Terah

Biblical Record

Terah was a descendant of Shem and appears at the end of Shem's genealogy in Genesis 11. The text records that Nahor fathered Terah at the age of twenty-nine and that Terah, at seventy, fathered Abram (later Abraham), Nahor, and Haran (Genesis 11:24-26). Genesis 11:27 opens with "Now these are the generations of Terah," and the story of Abraham begins at this point.

Terah's son Haran died before his father in their homeland, Ur of the Chaldees. Terah left Ur to go to Canaan, taking with him Abram, Sarai (Sarah), and Haran's son Lot. When they reached Haran, however, they settled there, and Terah died there at the age of 205 (Genesis 11:28-32). In the following chapter, Genesis 12, Abram receives God's call and departs from Haran. Although the son Haran and the place Haran are spelled identically in English (as they are in Korean), the two names are spelled differently in Hebrew.

Significance within Scripture

In Joshua 24:2, Joshua states that the ancestor Terah dwelt "on the other side of the flood"—that is, beyond the Euphrates River—and served other gods. Joshua then urges the people to put away those gods and serve the LORD alone (Joshua 24:14-25). Terah thus forms the backdrop for the account of Abraham being called out of a household that worshiped idols.

Terah's name also appears in the genealogy of 1 Chronicles 1:26-27 and in the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:34. In his sermon, Stephen says that Abraham moved from Haran to Canaan "when his father was dead" (Acts 7:4), although Terah is not named directly in this passage.

Interpretations and Debated Points

• The chronological problem: Abram left Haran at the age of seventy-five (Genesis 12:4). If Terah fathered Abram at seventy, Terah would have lived another sixty years after Abram's departure, which appears inconsistent with Acts 7:4. Two explanations have been offered. One holds that Abram was not the firstborn but is listed first because of his importance; the other holds that Stephen was following the Jewish tradition of his day. The Samaritan Pentateuch is reported to give Terah's lifespan as 145 years.
• The place of the call: Interpreters differ on where Abraham first received his call. Some, following the flow of Genesis 12:1, locate it in Haran; others, on the basis of Acts 7:2 and Genesis 15:7, hold that the call had already come in Ur.
• Relationship to Sarah: Abraham says of Sarah that "she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother" (Genesis 20:12). On this basis, some interpreters regard Sarah as Terah's daughter, while others read the statement as referring more broadly to a relative.
• Extrabiblical traditions: A widely known story holds that Terah made and sold idols and that the young Abraham smashed them. This is a legend preserved in Jewish midrash (rabbinic literature of biblical commentary) and does not appear in the Bible. Scripture states only that Terah served other gods.

In the Korean Church

In Korean church preaching, Terah is commonly treated as "the man who stayed in Haran." The fact that he set out for Canaan but stopped partway is frequently used as an illustration warning against complacency and against failing to follow the path of faith to the end. Because the text does not explain why Terah remained in Haran, however, such interpretations represent the preacher's application. In Sunday school, Terah is introduced at the beginning of the Abraham narrative as the head of the idol-worshiping household from which Abraham came. Because the midrashic story of the idol shop is sometimes told alongside this account, it should be distinguished from the biblical text.