Bible Strands
Genesis 11:31
And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator interrupts the Shem genealogy to record Terah’s family departure from Ur of the Chaldeans toward Canaan, noting their cessation in Haran before Terah’s death.
The words — וַיִּקַּח (va-yi-kach) translates literally as “and he took,” marking the active initiation of the journey by Terah rather than a divine command.
The thread — This migration motif resurfaces in Nehemiah 9:7, which recalls God bringing Abram out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and Acts 7:2, which locates the initial divine appearance in Mesopotamia before Abram’s final departure in Genesis 12:4.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that the promised journey begins as a family relocation rather than an immediate divine summons, requiring the reader to distinguish between ancestral movement and later covenantal calling.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 9:7 You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.
- Acts 7:2 And Stephen declared: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran,
- Genesis 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
- Genesis 15:7 The LORD also told him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
- Genesis 24:10 Then the servant took ten of his master’s camels and departed with all manner of good things from his master in hand. And he set out for Nahor’s hometown in Aram-naharaim.
- Joshua 24:2 And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and worshiped other gods.
- Genesis 11:32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.
- Genesis 10:19 and the borders of Canaan extended from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
- Genesis 27:43 So now, my son, obey my voice and flee at once to my brother Laban in Haran.
- Genesis 11:26 When Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.