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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 11:27-32

Here begins the story of Abram, whose name is famous, henceforward, in both Testaments. We have here, I. His country: Ur of the Chaldees. This was the land of his nativity, an idolatrous country, where even the children of Eber themselves had degenerated. Note, Those who are, through grace, heirs of the land of promise, ought to remember what was the land of their nativity, what was their corrupt and sinful state by nature, the rock out of which they were hewn. II. His relations, mentioned for... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 11:29

And Abram and Nahor took them wives ,.... Very probably after the death of their elder brother Haran, whose daughters they married, at least one of them did, and some think both: the name of Abraham's wife was Sarai : it is not said whose daughter she was, unless she is the same with Iscah, the daughter of Haran, and so had two names, Iscah her name before marriage, Sarai after it, Abram calling her "my mistress", as "Sarai" signifies, as she called him my lord: so the Targum of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 11:30

But Sarai was barren; she had no child. Aben Ezra observes, there are some that say that Abraham was impotent, and not Sarai barren; the very reverse of the Scriptures; but as he rightly adds, his son Ishmael and his sons by Keturah show the contrary, see Genesis 15:2 . read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 11:31

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 ,.... Many words are made use of in describing Lot and Sarai, and yet still we are left pretty much in the dark who Sarai was; for, as Aben Ezra observes, if she was the sister of Abram and daughter of Terah, the Scripture would have said, Terah took Abram his son and Sarai his daughter, and wife of Abram; and if she was the sister of Lot, it would have said, and Sarai... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:29

Milcah, the daughter of Haran - Many suppose Sarai and Iscah are the same person under two different names; but this is improbable, as Iscah is expressly said to be the daughter of Haran, and Sarai was the daughter of Terah, and half sister of Abram. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:31

They went forth - front Ur of the Chaldees - Chaldea is sometimes understood as comprising the whole of Babylonia; at other times, that province towards Arabia Deserta, called in Scripture The land of the Chaldeans. The capital of this place was Babylon, called in Scripture The beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, Isaiah 13:19 . Ur appears to have been a city of some considerable consequence at that time in Chaldea; but where situated is not well known. It probably had its name Ur אור ,... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:30

Verse 30 30.But Sarai was barren. Not only does he say that Abram was without children, but he states the reasons namely, the sterility of his wife; in order to show that it was by nothing short of an extraordinary miracle that she afterwards bare Isaac, as we shall declare more fully in its proper place. Thus was God pleased to humble his servant; and we cannot doubt that Abram would suffer severe pain through this privation. He sees the wicked springing up everywhere, in great numbers, to... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 11:31

Verse 31 31.And Terah took Abram his son. Here the next chapter ought to commence; because Moses begins to treat of one of the principal subjects of his book; namely, the calling of Abram. For he not only relates that Terah changed his country, but he also explains the design and the end of his departure, that he left his native soils and entered on his journey, in order to come to the land of Canaan. Whence the inference is easily drawn, that he was not so much the leader or author of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:10-32

Divine traditions. A genealogy of Shem and of Terah, in order to set forth clearly the position of Abraham and that of his nephew Lot, and their connection with Ur of the Chaldees and Canaan. The chosen family is about to be separated from their country, but we are not told that there was no light of God shining in Ur of the Chaldees. Probably there was the tradition of Shem's knowledge handed down through the generations. Arphaxad was born two years after the Flood; Salah, thirty-seven... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 11:29

And Abram and Nahor took them wives (cf. Genesis 6:2 ): the name of Abram's wife was Sarai . " My princess," from sarah, to rule (Gesenius, Lange); "Strife" (Kalisch, Murphy): "Jah is ruler" (Furst). The LXX . write σάρα , changing afterwards to Σαῤῥα to correspond with Sarah. That Sarai was Iscah has been inferred from Genesis 20:12 ; but, though receiving apparent sanction from verse 31, this opinion "is not supported by any solid argument" (Rosenmüller). And the name... read more

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