Nahor
Encyclopedia
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.
ian city-state of Ur
on the Euphrates River of lower Mesopotamia
, about four Millenia
ago. He lived to be 148 years old and had a son, Terah at the age of 29. He was also the grandfather of Abraham
, Nahor II and Haran
, all descendants of Shem
.
, 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.
. His grandfather was Nahor I, son of Serug. Nahor married the daughter of his brother Haran, Milcah
, his niece. They were all born and raised in the city of Ur. When Abram, had an encounter with God
, 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. 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
. In this region, Nahor and his family settled except for his brother Haran, who had died sometime ago back in Ur. The city where they settled, Haran
, is the place that Nahor's father eventually died.
Nahor II continued his own travels and settled in the region of Aram Naharaim where he founded the town, Nahor. Here, he had eight sons to Milcah:
To his concubine, Reumah, Nahor had these sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah
.
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
נָחֹור ISO 259-3
ISO 259-3
ISO 259-3 is a standard for the phonemic conversion/representation of Hebrew in the Latin script. It is aimed on delivering the common structure of the Hebrew word throughout the different dialects or pronunciation styles of Hebrew, in a way that it can be reconstructed into the original Hebrew...
Naḥor) may refer to three different names in the Hebrew bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
: two biblical people, who were both descendants of Shem
Shem
Shem was one of the sons of Noah in the Hebrew Bible as well as in Islamic literature. He is most popularly regarded as the eldest son, though some traditions regard him as the second son. Genesis 10:21 refers to relative ages of Shem and his brother Japheth, but with sufficient ambiguity in each...
, and one biblical place named after one of these descendants.
- Nahor, son of SerugSerugSerug was the son of Reu and the father of Nahor, according to Genesis 11:20-23. He is also the great-grandfather of Abraham.In the Masoretic text that modern Bibles are based on, he was 30 when Nahor was born, and lived to the age of 230...
, whose son was TerahTerahTerah or Térach is a biblical figure in the book of Genesis, son of Nahor, son of Serug and father of the Patriarch Abraham, all descendants of Shem. He is mentioned in the Hebrew bible and the New Testament.-Genesis narrative:... - Nahor, son of Terah
- Nahor, a town in the region of Aram-NaharaimAram-NaharaimAram-Naharaim is a region that is mentioned five times in the Hebrew Bible. It is commonly identified with Nahrima mentioned in three tablets of the Amarna correspondence as a geographical description of the kingdom of Mitanni...
that was named after the son of Terah
Nahor, son of Serug
__notoc__In , Nahor is listed as the son of Serug. He was born and raised in the SumerSumer
Sumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age....
ian city-state of Ur
Ur
Ur was an important city-state in ancient Sumer located at the site of modern Tell el-Muqayyar in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate...
on the Euphrates River of lower Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
, about four Millenia
Millenia
Millenia or Milenia is the plural of a Millennium meaning 1,000 years. Thus, Millenia takes on the meaning of more than 1,000 years, but in sets of 1,000 Millenia or Milenia is the plural of a Millennium meaning 1,000 years. Thus, Millenia takes on the meaning of more than 1,000 years, but in sets...
ago. He lived to be 148 years old and had a son, Terah at the age of 29. He was also the grandfather of Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, Nahor II and Haran
Haran
Haran or Aran is a figure in Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. Haran was born in Ur Kaśdim , the son of Terah and thus a descendant of Shem. Haran's brothers were Abram/Abraham and Nahor...
, all descendants of Shem
Shem
Shem was one of the sons of Noah in the Hebrew Bible as well as in Islamic literature. He is most popularly regarded as the eldest son, though some traditions regard him as the second son. Genesis 10:21 refers to relative ages of Shem and his brother Japheth, but with sufficient ambiguity in each...
.
Jewish tradition
In JubileesJubilees
The Book of Jubilees , sometimes called Lesser Genesis , is an ancient Jewish religious work, considered one of the pseudepigrapha by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches...
, Nahor's mother was Milcah
Milcah
Milcah was thedaughter of Haran and the wife of Nahor in Genesis.Milcah was a woman of ancient Mesopotamia and an ancestor of the patriarch Jacob. Milcah was born to Haran, who had another daughter, Iscah. This Haran seemed to be different from Haran, Abraham's brother, who had a son, Lot...
daughter of Kaber. Nahor also married 'Iyoska, daughter of Nesteg of the kin of Ur Kasdim
Ur Kasdim
Ur Kaśdim or Ur of the Chaldees is a biblical place mentioned in the Book of Genesis that refers to a location that the Patriarch Abraham may have been from...
, a son of Arpachshad
Arpachshad
Arpachshad or Arphaxad or Arphacsad was one of the five sons of Shem, the son of Noah . His brothers were Elam, Asshur, Lud and Aram; he is an ancestor of Abraham. He is said by Gen...
for whom Ur was named.
Nahor, son of Terah
In the account of Terah's family, mentioned in , Nahor II is listed as the son of Terah, amongst two other brothers, Abram and HaranHaran
Haran or Aran is a figure in Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. Haran was born in Ur Kaśdim , the son of Terah and thus a descendant of Shem. Haran's brothers were Abram/Abraham and Nahor...
. His grandfather was Nahor I, son of Serug. Nahor married the daughter of his brother Haran, Milcah
Milcah
Milcah was thedaughter of Haran and the wife of Nahor in Genesis.Milcah was a woman of ancient Mesopotamia and an ancestor of the patriarch Jacob. Milcah was born to Haran, who had another daughter, Iscah. This Haran seemed to be different from Haran, Abraham's brother, who had a son, Lot...
, his niece. They were all born and raised in the city of Ur. When Abram, had an encounter with God
Yahweh
Yahweh is the name of God in the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jews and Christians.The word Yahweh is a modern scholarly convention for the Hebrew , transcribed into Roman letters as YHWH and known as the Tetragrammaton, for which the original pronunciation is unknown...
, this brother directed his family to leave their native land and go to the land of Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
. Terah, their father, coordinated the gathering of his family to journey west to their destination. They followed the Euphrates River, with their herds, to the Padan-Aram region. This was about halfway along the Fertile Crescent
Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent, nicknamed "The Cradle of Civilization" for the fact the first civilizations started there, is a crescent-shaped region containing the comparatively moist and fertile land of otherwise arid and semi-arid Western Asia. The term was first used by University of Chicago...
between Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
and the Mediterranean, in what is now southeastern Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. In this region, Nahor and his family settled except for his brother Haran, who had died sometime ago back in Ur. The city where they settled, Haran
Harran
Harran was a major ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia whose site is near the modern village of Altınbaşak, Turkey, 24 miles southeast of Şanlıurfa...
, is the place that Nahor's father eventually died.
Nahor II continued his own travels and settled in the region of Aram Naharaim where he founded the town, Nahor. Here, he had eight sons to Milcah:
- UzUzUz or UZ may refer to:Name:* Uz or Oghuz Turks, a group of loosely linked nomadic Turkic peoples* Uz , one of the sons of Aram, son of Shem, according to the Hebrew BiblePlaces:...
, the firstborn - Buz
- KemuelKemuelThree Kemuels are mentioned in the Bible.* One is mentioned in Genesis 22:21 as the nephew of Abraham, son of Nahor, brother of Bethuel .* The second Kemuel was ruler of the tribe of Ephraim in Numbers 34:24....
- Kesed
- Hazo
- Pildash
- Jidlaph
- BethuelBethuelBethuel , in the Hebrew Bible, was an Aramean man, the youngest son of Nahor and Milcah, the nephew of Abraham, and the father of Laban and Rebekah....
, father of Rebekah, the wife of IsaacIsaacIsaac as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites...
To his concubine, Reumah, Nahor had these sons: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash and Maacah
Maacah
Maacah is a non-gender-specific personal name used in the Bible to refer to:*A child of Abraham's brother Nachor, evidently a boy. *The wife of Machir, Manasseh's son....
.
See also
- HaranHarranHarran was a major ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia whose site is near the modern village of Altınbaşak, Turkey, 24 miles southeast of Şanlıurfa...
, the city the family first settled, is spelled differently in Hebrew, than the family name of Haran.