eldest, named last, as Haran is here. Terah died two hundred and five years old, Ge 11:32; then Abram departed from Haran when seventy-five years old, Ge 12:4; therefore Abram was born, not when his father Terah was seventy, but when he was one hundred and thirty.
When any case of dignity or pre-eminence is to be marked, then even the youngest son is set before all the rest, though contrary to the usage of the Scriptures in other cases. Hence we find Shem, the youngest son of Noah, always mentioned first; Moses is mentioned before his elder brother Aaron; and Abram before his two elder brethren Haran and Nahor. These observations are sufficient to remove all difficulty from this place.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
i.e. Began to beget, as Gen 5:32.
Abram, who is first named in order of dignity, (for which cause Shem is put before Ham and Japheth, and Moses before Aaron), not in order of time, which seems to be this: Haran probably was the eldest, because Nahor married his daughter; Nahor the second; and Abram certainly was the youngest, because Terah, Abram’s father, lived two hundred and five years, Gen 11:32, and Abram after his father’s death, Act 7:4, went out of Haran, when he was seventy-five years old, Gen 12:4-5; therefore he was not begotten in Terah’s seventieth year, when Terah began to beget his sons, as here is said, but in his one hundred and thirtieth year, and so there remains seventy-five years precisely to Abram’s departure. And Sarai, Haran’s daughter, was but ten years younger than Abram, Gen 17:17; and therefore Haran was Abram’s elder brother.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Abram, though named first, does not appear to be the eldest, but rather Haran; nay, it seems pretty plain that Abram was not born until the one hundred and thirtieth year of his father’s life, for Terah was two hundred and five years old when he died, Ge 11:32 and Abram was but seventy five years of age when he went out of Haran to Canaan, Ge 12:4 and that was as soon as his father died there; and so that if seventy five are taken out two hundred and five, there will remain one hundred and thirty, in which year and not before Abram must be born: the wife of Terah, of whom Abram was born, according to the Jewish writers x, her name was Chamtelaah, the daughter of Carnebo, or as others y call her, Amthalai; but by the Arabic writers z she is called Juna: the Jews say a Terah was the first that found out the way of coining money, and that in his days men began to worship images, and that he was the chief of their priests, but afterwards repented; and that he was an idolater appears from Jos 24:2.
x Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 2. 1. & Bathra in ib. y Pirke Eliezer, c. 26. z Elmacinus, p. 31. Patricides, p. 17. apud Hottinger. p. 281. a Shalshalet, fol. 76. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
These verses are all highly interesting, in that they lead to Him, after the flesh, in whom all the families of the earth were to be blessed Mat 1:1-16 . I would desire the Reader to remark with me, how careful the Holy Ghost hath been, through all his sacred word, to preserve the names of the faithful. Certainly they occupy more place in the Bible than those of all the world beside.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 11:26
26Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
Gen 11:26 Abram, Nabor and Haran This might be the order of importance and not age. The name Abram can mean (1) exalted father; (2) exalter of father; or (3) the Exalted One is my father (BDB 4). The name Nahor means panting or an Assyrian place name (BDB 637), while Haran means mountaineer (BDB 248).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
am 1948, bc 2056
Abram: Gen 12:4, Gen 12:5, Gen 22:20-24, Gen 29:4, Gen 29:5, Jos 24:2, 1Ch 1:26, 1Ch 1:27
Reciprocal: Gen 11:31 – took