| Terah International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
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| tē´ra
(תּרח,
teraḥ;
Septuagint
Θάρρα,
Thárra,
or (with New Testament)
Θάρα,
Thára;
on the name see especially HDB, under the word): The son of Nahor
and father of Abraham, Nahor and Haran (Gen
11:24 f). At Abraham's birth Terah was 70 years
old (Gen 11:26),
and after Abraham's marriage, Terah, Abraham, Sarah and Lot emigrated
from Ur of the Chaldees on the road into the land of Canaan, but stopped
in Haran (Gen 11:31).
When Abraham was 75 years old he and his nephew resumed their journey,
leaving Terah in Haran, where 60 years later he died (Gen
11:32). Stephen, however, states (Act
7:4) that Terah was dead when Abraham left Haran,
an impression that is easily gained from Gen 11 through 12 if the dates
are not computed. As there is no reason to suppose that Stephen was
granted inspiration that would preserve him from such a purely formal
error, the contradiction is of no significance and attempts at
“reconciliation” are needless. In particular, the attempt of Blass (Stud.
u. Krit., 1896, 460 ff) to alter the text of Acts is quite without
foundation. For further discussion see especially Knowling, The
Expositor's Greek Testament, at the place It is worth noting that
Philo makes the same error (Migr. Abr. 177 (section 32)), perhaps
indicating some special Jewish tradition of New Testament times. In
Jos 24:2 Terah is
said to have been an idolater. In Jubilees 12 this is softened into
explaining that through fear of his life Terah was forced to yield
outward conformity to the idolatrous worship of his neighbors. On the
other hand certain Jewish legends (e.g.
Ber.
Rab.
17) represent Terah as actually a maker of idols. Otherwise in the Bible
Terah is mentioned only by name in
1Ch 1:26; Luk
3:34.
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Taken from: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia by James Orr, M.A., D.D., General Editor |
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