In the account of
Terah
Terah or Terach ( ''Teraḥ'') is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis. He is listed as the son of Nahor and father of the patriarch Abraham. As such, he is a descendant of Shem's son Arpachshad. Terah is mentioned in Genesis 11:26–27, ...
's family mentioned in the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...
(), Nahor II ( – ''Nāḥōr'') is listed as the son of Terah, amongst two other brothers,
Abram and
Haran (). His grandfather was
Nahor I, son of
Serug. Nahor married the daughter of his brother
Haran,
Milcah, his niece (). They may all have been born and raised in the city of
Ur: the biblical account states that "Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in
Ur of the Chaldeans" ().
In the
King James Version
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version (AV), is an Early Modern English Bible translations, Early Modern English translation of the Christianity, Christian Bible for the Church of England, wh ...
, Nahor is also referred to as Nachor ().
When Abram had an encounter with
God
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
, 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
Paddan Aram region. This was about halfway along the
Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent () is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria, together with northern Kuwait, south-eastern Turkey, and western Iran. Some authors also include ...
between
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
and the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
, in what is now southeastern
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
.
[Drummond, Dorothy. ''Holy Land, Whose Land? Modern Dilemma, Ancient Roots.'' 2004, p.75] 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,
Harran, is the place where Nahor's father would die ().
Nahor II continued his own travels and settled in the region of
Aram Naharaim, where he founded the town of Nahor (). Here, he and Milcah had eight sons ():
# Uz, the firstborn
# Buz
# Kemuel
#
Kesed
#
Hazo
#
Pildash
#
Jidlaph
#
Bethuel, father of
Rebekah, the wife of
Isaac
Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...
Nahor and his concubine,
Reumah, also had four sons:
Tebah,
Gaham,
Tahash, and
Maacah ().
Nahor in the Book of Joshua
In his final speech to the Israelite leaders assembled at
Shechem,
Joshua
Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...
recounts the history of God's formation of the Israelite nation, beginning with "Terah the father of Abraham and Nachor,
holived beyond the
Euphrates River and worshiped other gods" ().
In popular culture
Nahor is portrayed by
Kevin McNally in the film
Abraham (1993). The character of Nahor's concubine Reumah is portrayed by
Evelina Meghangi in the same film.
See also
*
Harran, the city where the family first settled (spelled differently in Hebrew from the family name of Haran).
References
{{Authority control
Family of Abraham
Noach (parashah)
Ur of the Chaldees