Genesis 11:29 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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.

NIV: Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milkah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah.

NASB: Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.

CSB: Abram and Nahor took wives: Abram's wife was named Sarai, and Nahor's wife was named Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah.

NLT: Meanwhile, Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. (Milcah and her sister Iscah were daughters of Nahor’s brother Haran.)

KJV: 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.

NKJV: Then 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 the father of Iscah.

Several complicated family relationships are described in this verse. First, Abram married Sarai—who would later be renamed Sarah. We know from Genesis 20:12 that Sarai was Abram's half-sister, the daughter of his father Terah, but not from the same mother. Abram's brother, Haran, had died leaving behind at least three children: Milcah and Iscah, as well as Lot (Genesis 11:27). Abram's other brother Nahor married Haran's daughter Milcah.

Later, God's Law for Israel would forbid marriages of family members so closely related. At this time, it seems, this was apparently a common practice and not forbidden by God. Most scholars see the potential for genetic problems in the children of close relatives as the reason God prohibits incest. This, most likely, would become a more and more serious issue as mankind continued to live in a fallen, corrupted, post-flood world.

Genesis 11:27–32 begins a long section in Genesis titled ''the generations of Terah.'' Terah is Abram's father, and in some sense, his section does not end until Abram dies in Genesis 25. Abram's family also includes two brothers, his wife, a nephew, and a niece. Together, the whole family moves from Ur (southern Iraq) much closer to what will become the Promised Land. They settle short of Canaan in Haran, where Terah will live out the rest of his life. It is from Haran that God will call Abram to leave his home.

Genesis 11 contains three sections: God confuses and scatters the people of the world to stop the building of Babel and its tower. A genealogy is provided showing the direct links between Noah and Abram. The ''generations'' of Terah are introduced, providing a description of the family out of which God will call Abram to become the father of His chosen people.

Genesis 10 provided a table of the nations, describing the peoples and tribes that descended from Noah's three sons and where they settled. Genesis 11 describes how God scattered the peoples of the world after confusing their languages to stop the building of Babel and its tower. The chapter also provides a direct genealogy from Noah to Abram and then introduces Abram by way of his father Terah. The following chapter will begin the story of Abram and God's chosen people, Israel.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.