Why did terah leave ur

In this light, an interesting fact emerges from the story. The patriarchs and matriarchs are all actually descendants of Tera h. The importance of Tera h as the common ancestor of the chosen family is highlighted by the internal division of the Book of Genesis. While the division of chapters and verses came later in history, the Book of Genesis is naturally divided into sections through the literary tool of headings.

Interestingly, the one name that is left off the list who we would otherwise expect to appear is Abraham, and the name that perhaps surprisingly appears is Tera h. This perspective of Tera h as the father of the patriarchal and matriarchal family explains why all three of his sons are named as his descendants. All of these observations beg an obvious question. Why should Tera h be given such a privileged place in the narrative of the history of the Jewish people?

This question is especially perplexing considering the long standing tradition, cited in Joshua , that Tera h was an idol worshipper. While the laconic treatment of the life of Tera h leaves us with little evidence, one could tease out suggestive hints from the text to help us address this question. The first hint is that Tera h left Ur of the Chaldeans to travel to Canaan. Interestingly, if one assumes that Tera h in his lifetime began a spiritual journey to God, a couple of seeming ambiguities that appear later in the story are clarified.

For example, the conversation between the servant of Abraham and the family of Na h or is more understandable. After the servant of Abraham reveals his identity to Rebekah, she runs home and tells her family.

Her brother Lavan rushes outside and greets the stranger using the name of God: Come in, O blessed of the Lord, why do you remain outside, when I have made ready the house and a place for the camels?

The name of God is repeated twice more by Bethuel and Lavan after hearing the servant of Abraham repeat the story of finding Rebekah: The matter was decreed by the Lord; we cannot speak to you bad or good. The problematic element to this story is the fact that this family in H aran not only knew the name of God but referred to it regularly in their conversations.

It is possible that they only recently learned the name after hearing Rebekah tell the story of her meeting the servant. Alternatively, if one assumes that Tera h began the shift in the family towards God, it possible that they were already familiar with the name and perhaps regularly included it in their worship and daily conversations.

This explanation also helps clarify why Abraham specifically wanted his son to marry into his family in H aran as opposed to the idol worshippers of Canaan, as his family was distinct in their beliefs and practices. In addition, it provides greater context to the later encounter between Lavan and Jacob in which Lavan attempts to sanctify their agreement by invoking the God of their fathers: May the God of Abraham and the God of Na h or judge between us — the God of their fathers Gen.

Jacob subsequently breaks the equation by taking an oath to the God of his father Isaac. Traditional commentators understand that the phrase the God of Abraham and the God of Na h or is referring to two different deities, 9 but based on the idea that the original shift towards the worship of God began with Tera h , the father of Abraham and Na h or, Lavan could be understood as claiming that in fact both Abraham and Na h or share the same God.

With this in mind, one must wonder why Tera h is not counted as the first of the patriarchs. If already in his lifetime Tera h turned to worship God and he is the common ancestor of the patriarchs and matriarchs, why is he not considered the father of the chosen family? It seems likely, because that would explain his reason for leaving his extended family and the prosperous city of Ur to travel to a land he did not know. That would also explain why God chose to tell us so much about Terah and his move to Haran.

So if God called Terah to go to Canaan, why did he stop halfway in Haran? The Bible does not tell us, so we can only speculate. Perhaps he stopped because of illness, injury, or just to rest. Terah died at the age of Gen. So Terah was probably over years old when they made the trip. Maybe he just got tired. So it is likely that Terah named the place after his son. If so, then Haran probably was not an established city when they stopped there.

No doubt it had water and pasture land for livestock based on the many shepherds there during the days of Isaac, Jacob, and Laban. So it may have provided a nice rest stop. Terah stopped halfway; he did not fully obey. It could be that once they lost their momentum by stopping, they just got comfortable.

Then inertia an object at rest tends to stay at rest took over so they just settled in. Maybe Terah felt comfortable enough that he just did not feel the need to sacrifice more in order to be blessed. Whatever the reason, Terah stopped halfway. Terah left the city of Ur probably for two reasons: 1. Abram told his father that Yahweh had instructed them to leave. It is thus implied that Abram left his father in Haran when Terah was , and that Terah continued to live there without Abram until his death 60 years later.

Sarah was childless until she was 90 years old. According to the biblical book of Genesis, Abraham left Ur, in Mesopotamia, because God called him to found a new nation in an undesignated land that he later learned was Canaan.

Where did Terah settle with his family? Terah took his family to the land of Canaan. There he settled in Haran where his son Haran died. He lived for two hundred and five years and died still in Haran.

In the Masoretic text on which modern Bibles are based, he was 30 years old when Nahor was born, and he lived for another years, making his age at death Terah coordinated the trip and planned to accompany Abram to his destination.

However, he ended up living in Haran a city that was en route to Canaan. It is made plausible by the type of person that the text asserts he was.