Biblical Chronology: Genesis 11

Next we'll work with the genealogies of Genesis 11.

Fill in the table here, just like you did those in the last post.
And this is what you end up with.

Like the discussion of the three sons of Noah, some discussion is necessary for the three sons of Terah: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Genesis 11:26 states that Terah lived seventy years and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. We can ask the same questions. Were the brothers triplets? Or were they born at different times, the first being born when Terah was 70 years old.

Again, there are other scriptures that will help us clear the issue up.

• Genesis 11:32 says that Terah died at 205 years
• Genesis 12:4 says that Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran to continue on to the promised land
• Acts 7:4 says that Abram left Haran after the death of his father.

It is obvious here in these three scriptures that if Abram was 75 when he left Haran after the death of his father, who was 205 when he died, that Terah was 130 when Abram was born.  It is likely that Haran was the oldest, born when Terah was 70.  (His daughter married her uncle Nahor, her father's brother.)  Abram was born when Terah was 130, and Nahor could have been between the two, or younger than Abram.  Only Terah's age at the birth of Abram is significant to our genealogy.

So this is the result of our labors thus far.

We'll finish up with Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph in the next post.