Nahor

Nahor, Nachor, or Naghor (Heb. נָחֹור ISO 259-3 Naḥor) may refer to three different names in the Hebrew bible: two biblical people, who were both descendants of Shem, and one biblical place named after one of these descendants.

1. Nahor, son of Serug, whose son was Terah
2. Nahor, son of Terah
3. Nahor, a town in the region of Aram-Naharaim that was named after the son of Terah

Nahor, son of Serug

Nahor, son of Serug
Nahor from "Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum"
Born	bef. 2000 BCE, City of UR
Died	City of Ur
Children	Terah, and other sons and daughters
Parents	Serug

In Genesis Chapter 11, Nahor is listed as the son of Serug.^[v.22] He was born and raised in the Sumerian city-state of Ur on the Euphrates River of lower Mesopotamia, about four Millenia ago.^[1] He lived to be 148 years old ^[v.24,25] and had a son, Terah at the age of 29.^[v.24] He was also the grandfather of Abraham, Nahor II and Haran, all descendants of Shem.^{[v.10,25-27][2]}

Jewish tradition

In Jubilees, Nahor's mother was Milcah daughter of Kaber. Nahor also married 'Iyoska, daughter of Nesteg of the kin of Ur Kasdim, a son of Arpachshad for whom Ur was named.

Nahor, son of Terah

In the account of Terah's family, mentioned in Gen.11:26-32, Nahor II is listed as the son of Terah, amongst two other brothers, Abram and Haran.^[v.26,27] His grandfather was Nahor I, son of Serug. Nahor married the daughter of his brother Haran, Milcah, his niece.^[v.29] They were all born and raised in the city of Ur. When Abram, had an encounter with God,^[3] this brother directed his family to leave their native land and go to the land of Canaan. Terah, their father, coordinated the gathering of his family to journey west to their destination.^[v.31] They followed the Euphrates River, with their herds, to the Padan-Aram region. This was about halfway along the Fertile Crescent between Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean, in what is now southeastern Turkey.^[4] In this region, Nahor and his family settled except for his brother Haran, who had died sometime ago back in Ur.^[V.28] The city where they settled, Haran, is the place that Nahor's father eventually died.^[V.32]

Nahor II continued his own travels and settled in the region of Aram Naharaim where he founded the town, Nahor.^[Gen.24:10] Here, he had eight sons to Milcah:^{[Gen.22:19-23]}

1. Uz, the firstborn
2. Buz
3. Kemuel
4. Kesed
5. Hazo
6. Pildash
7. Jidlaph
8. Bethuel, father of Rebekah, the wife of Isaac

To his concubine, Reumah, Nahor had these sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah.^[Gen.22:24]

See also

• Haran, the city the family first settled, is spelled differently in Hebrew, than the family name of Haran.

References

1. ^ Dorothy Weitz Drummond. Holy Land, Whose Land?: Modern Dilemma, Ancient Roots, 2004. p.75
2. ^ 1 Chr.1:4,26,27
3. ^ Acts 7:2-4
4. ^ Drummond, 2004, p.75