Genesis 11:10-32

Descendants of Shem

10 ¹These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old, and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood;

11 and Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and he had other sons and daughters.

12 Arpachshad lived thirty-five * years, and became the father of Shelah;

13 and Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Shelah, and he had other sons and daughters.

14 Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber;

15 and Shelah lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Eber, and he had other sons and daughters.

16 Eber lived thirty-four * years, and became the father of Peleg;

17 and Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and he had other sons and daughters.

18 Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu;

19 and Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he became the father of Reu, and he had other sons and daughters.

20 Reu lived thirty-two * years, and became the father of Serug;

21 and Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he became the father of Serug, and he had other sons and daughters.

22 Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor;

23 and Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and he had other sons and daughters.

24 Nahor lived twenty-nine * years, and became the father of ²Terah;

25 and Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen * years after he became the father of Terah, and he had other sons and daughters.

26 Terah lived seventy years, and became ³the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.

27 Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and ⁴Haran became the father of ⁵Lot.

28 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in ⁶Ur of the Chaldeans.

29 Abram and ⁷Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was ⁸Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife was ⁹Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.

30 ¹⁰Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31 Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went out together from ¹¹Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there.

32 The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

Genesis 11:10-32 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 11

This chapter gives an account of the inhabitants of the earth before the confusion of tongues at Babel, of their speech and language, which was one and the same, and of the place where they dwelt, Ge 11:1,2 and of their design to build a city and tower, to make them a name and keep them together, which they put in execution, Ge 11:3,4 of the notice the Lord took of this affair, and of the method he took to put a stop to their designs, by confounding their speech, and dispersing them abroad upon the face of the earth, Ge 11:5-9 then follows a genealogy of Shem's posterity down to Abraham, Ge 11:10-26 and a particular relation is given of Terah, the father of Abraham, and his family, and of his going forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, in order to go into the land of Canaan, and of his death at Haran by the way, Ge 11:27-32.

Cross References

• 1. Genesis 10:22-25
• 2. Joshua 24:2
• 3. Joshua 24:2
• 4. Genesis 11:31; Genesis 12:4
• 5. Genesis 13:10; Genesis 14:12; Genesis 19:1, 29
• 6. Genesis 11:31
• 7. Genesis 24:10
• 8. Genesis 17:15; Genesis 20:12
• 9. Genesis 22:20, 23; Genesis 24:15
• 10. Genesis 16:1
• 11. Genesis 15:7; Nehemiah 9:7; Acts 7:4

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "begot," and so throughout the ch
• [b]. Or "during the lifetime of"
• [c]. Lit "and the father of"
• [d]. Lit "with them"
• [e]. Lit "dwelt"