Week 11

• Torah (T): Bereshiyt (Genesis) 11:1-32
• Prophets (P): Isaiah 28:1-19
• Apostolic (A): Acts 17:1-34
• Additional (ADD): Jubilees 10:18 – 11:23

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Genesis 10:8-10 (T)
• Deuteronomy 32:8-9; Micah 2:1-5 (T, A)
• Psalms 82:1-8; Psalms 89:5-8; John 10:31-38 (T)
• Genesis 10:22-32; 1 Chronicles 1:17-27 (T)
• Joshua 24:1-4; Nehemiah 9:7-8; Acts 7:1-5 (T)
• Genesis 22:15-24 (T)
• Genesis 16:1-2; Genesis 18:10-11 (T)

RELATED ADDITIONAL REA.D.INGS

• Apocalypse of Baruch (3 Baruch) 2:1 – 3:1 (T)
• Jubilees 7:16-18 (T)
• Jubilees 8:1-6 (T)
• Genesis 11:1-32 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 1.4.1 – 1.6.5 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

Bereshiyt (Genesis) 11:1-32

11:1 The whole land was of one language and of one [voice to all].^(LXX) 2 As they traveled east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there. 3 They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4 They said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the heavens, and let's make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole land.” 5 [Elohim]^(mss) came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men built. 6 [Elohim]^(mss) said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. 7 Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's language.” 8 So [Elohim]^(mss) scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the land. They stopped building the city [and the tower].^(LXX)(SP) 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there [Elohim]^(mss) confused the language of all the land. From there, [he]^(mss) scattered them abroad on the surface of all the land. 10 This is the history of the generations of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11 Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX)(SP) 12 Arpachshad lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty-five years and became the father of [Cainan].^(LXX) 13 Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of [Cainan], and became the father of more sons and daughters. [And Cainan lived one hundred and thirty years and became the father of Shelah. And Cainan lived three hundred and thirty years after he had become the father of Shelah, and fathered sons and daughters.]^(LXX) 14 Shelah lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty years, and became the father of Eber. 15 Shelah lived [three hundred thirty]^(LXX) years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX) 16 Eber lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg. 17 Eber lived [three hundred seventy]^(LXX) years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of more sons and daughters. 18 Peleg lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty years, and became the father of Reu. 19 Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX) 20 Reu lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug. 21 Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX) 22 Serug lived [one hundred]^(LXX) thirty years, and became the father of Nahor. 23 Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX) 24 Nahor lived [seventy-nine] years, and became the father of Terah. 25 Nahor lived one hundred [twenty-nine]^(LXX) years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of more sons and daughters [and died].^(LXX) 26 Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27 Now these are the birthings of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot. 28 Haran died [in]^(LXX) the face of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur Kasdim. 29 Abram and Nahor married wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah. 30 Sarai was barren. She had no child. 31 Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife. [He]^(LXX) went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there. 32 The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.

Prophets Portion (P)

Isaiah 28:1-19

28:1 Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome with wine! 2 Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one. Like a storm of hail, a destroying storm, and like a storm of mighty waters overflowing, he will cast them down to the land with his hand. 3 The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trodden under foot. 4 The fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley, will be like the first-ripe fig before the summer; which someone picks and eats as soon as he sees it. 5 In that day, YHWH of Armies will become a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the residue of his people, 6 and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. 7 They also reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink. The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink. They are swallowed up by wine. They stagger with strong drink. They err in vision. They stumble in judgment. 8 For all tables are completely full of filthy vomit and filthiness. 9 Whom will he teach knowledge? To whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts? 10 For it is precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little. 11 But he will speak to this nation with stammering lips and in another language, 12 to whom he said, “This is the resting place. Give rest to the weary,” and “This is the refreshing;” yet they would not hear. 13 Therefore the word of YHWH will be to them precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, fall backward, be broken, be snared, and be taken. 14 Therefore hear the word of YHWH, you scoffers, that rule this people in Jerusalem: 15 “Because you have said, ‘We have cut a covenant with death, and we are in agreement with Sheol. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it won’t come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood.’ ” 16 Therefore thus says YHWH, “Look, I am laying in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. (cf. Romans 9:30-33; Romans 10:5-11; 1 Peter 2:1-8). 17 I will make justice the measuring line, and righteousness the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place. 18 Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it. 19 As often as it passes through, it will seize you; for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night; and it will be nothing but terror to understand the message.”

Apostolic Portion (A)

Acts 17:1-34

17:1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 Paul, as was his custom, went in to them; and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and demonstrating that the Messiah had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Yeshua, whom I proclaim to you, is the Messiah.” 4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas: of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and not a few of the chief women. 5 But the Jews, [being moved with zeal],^(mss) took along some wicked men from the marketplace and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar. Assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people. 6 When they didn’t find them, they dragged Jason and certain brothers before the rulers of the city, crying, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 whom Jason has received. These all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Yeshua!” 8 The multitude and the rulers of the city were troubled when they heard these things. 9 When they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. 10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed; also of the prominent Greek women, and not a few men. 13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Beroea also, they came there likewise, agitating [and disturbing]^(mss) the multitudes. 14 Then the brothers immediately sent out Paul to go [as far as]^(mss) to the sea, and Silas and Timothy still stayed there. 15 But those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens. Receiving a commandment to Silas and Timothy that they should come to him very quickly, they departed. 16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who met him. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also were conversing with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign deities,” because he preached Yeshua and the resurrection. 19 They took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is, which you are speaking about? 20 For you bring certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing. 22 Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, “You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very superstitous in all things. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What therefore you worship in ignorance, I announce to you. 24 The Elohim who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of the heavens and the land, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands. 25 He isn’t served by [human’s]^(mss) hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath and all things. 26 He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the land, having determined appointed seasons and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 that they should seek [Elohim],^(mss) if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live, move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his seed.’ 29 Being then the seed of Elohim, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man. 30 The times of ignorance therefore Elohim overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.” 32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, “We want to hear you again concerning this.” 33 Thus Paul went out from among them. 34 But certain men joined with him and believed, including Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Additional Portion (ADD)

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

Jubilees 10:18 – 11:23

10:18 And in the three and thirtieth jubilee, in the first year in the second week, Peleg took to himself a wife, whose name was Lomna the daughter of Sina’ar, and she bare him a son in the fourth year of this week, and he called his name Reu; for he said: ‘Behold the children of men have become evil through the wicked purpose of building for themselves a city and a tower in the land of Shinar.’ 19. For they departed from the land of Ararat eastward to Shinar; for in his days they built the city and the tower, saying, ‘Go to, let us ascend thereby into the heavens.’ 20. And they began to build, and in the fourth week they made brick with fire, and the bricks served them for stone, and the clay with which they cemented them together was asphalt which comes out of the sea, and out of the fountains of water in the land of Shinar. 21. And they built it: forty and three years [1645-1688 A.M.] were they building it; its breadth was 203 bricks, and the height of a brick was the third of one; its height amounted to 5433 cubits and 2 palms, and the extent of one wall was thirteen stades and of the other thirty stades. 22. And the Lord our Elohim said unto us: Behold, they are one people, and this they begin to do, and now nothing will be withholden from them. Go to, let us go down and confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech, and they may be dispersed into cities and nations, and one purpose will no longer abide with them till the day of judgment.’ 23. And the Lord descended, and we descended with him to see the city and the tower which the children of men had built. 24. And he confounded their language, and they no longer understood one another’s speech, and they ceased then to build the city and the tower. 25. For this reason the whole land of Shinar is called Babel, because the Lord did there confound all the language of the children of men, and from thence they were dispersed into their cities, each according to his language and his nation. 26. And the Lord sent a mighty wind against the tower and overthrew it upon the land, and behold it was between Asshur and Babylon in the land of Shinar, and they called its name ‘Overthrow’. 27. In the fourth week in the first year [1688 A.M.] in the beginning thereof in the four and thirtieth jubilee, were they dispersed from the land of Shinar. 28. And Ham and his sons went into the land which he was to occupy, which he acquired as his portion in the land of the south. 29. And Canaan saw the land of Lebanon to the river of Egypt that it was very good, and he went not into the land of his inheritance to the west that is to the sea, and he dwelt in the land of Lebanon, eastward and westward from the border of Jordan and from the border of the sea. 30. And Ham, his father, and Cush and Mizraim, his brothers, said unto him: “Thou hast settled in a land which is not thine, and which did not fall to us by lot: do not do so; for if thou dost do so, thou and thy sons will fall in the land and be accursed through sedition; for by sedition ye have settled, and by sedition will thy children fall, and thou shalt be rooted out for ever. 31. Dwell not in the dwelling of Shem; for to Shem and to his sons did it come by their lot. 32. Cursed art thou, and cursed shalt thou be beyond all the sons of Noaḥ, by the curse by which we bound ourselves by an oath in the face of the holy judge, and in the face of Noaḥ our father.” 33. But he did not hearken unto them, and dwelt in the land of Lebanon from Hamath to the entering of Egypt, he and his sons until this day. 34. And for this reason that land is named Canaan. 35. And Japheth and his sons went towards the sea and dwelt in the land of their portion, and Madai saw the land of the sea and it did not please him, and he begged a portion from Elam and Asshur and Arpachshad, his wife’s brother, and he dwelt in the land of Media, near to his wife’s brother until this day. 36. And he called his dwelling-place, and the dwelling-place of his sons, Media, after the name of their father Madai.

11:1 And in the thirty-fifth jubilee, in the third week, in the first year thereof, Reu took to himself a wife, and her name was ‘Ôrâ, the daughter of ‘Ûr, the son of Kêsêd, and she bare him a son, and he called his name Sêrôḫ, in the seventh year of this week in this jubilee. 2. And the sons of Noaḥ began to war on each other, to take captive and to slay each other, and to shed the blood of men on the land, and to eat blood, and to build strong cities, and walls, and towers, and individuals began to exalt themselves above the nation, and to found the beginnings of reigns, and to go to war people against people, and nation against nation, and city against city, and all began to do evil, and to acquire arms, and to teach their sons war, and they began to capture cities, and to sell male and female slaves. 3. And ‘Ûr, the son of Kêsêd, built the city of ‘Arâ of the Chaldees, and called its name after his own name and the name of his father. 4. And they made for themselves molten images, and they worshipped each the idol, the molten image which they had made for themselves, and they began to make graven images and unclean simulacra, and malignant spirits assisted and seduced them into committing transgression and uncleanness. 5. And the prince Mastema exerted himself to do all this, and he sent forth other spirits, those which were put under his hand, to do all manner of wrong and sin, and all manner of transgression, to corrupt and destroy, and to shed blood upon the land. 6. For this reason he called the name of Sêrôḫ, Serug, for every one turned to do all manner of sin and transgression. 7. And he grew up, and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, near to the father of his wife’s mother, and he worshipped idols, and he took to himself a wife in the thirty-sixth jubilee, in the fifth week, in the first year thereof, and her name was Mêlkâ, the daughter of Kâbêr, the daughter of his father’s brother. 8. And she bare him Nahor, in the first year of this week, and he grew and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, and his father taught him the researches of the Chaldees to divine and augur, according to the signs of the heavens. 9. And in the thirty-seventh jubilee, in the sixth week, in the first year thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name was ‘Îjâskâ, the daughter of Nêstâg of the Chaldees. 10. And she bare him Terah in the seventh year of this week. 11. And the prince Mastema sent ravens and birds to devour the seed which was sown in the land, in order to destroy the land, and rob the children of men of their labours. Before they could plough in the seed, the ravens picked it from the surface of the ground. 12. And for this reason he called his name Terah, because the ravens and the birds reduced them to destitution and devoured their seed. 13. And the years began to be barren, owing to the birds, and they devoured all the fruit of the trees from the trees: it was only with great effort that they could save a little of all the fruit of the land in their days. 14. And in this thirty-ninth jubilee, in the second week in the first year, Terah took to himself a wife, and her name was ‘Êdnâ, the daughter of ‘Abrâm the daughter of his father’s sister. 15. And in the seventh year of this week she bare him a son, and he called his name Abram, by the name of the father of his mother; for he had died before his daughter had conceived a son. And the child (Abram) began to understand the errors of the land that all went astray after graven images and after uncleanness, and his father taught him writing, and he was two weeks of years old, [1890 A.M.] and he separated himself from his father that he might not worship idols with him. 16. And he began to pray to the Creator of all things that He might save him from the errors of the children of men, and that his portion should not fall into error after uncleanness and vileness. 17. And the seed time came for the sowing of seed upon the land, and they all went forth together to protect their seed against the ravens, and Abram went forth with those that went, and the child was a lad of fourteen years. 18. And a cloud of ravens came to devour the seed, and Abram ran to meet them before they settled on the ground, and cried to them before they settled on the ground to devour the seed, and said, “Descend not: return to the place whence ye came,” and they proceeded to turn back. 19. And he caused the clouds of ravens to turn back that day seventy times, and of all the ravens throughout all the land where Abram was there settled there not so much as one. 20. And all who were with him throughout all the land saw him cry out, and all the ravens turn back, and his name became great in all the land of the Chaldees. 21. And there came to him this year all those that wished to sow, and he went with them until the time of sowing ceased: and they sowed their land, and that year they brought enough grain home and eat and were satisfied. 22. And in the first year of the fifth week [1891 A.M.] Abram taught those who made implements for oxen, the artificers in wood, and they made a vessel above the ground, facing the frame of the plough, in order to put the seed thereon, and the seed fell down therefrom upon the share of the plough, and was hidden in the earth, and they no longer feared the ravens. 23. And after this manner they made (vessels) above the ground on all the frames of the ploughs, and they sowed and tilled all the land, according as Abram commanded them, and they no longer feared the birds.

Related Scriptures

Genesis 10:8-10 (T)

10:8 Cush became the father of Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in the land. 9 He was a mighty hunter before YHWH. Therefore it is said, “like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before YHWH.” 10 The beginning of his reign was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Deuteronomy 32:8-9; Micah 2:1-5; Acts 17:23-32 (T)

Deuteronomy 32:8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the [sons of Elohim].^(DSS)(LXX) 9 For the portion of YHWH is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.

Micah 2:1 Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand. 2 They covet fields and seize them, and houses, then take them away. They oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. 3 Therefore YHWH says: “Behold, I am planning against these people a disaster, from which you will not remove your necks, neither will you walk haughtily, for it is an evil time. 4 In that day they will take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, saying, ‘We are utterly ruined! My people’s possession is divided up. Indeed he takes it from me and assigns our fields to traitors!’ ” 5 Therefore you will have no one who divides the land by lot in the assembly of YHWH.

Psalms 82:1-8; Psalms 89:5-8; John 10:31-38 (T)

A Psalm by Asaph. Psalms 82:1 Elohim presides in the assembly of elohim. He judges among Elohim. 2 “How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?” Selah. 3 “Judge for the helpless and the fatherless. Do righteousness to the afflicted and dispossessed. 4 Rescue the helpless and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.” 5 They don’t know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the land are shaken. 6 I said, “You are Elohim, all of you are sons of the Most High. 7 Nevertheless you will die like men, and fall like one of the rulers.” 8 Arise, Elohim, judge the land, for you inherit all of the nations.

Psalms 89:5 The heavens will praise your wonders, YHWH, your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. 6 For who in the heavens can be compared to YHWH? Who among the Sons of Elohim is like YHWH, 7 a very awesome Elohim in the council of the holy ones, to be feared above all those who are around him? 8 YHWH, Elohim of Armies, who is strong, like you? Yah, your faithfulness is around you.

John 10:31 Therefore the Judeans took up stones again to stone him. 32 Yeshua answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?” 33 The Judeans answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself Elohim.” 34 Yeshua answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are elohim?’ (cf. Psalms 82:6) 35 If he called them elohim, to whom the word of Elohim came, and the Scripture can’t be broken, 36 do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of Elohim?’ 37 If I don’t do the works of my Father, don’t believe me. 38 But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”

Genesis 10:22-32; 1 Chronicles 1:17-27 (T)

Genesis 10:22 The sons of Shem were: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram were: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachshad became the father of [Cainan. And Cainan became the father of]^(LXX) Shelah. Shelah became the father of Eber. 25 To Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the land was divided. His brother’s name was Joktan. 26 Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. 30 Their dwelling extended from Mesha, as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. 31 These are the sons of Shem, by their families, according to their languages, lands, and nations. 32 These are the families of the sons of Noaḥ, by their generations, according to their nations. The nations divided from these in the land after the flood.

1 Chronicles 1:17 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. 18 Arpachshad became the father of Shelah, and Shelah became the father of Eber. 19 To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the land was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. 20 Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 21 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 22 Ebal, Abimael, Sheba, 23 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. 24 Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah, 25 Eber, Peleg, Reu, 26 Serug, Nahor, Terah, 27 Abram, also called Abraham.

Joshua 24:1-4; Nehemiah 9:7-8; Acts 7:1-5 (T)

Joshua 24:1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, “YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, says, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor. They served other elohim. 3 I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. 4 I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it. Jacob and his sons went down into Egypt.

Nehemiah 9:7 You are YHWH, the Elohim who chose Abram, brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees, gave him the name of Abraham, 8 found his heart faithful before you, and cut a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his seed, and have performed your words, for you are righteous.

Acts 7:1 The high priest said, “Are these things so?” 2 He said, “Brothers and fathers, listen. The Elohim of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Get out of your land and away from your relatives, and come into a land which I will show you.’ (cf. Genesis 12:1) 4 Then he came out of the land of the Kasdim and lived in Haran. From there, when his father was dead, Elohim moved him into this land where you are now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on. He promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when he still had no child.

Genesis 22:15-24 (T)

22:15 the angel of YHWH called to Abraham a second time out of the heavens, 16 and said, I have sworn by myself,’ says YHWH, ‘because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your seed greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed will possess the gate of his enemies. 18 All the nations of the land will be blessed by your seed, because you have obeyed my voice.’ ” 19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose up and went together to Be’ersheba. Abraham lived at Be’ersheba. 20 After these things, Abraham was told, “Behold, Milcah, she also has borne sons to your brother Nahor: 21 Uz his firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Genesis 16:1-2; Genesis 18:10-11 (T)

Genesis 16:1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had a servant, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “See now, YHWH has restrained me from bearing. Please go in to my servant. It may be that I am built up from her.” Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

Genesis 18:10 He said, “I will certainly return to you at about this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

Related Additional Readings

Apocalypse of Baruch (3 Baruch) 2:1 – 3:1 (T)

The Apocalypse of Baruch (3 Baruch) was written some time between the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 A.D. and the third century A.D. Pilchan Lee asserts that the text was originally written in Greek by someone with a Semitic background. Other scholars find significant that the Old Church Slavonic versions do not contain the Christian overtones of the Greek text and conclude that the extant Greek text represents a rewriting in the Christian age. “The Apocalypse of Baruch is a composite work written in the latter half of the first century of the Christian era. It is thus contemporaneous with the chief writings of the New Testament. Its authors were orthodox Jews, and it is a good representative of the Judaism against which the Pauline dialectic was directed.” – Alexander Kulik

2:1 And he took me and led me where the firmament has been set fast, and where there was a river which no one can cross, nor any strange breeze of all those which Elohim created. And he took me and led me to the first heavens, and showed me a door of great size. And he said to me, Let us enter 3 through it, and we entered as though borne on wings, a distance of about thirty days’ journey. And he showed me within the heavens a plain; and there were men dwelling thereon, with the faces of 4 oxen, and the horns of stags and the feet of goats, and the haunches of lambs. And I Baruch asked the angel, Make known to me, I pray thee, what is the thickness of the heavens in which we journeyed, 5 or what is its extent, or what is the plain, in order that I may also tell the sons of men? And the angel whose name is Phamael said to me: This door which thou seest is the door of the heavens, and as great as is the distance from the land to the heavens, so great also is its thickness; and again as great as is the distance (from North to South, so great) is the length of the plain which thou didst see. And again the angel of the powers said to me, Come, and I will show thee greater mysteries. But 6 […] 7 I said, I pray thee show me what are these men. And he said to me, These are they who built the tower of strife against Elohim, and the Lord banished them.

3:1 And the angel of the Lord took me and led me to a second heavens. And he showed me there 2 also a door like the first and said, Let us enter through it. And we entered, being borne on wings 3 a distance of about sixty days’ journey. And he showed me there also a plain, and it was full of 4 men, whose appearance was like that of dogs, and whose feet were like those of stags. And I asked 5 the angel: I pray thee, Lord, say to me who are these. And he said, These are they who gave counsel to build the tower, for they whom thou seest drove forth multitudes of both men and women, to make bricks; among whom, a woman making bricks was not allowed to be released in the hour of child-birth, but brought forth while she was making bricks, and carried her child in her apron, and 6 continued to make bricks. And the Lord appeared to them and confused their speech, when they 7 had built the tower to the height of four hundred and sixty-three cubits. And they took a gimlet, and sought to pierce the heavens, saying, Let us see (whether) the heavens is made of clay, or of 8 brass, or of iron. When Elohim saw this He did not permit them, but smote them with blindness and confusion of speech, and rendered them as thou seest.

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

Jubilees 7:16-18 (T)

7:16 And Shem dwelt with his father Noaḥ, and he built a city close to his father on the mountain, and he too called its name after the name of his wife Sedeqetelebab. 17. And behold these three cities are near Mount Lubar; Sedeqetelebab fronting the mountain on its east; and Na’eltama’uk on the south; ‘Adatan’eses towards the west. 18. And these are the sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad -this (son) was born two years after the flood- and Lud, and Aram.

Jubilees 8:1-6 (T)

8:1 In the twenty-ninth jubilee, in the first week, [1373 A.M.] in the beginning thereof Arpachshad took to himself a wife and her name was Rasu’eja, the daughter of Susan, the daughter of Elam, and she bare him a son in the third year in this week, [1375 A.M.] and he called his name Kainam (Cainan). 2. And the son grew, and his father taught him writing, and he went to seek for himself a place where he might seize for himself a city. 3. And he found a writing which former generations had carved on the rock, and he read what was thereon, and he transcribed it and sinned owing to it; for it contained the teaching of the Watchers in accordance with which they used to observe the omens of the sun and moon and stars in all the signs of the heavens. 4. And he wrote it down and said nothing regarding it; for he was afraid to speak to Noaḥ about it lest he should be angry with him on account of it. 5. And in the thirtieth jubilee, [1429 A.M.] in the second week, in the first year thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name was Melka, the daughter of Madai, the son of Japheth, and in the fourth year [1432 A.M.] he begat a son, and called his name Shelah; for he said: ‘Truly I have been sent.’ 6. [And in the fourth year he was born], and Shelah grew up and took to himself a wife, and her name was Mu’ak, the daughter of Kesed, his father’s brother, in the one and thirtieth jubilee, in the fifth week, in the first year [1499 A.M.] thereof.

Genesis 11:1-32 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

Chapter 11 And all the land was (of) one language, and one speech, and one counsel. In the holy language spake they, that by which the world had been created at the beginning. And it was while they were journeying from the east that they found a plain in the land of Bavel, and dwelt there. [JERUSALEM. And all the inhabiters of the land were (of) one language, and of one speech, and one counsel: for they spake the holy language by which the world was created at the beginning: while their hearts erred afterwards from the Word of Him who spake, and the world was, at the beginning; and they found a plain in the land of Pontos and dwelt there.] And they said, a man to his fellow, Come, we will cast bricks, and put them in the furnace. And they had brick for stone, and slime for cement. And they said, Come, we will build us a city and a tower, and the head of it will come to the summit of the heavens; and we will make us (an image for) worship on the top of it, and put a sword in his hand to act against the array of war, before that we be scattered on the face of the land. And the Lord was revealed to punish them for the work of the city and the tower which the sons of men builded. [JERUSALEM. And they said, Come now, and we will build us a city and a tower, and the head of it will reach to the summit of the heavens, and we will make us in it a house of worship at the top,……and we will put a sword in his hand, lest there be set against him the array of war, before we be scattered upon the face of all the land.] And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and the language of all of them one: and this they have thought to do: and now they will not be restrained from doing whatever they imagine. And the Lord said to the seventy angels which stand before Him, Come, we will descend and will there commingle their language, that a man will not understand the speech of his neighbour. And the Word of the Lord was revealed against the city, and with Him seventy angels, having reference to seventy nations, each having its own language, and thence the writing of its own hand: and He dispersed them from thence upon the face of all the land into seventy languages. And one knew not what his neighbour would say: but one slew the other; and they ceased from building the city. Therefore He called the name of it Bavel, because there did the Lord commingle the speech of all the inhabitants of the land, and from thence did the Lord disperse them upon the faces of all the land. These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a son of a hundred years, and he begat Arphakshad, two years after the deluge. And Shem lived after he had begotten Arphakshad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Arphakshad lived thirty and five years, and begat Shelach. And Arphakshad lived after he had begotten Shelach four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. And Shelach lived thirty years, and begat Eber. And Shelach lived after he had begotten Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Eber lived thirty-four years, and begat Peleg. And Eber lived after he had begotten Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu. And Peleg lived after he had begotten Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. And Reu lived thirty-two years, and begat Serug. And Reu lived after he had begotten Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor. And Serug lived after he had begotten Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begat Terah. And Nahor lived after he had begotten Terah one hundred and sixteen years, and begat sons and daughters. And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram and Nahor and Haran. These are the generations of Terah. Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. And it was when Nimrod had cast Abram into the furnace of fire because he would not worship his idol, and the fire had no power to burn him, that Haran’s heart became doubtful, saying, If Nimrod overcome, I will be on his side: but if Abram overcome, I will be on his side. And when all the people who were there saw that the fire had no power over Abram, they said in their hearts, Is not Haran the brother of Abram full of divinations and charms, and has he not uttered spells over the fire that it should not burn his brother? Immediately (min yad, out of hand) there fell fire from the high the heavens and consumed him; and Haran died in the sight of Terah his father, where he was burned in the land of his nativity, in the furnace of fire which the Kasdai had made for Abram his brother. And Abram and Nahor took to them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sara, and the name of the wife of Nahor, Milcha, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcha and the father of Iska, who is Sara. And Sara was barren, she had no child. [JERUSALEM. And Sara was barren, she had no son.] And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot bar Haran, the son of his son, and his daughter-in-law Sara the wife of Abram his son, and went forth with them from Ura of the Kasdai, to go to the land of Kenaan. And they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years. And Terah died in Haran.

Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 1.4.1 – 1.6.5 (T)

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

1.4.1. Now the sons of Noaḥ were three,—Shem, Japhet, and Ham, born one hundred years before the Deluge. These first of all descended from the mountains into the plains, and fixed their habitation there; and persuaded others who were greatly afraid of the lower grounds on account of the flood, and so were very loath to come down from the higher places, to venture to follow their examples. Now the plain in which they first dwelt was called Shinar. Elohim also commanded them to send colonies abroad, for the thorough peopling of the land, that they might not raise seditions among themselves, but might cultivate a great part of the land, and enjoy its fruits after a plentiful manner. But they were so ill instructed that they did not obey Elohim; for which reason they fell into calamities, and were made sensible, by experience, of what sin they had been guilty: for when they flourished with a numerous youth, Elohim admonished them again to send out colonies; but they, imagining the prosperity they enjoyed was not derived from the favor of God, but supposing that their own power was the proper cause of the plentiful condition they were in, did not obey him. Nay, they added to this their disobedience to the Divine will, the suspicion that they were therefore ordered to send out separate colonies, that, being divided asunder, they might the more easily be Oppressed.

1.4.2. Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noaḥ, a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on Elohim for destroying their forefathers!

1.4.3. Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God; and they built a tower, neither sparing any pains, nor being in any degree negligent about the work: and, by reason of the multitude of hands employed in it, it grew very high, sooner than any one could expect; but the thickness of it was so great, and it was so strongly built, that thereby its great height seemed, upon the view, to be less than it really was. It was built of burnt brick, cemented together with mortar, made of bitumen, that it might not be liable to admit water. When Elohim saw that they acted so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them utterly, since they were not grown wiser by the destruction of the former sinners; but he caused a tumult among them, by producing in them divers languages, and causing that, through the multitude of those languages, they should not be able to understand one another. The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon, because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before; for the Hebrews mean by the word Babel, confusion. The Sibyl also makes mention of this tower, and of the confusion of the language, when she says thus: “When all men were of one language, some of them built a high tower, as if they would thereby ascend up to the heavens, but the elohim sent storms of wind and overthrew the tower, and gave every one his peculiar language; and for this reason it was that the city was called Babylon.” But as to the plain of Shinar, in the country of Babylonia, Hestiaeus mentions it, when he says thus: “Such of the priests as were saved, took the sacred vessels of Jupiter Enyalius, and came to Shinar of Babylonia.”

1.5.1. After this they were dispersed abroad, on account of their languages, and went out by colonies every where; and each colony took possession of that land which they light upon, and unto which Elohim led them; so that the whole continent was filled with them, both the inland and the maritime countries. There were some also who passed over the sea in ships, and inhabited the islands: and some of those nations do still retain the denominations which were given them by their first founders; but some have lost them also, and some have only admitted certain changes in them, that they might be the more intelligible to the inhabitants. And they were the Greeks who became the authors of such mutations. For when in after-ages they grew potent, they claimed to themselves the glory of antiquity; giving names to the nations that sounded well [in Greek] that they might be better understood among themselves; and setting agreeable forms of government over them, as if they were a people derived from themselves.

1.6.1. Now they were the grandchildren of Noaḥ, in honor of whom names were imposed on the nations by those that first seized upon them. Japhet, the son of Noaḥ, had seven sons: they inhabited so, that, beginning at the mountains Taurus and Amanus, they proceeded along Asia, as far as the river Tansis, and along Europe to Cadiz; and settling themselves on the lands which they light upon, which none had inhabited before, they called the nations by their own names. For Gomer founded those whom the Greeks now call Galatians, [Galls,] but were then called Gomerites. Magog founded those that from him were named Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians. Now as to Javan and Madai, the sons of Japhet; from Madai came the Madeans, who are called Medes, by the Greeks; but from Javan, Ionia, and all the Grecians, are derived. Thobel founded the Thobelites, who are now called Iberes; and the Mosocheni were founded by Mosoch; now they are Cappadocians. There is also a mark of their ancient denomination still to be shown; for there is even now among them a city called Mazaca, which may inform those that are able to understand, that so was the entire nation once called. Thiras also called those whom he ruled over Thirasians; but the Greeks changed the name into Thracians. And so many were the countries that had the children of Japhet for their inhabitants. Of the three sons of Gomer, Aschanax founded the Aschanaxians, who are now called by the Greeks Rheginians. So did Riphath found the Ripheans, now called Paphlagonians; and Thrugramma the Thrugrammeans, who, as the Greeks resolved, were named Phrygians. Of the three sons of Javan also, the son of Japhet, Elisa gave name to the Eliseans, who were his subjects; they are now the Aeolians. Tharsus to the Tharsians, for so was Cilicia of old called; the sign of which is this, that the noblest city they have, and a metropolis also, is Tarsus, the tau being by change put for theta. Cethimus possessed the island Cethima: it is now called Cyprus; and from that it is that all islands, and the greatest part of the sea-coasts, are named Cethim by the Hebrews: and one city there is in Cyprus that has been able to preserve its denomination; it has been called Citius by those who use the language of the Greeks, and has not, by the use of that dialect, escaped the name of Cethim. And so many nations have the children and grandchildren of Japhet possessed. Now when I have premised somewhat, which perhaps the Greeks do not know, I will return and explain what I have omitted; for such names are pronounced here after the manner of the Greeks, to please my readers; for our own country language does not so pronounce them: but the names in all cases are of one and the same ending; for the name we here pronounce Noeas, is there Noaḥ, and in every case retains the same termination.

1.6.2. The children of Ham possessed the land from Syria and Amanus, and the mountains of Libanus; seizing upon all that was on its sea-coasts, and as far as the ocean, and keeping it as their own. Some indeed of its names are utterly vanished away; others of them being changed, and another sound given them, are hardly to be discovered; yet a few there are which have kept their denominations entire. For of the four sons of Ham, time has not at all hurt the name of Chus; for the Ethiopians, over whom he reigned, are even at this day, both by themselves and by all men in Asia, called Chusites. The memory also of the Mesraites is preserved in their name; for all we who inhabit this country [of Judea] called Egypt Mestre, and the Egyptians Mestreans. Phut also was the founder of Libya, and called the inhabitants Phutites, from himself: there is also a river in the country of Moors which bears that name; whence it is that we may see the greatest part of the Grecian historiographers mention that river and the adjoining country by the apellation of Phut: but the name it has now has been by change given it from one of the sons of Mesraim, who was called Lybyos. We will inform you presently what has been the occasion why it has been called Africa also. Canaan, the fourth son of Ham, inhabited the country now called Judea, and called it from his own name Canaan. The children of these [four] were these: Sabas, who founded the Sabeans; Evilas, who founded the Evileans, who are called Getuli; Sabathes founded the Sabathens, they are now called by the Greeks Astaborans; Sabactas settled the Sabactens; and Ragmus the Ragmeans; and he had two sons, the one of whom, Judadas, settled the Judadeans, a nation of the western Ethiopians, and left them his name; as did Sabas to the Sabeans: but Nimrod, the son of Chus, staid and tyrannized at Babylon, as we have already informed you. Now all the children of Mesraim, being eight in number, possessed the country from Gaza to Egypt, though it retained the name of one only, the Philistim; for the Greeks call part of that country Palestine. As for the rest, Ludieim, and Enemim, and Labim, who alone inhabited in Libya, and called the country from himself, Nedim, and Phethrosim, and Chesloim, and Cephthorim, we know nothing of them besides their names; for the Ethiopic war which we will describe hereafter, was the cause that those cities were overthrown. The sons of Canaan were these: Sidonius, who also built a city of the same name; it is called by the Greeks Sidon. Amathus inhabited in Amathine, which is even now called Amathe by the inhabitants, although the Macedonians named it Epiphania, from one of his posterity: Arudeus possessed the island Aradus: Arucas possessed Arce, which is in Libanus. But for the seven others, [Eueus,] Chetteus, Jebuseus, Amorreus, Gergesus, Eudeus, Sineus, Samareus, we have nothing in the sacred books but their names, for the Hebrews overthrew their cities; and their calamities came upon them on the occasion following.

1.6.3. Noaḥ, when, after the deluge, the earth was resettled in its former condition, set about its cultivation; and when he had planted it with vines, and when the fruit was ripe, and he had gathered the grapes in their season, and the wine was ready for use, he offered slaughter, and feasted, and, being drunk, he fell asleep, and lay naked in an unseemly manner. When his youngest son saw this, he came laughing, and showed him to his brethren; but they covered their father’s nakedness. And when Noaḥ was made sensible of what had been done, he prayed for prosperity to his other sons; but for Ham, he did not curse him, by reason of his nearness in blood, but cursed his prosperity: and when the rest of them escaped that curse, Elohim inflicted it on the children of Canaan. But as to these matters, we will speak more hereafter.

1.6.4. Shem, the third son of Noaḥ, had five sons, who inhabited the land that began at Euphrates, and reached to the Indian Ocean. For Elam left behind him the Elamites, the ancestors of the Persians. Ashur lived at the city Nineve; and named his subjects Assyrians, who became the most fortunate nation, beyond others. Arphaxad named the Arphaxadites, who are now called Kasdim. Aram had the Aramites, which the Greeks called Syrians; as Laud founded the Laudites, which are now called Lydians. Of the four sons of Aram, Uz founded Trachonitis and Damascus: this country lies between Palestine and Celesyria. Ul founded Armenia; and Gather the Bactrians; and Mesa the Mesaneans; it is now called Charax Spasini. Sala was the son of Arphaxad; and his son was Heber, from whom they originally called the Jews Hebrews. Heber begat Joetan and Phaleg: he was called Phaleg, because he was born at the dispersion of the nations to their several countries; for Phaleg among the Hebrews signifies division. Now Joctan, one of the sons of Heber, had these sons, Elmodad, Saleph, Asermoth, Jera, Adoram, Aizel, Decla, Ebal, Abimael, Sabeus, Ophir, Euilat, and Jobab. These inhabited from Cophen, an Indian river, and in part of Asia adjoining to it. And this will suffice concerning the sons of Shem.

1.6.5. I will now treat of the Hebrews. The son of Phaleg, whose father Was Heber, was Ragau (Reu); whose son was Serug, to whom was born Nahor; his son was Terah, who was the father of Abraham, who accordingly was the tenth from Noaḥ, and was born in the two hundred and ninety-second year after the deluge; for Terah begat Abram in his seventieth year. Nahor begat Haran when he was one hundred and twenty years old; Nahor was born to Serug in his hundred and thirty-second year; Ragau had Serug at one hundred and thirty; at the same age also Phaleg had Ragau; Heber begat Phaleg in his hundred and thirty-fourth year; he himself being begotten by Sala when he was a hundred and thirty years old, whom Arphaxad had for his son at the hundred and thirty-fifth year of his age. Arphaxad was the son of Shem, and born twelve years after the deluge. Now Abram had two brethren, Nahor and Haran: of these Haran left a son, Lot; as also Sarai and Milcha his daughters; and died among the Kasdim, in a city of the Kasdim, called Ur; and his monument is shown to this day. These married their nieces. Nabor married Milcha, and Abram married Sarai. Now Terah hating Chaldea, on account of his mourning for Haran, they all removed to Haran of Mesopotamia, where Terah died, and was buried, when he had lived to be two hundred and five years old; for the life of man was already, by degrees, diminished, and became shorter than before, till the birth of Moses; after whom the term of human life was one hundred and twenty years, Elohim determining it to the length that Moses happened to live. Now Nahor had eight sons by Milcha; Uz and Buz, Kemuel, Chesed, Azau, Pheldas, Jadelph, and Bethuel. These were all the genuine sons of Nahor; for Teba, and Gaam, and Tachas, and Maaca, were born of Reuma his concubine: but Bethuel had a daughter, Rebecca, and a son, Laban.