"The function of this genealogy is not so much to connect Abraham with the preceding events, as the previous genealogies have done, but to provide the reader with the necessary background for understanding the events in the life of Abraham. The list includes eight names. All the individuals named are relevant for understanding the events of the following narrative except Iscah' (v. 29). The inclusion of this otherwise insignificant name in the list suggests that the author is seeking to achieve a specific number of names. Thus far in the Book of Genesis, the author has followed a pattern of listing ten names between important individuals in the narrative. In this short list only eight names are given, hence if we are expecting ten names, the number of individuals in this list appears to be short by two names. By listing only eight names, the author leaves the reader uncertain who the ninth and, more importantly, the tenth name will be. It is only as the narrative unfolds that the ninth and tenth names are shown to be the two sons of Abraham, Ishmael' (16:15) and Isaac' (21:3)."408
Abram evidently grew up in the city of Ur.
"Ur is well known as an important center in the land of Sumer; it reached its zenith under the kings of the third dynasty of Ur, who around 2060-1950 B.C. [Abram was born ca. 2166 B.C.] revived for the last time the ancient cultural traditions of the Sumerians. The names of several of Abram's relatives are also the names of known cities: . . . Terah. . . Nahor. . . Serug. . . Haran. . . and Laban the Aramean, Jacob's father-in-law, was from the city Haranin Paddan-aram. All these are places around the river Balih in northern Mesopotamia. Haran and Nahor are often mentioned in the Mari documents of the eighteenth century B.C., and cities named Tell-terah and Serug are known from later Assyrian sources."409
A later writer probably added the reference to the Chaldeans in verse 28 since the Chaldeans did not enter Babylonia until about 1, 000 B.C.410
"The movement between Ur and Haran becomes easy to understand when we recall that Ur was the greatest commercial capital that the world had yet seen . . . ."411
God first called Abram to leave his home when the patriarch still lived in Ur (12:1-3). Abram's family members were polytheists (Josh. 24:2). Abram married his half-sister, Sarai, which was not contrary to God's will at this early date in history (cf. Lev. 18:9; 20:17; Deut. 27:22). God's call was pure grace; there is no evidence in the text that God chose Abram because he merited favor. God was beginning to form a family of faithful followers for Himself. He called them to leave this urban center in trust and obedience.
Abram's family stayed in Haran for some time (vv. 31-32). When the patriarch Terah died, Abram continued his trek toward Canaan in obedience to God's call.
"Like Nuzi, Haran was also part of the Hurrian Mitanni Empire whilst the Hurrians were at the height of their power, so that the tablets discovered at Nuzi would also reflect the way of life in Haran. In this manner, scholars have ascertained from a careful study of the Nuzi tablets that they are very helpful in explaining many of the Biblical episodes relating to the Patriarchs, which had hitherto been somewhat puzzling.
"Although the Bible indicates that Abram eventually left Haran (Genesis 12:4), the Patriarchs nevertheless kept in close contact with that city. Abram sent his servant back to Aram-naharaim, the region in which Haran was situated, in order to find a wife for his son Isaac (Genesis 24:2-10). Isaac later told his younger son Jacob to flee to his uncle Laban in Haran, in order to escape the wrath of his brother Esau, whom he had tricked out of his birthright blessing (Genesis 27:43). Jacob indeed fled to Haran, subsequently marrying there his cousins Leah and Rachel (Genesis 29:1-30).
"The influence of Hurrian society on the Patriarchs was undoubtedly very strong, not only because of the origins of Abram in Mesopotamia, but also because all the Patriarchs maintained contact with the area. This is borne out by the fact that many of the incidents in the Biblical narratives relating to the Patriarchs in reality reflect Hurrian social and legal customs, and prove beyond reasonable doubt that the Patriarchal way of life had its roots in Hurrian society."412
"In the period (the first part of the Middle Bronze Age [ca. 2000-1750 B.C.]) Palestine was receiving an infusion of population as semi-nomadic groups infiltrated the land. . . .
"That these newcomers were Amorites,' of the same Northwest-Semitic stock as those whom we have met in Mesopotamia, can scarcely be doubted. Their names, so far as these are known, point unanimously in that direction. Their mode of life is splendidly illustrated by the Tale of Sinuhe, but especially by the stories of Genesis--for it is difficult to escape the conclusion that the migration of Israel's ancestors was a part of this very movement. These people brought to Palestine no fundamental ethnic change, for they were of the same general Northwest-Semitic stock as were the Canaanites."413
Major Historical Periods of the Promised Land
Stone (Neolithic) Age to ca. 4000 BC (?)
Copper (Calcolithic) Age ca. 4000-3150 BC (?)
Early Bronze Age I 3150-2850 BC
Early Bronze Age II 2850-2650 BC
Early Bronze Age III 2650-2350 BC
Early Bronze Age IV 2350-2200 BC
Middle Bronze Age I 2200-2000 BC
Middle Bronze Age IIA 2000-1750 BC
Middle Bronze Age IIB 1750-1630 BC
Middle Bronze Age IIC 1630-1550 BC
Late Bronze Age I 1550-1400 BC
Late Bronze Age IIA 1400-1300 BC
Late Bronze Age IIB 1300-1200 BC
Iron Age I 1200-1000 BC
Iron Age II 1000-586 BC
Babylonian/Persian Period 586-332 BC
Hellenistic Period I (Ptolemaic and Seleucid) 332-152 BC
Hellenistic Period II (Hasmonean) 152-37 BC
Roman Period I (Herodian) 37 BC-AD 70
Roman Period II AD 70-180
Roman Period III AD 180-324
Byzantine Period (Christian) AD 324-640
Arab Period (Moslem) AD 640-1099
Crusader Period (Christian) AD 1099-1291
Mameluk Period (Moslem) AD 1291-1517
Turkish Period (Moslem) AD 1517-1917
British Mandate Period (Christian) AD 1917-1948
State of Israel Period (Jewish) 1948-today
