Nahor

Biblical Record

Two people named Nahor appear in the Bible. Both belong to the family of Abraham.

Nahor, the grandfather of Abraham, was the son of Serug. According to Genesis 11:22-25, he was twenty-nine years old when he fathered Terah, and he lived another 119 years afterward, fathering other children. The same genealogy appears in 1 Chronicles 1:26.

Nahor, the brother of Abraham, was the son of Terah; his brothers were Abram (Abraham) and Haran (Genesis 11:26-27). He married Milcah, the daughter of Haran (Genesis 11:29). When Terah left Ur of the Chaldees for Haran, only Abram, Lot, and Sarai are listed as going with him; Nahor is not mentioned (Genesis 11:31). Later accounts, however, show his family living in northern Mesopotamia.

After the offering of Isaac on Mount Moriah, Abraham received news of Nahor's children (Genesis 22:20-24). By Milcah, Nahor had eight sons: Huz, Buz, Kemuel, Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel. By his concubine Reumah, he had four sons. The place to which Abraham's servant went to find a wife for Isaac was "the city of Nahor" (Genesis 24:10). Rebekah, whom the servant met there, was the daughter of Bethuel and thus Nahor's granddaughter. Laban also belonged to Nahor's family. Consequently, the wives of both Isaac and Jacob were descendants of Nahor.

Significance Within the Bible

Nahor's family serves as the kindred from which Abraham's line obtained wives, thereby linking the patriarchal narratives.

• When making a covenant with Jacob, Laban swore by "the God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor" (Genesis 31:53).
• Joshua 24:2 recalls that Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, dwelt "on the other side of the flood" and served other gods.

In the New Testament, the grandfather Nahor, the father of Terah, appears in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Luke 3:34. Nahor the brother is not mentioned in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Debates

• The repetition of the name: A common interpretation sees this as an example of a grandson being named after his grandfather, although the text does not give the reason.
• The location of "the city of Nahor": Some hold that it refers to Haran itself. Others identify it as a separate city called Nahur near Haran, which is known from ancient documents.
• The religion of Nahor's family: Interpretations differ concerning Genesis 31:53 and the account of Laban's teraphim (household idols, Genesis 31:19). Some interpreters hold that Nahor's family knew the same God as Abraham, while others believe they worshiped several gods alongside Him.
• Twelve sons: Some commentators see Nahor's total of twelve sons as paralleling the twelve sons of Ishmael and of Jacob. Another interpretation connects Huz and Buz with "the land of Uz" (Job 1:1) and "Elihu ... the Buzite" (Job 32:2) in the Book of Job. In neither case does the text state the connection directly.

In the Korean Church

Nahor is rarely the subject of a standalone sermon or hymn. He is mentioned mainly in sermons or Bible studies on the Rebekah narrative in Genesis 24, to explain that Isaac's wife came from Abraham's own kin. In Sunday schools, he is often introduced as a son of Terah when students learn Abraham's family tree.