| Terah's Life Year Chart Summarized | |||||||||
| STORY | ICB | Life Yrs | Clocks | Jub Clock | J Cal | Astro/Jul Cal | EVENT | Source | |
| 1900 | T0843 Gen11 | T843Noah | VW272 | S39-06-04 | T1671 | -A2090/-V2089 | Josephus: Nahor begat Haran(1) at 20 years old/120yo?(2) | B01,C06 | |
| According to Josephus, Nahor son of Serug had at least two sons: Haran and Terah. I have found no other source besides Josephus who records the name of another son of Nahor. However, the Genesis 11 genealogy agrees that Nahor had other sons and daughters besides Terah (Gen 11.25) but it does not mention the names of Terah's siblings. It's interesting that Josephus does not give an age for Nahor when Terah was born but he does so for Haran's birth. I think Josephus lists Nahor's age at Haran's birth instead of at Terah's birth because he knew that Haran was Nahor's eldest son and that Terah was a younger son. | |||||||||
| Genesis 5 and 11 genealogies record the names of the men in what turned out to be the Line of the Promise. However, except for the logic puzzles about the birth order of Noah's and Terah's sons,(1) there is no way of knowing whether those men were their fathers' eldest or younger sons. Still, both Noah's and Terach's ages are recorded when they first became fathers, which makes me wonder whether there was a scribal tradition of correlating the father's age to the birth of his eldest son. That could argue for the Genesis 5 and 11 genealogies recording the eldest sons but then, YHWH seems to rarely use the eldest son in accomplishing His purposes. So, I don't find Scripture providing a clear answer to this very minor question but I do think Terah had an older brother named Haran. | |||||||||
| Given that Josephus followed the Ancient Near East literary tradition of inflating numbers,(2)(3) (as the Septuagint did) in routinely adding 100 or so years to the life years listed in the Masoretic text, I think it likely that, in the Story chronology, Nahor was 20 years old when Haran was born. | |||||||||
| 1909 | T0852 Gn11 | T852Noah | S39-07-06 | T1680 | -A2081 | T2082 | The Line of the Promise Continued | ||
| T029Nahor | -A2080 | T2081 | Terah born to Nahor at 29 years old(3) | Gen11.24 | |||||
| Gen 20: Terah(4) [turning, wandering, loitering] [spy out] [opportunity](5) | |||||||||
| G20 Luke: Terach/Terah/Tarà | Lk 3.34 | ||||||||
| While the Masoretic (29yo), the Septuagint (79yo), and the Samaritan Pentateuch (79yo) all list an age for Nahor when Terach was born, Josephus does not but rather he dates Terach's birth from the Flood. According to Josephus,(4) Terach was born in the 292nd year since the Deluge, but he sets Arpachshad's birth 12 years after the Flood instead of the two years recorded in Genesus 11.10 Jubilees 11:9-10 gives Terach's birth year as Jubilee 37, Week 6, Year 7 (or 1806 A.M.) [Nahor at 56yo], which would be 498 years after its Jubilee 27, Week 7, Year 6 (1308 A.M.) date for the Flood. In the ICB count, Terach is born in 1909 ICB, 252 years after the Flood. So, there is a 40 year difference between Josephus and the ICB, and a 103 year difference between Jubilees and the ICB. Since I'm using the Masoretic life years, I'm going with Nahor as 29 years old at Terah's birth. | |||||||||
| Jubilees names Terah's mother as 'Ijaska, the daughter of Nestag of the Chaldees' (11.10). While it seems doubtful to me that Jubilees preserved the real name of Terah's mother, I wonder whether Haran and Terah had the same mother. If so, they might have been very close, even with the nine years difference in their ages. This would bolster Dr. Custance's hypothesis(5) that Terah named his eldest son after his older brother Haran (the father of Iscaah/Sarai and Milcah). It's speculation but Josephus does record a Haran son of Nahor, just as he preserves the tradition that Sarai's birth name was Iscaah. | |||||||||
| Jubilees 11:11-14 says there was a widespread famine in the land when Terah was born in Ur of the Chaldees. It was caused by prince Mastema (who is apparently Satan) sending ravens to eat the seed off the ground before men could plow it under. Jubilees claims Nahor named his son Terah because the ravens reduced men to destitution and devoured their seed. | |||||||||
| 70 YEARS UNTIL THE NEXT LIFE YEAR DATED EVENT, 1979 ICB | |||||||||
| 1979 | T0922 Gn11 | T922Noah | S41-03-06 | T1750 | -A2011 | T2012 | Terah's Eldest Son(6) | ||
| T070Terah | -A2010 | T2011 | Terah became a father at age 70 | Gen11.26 | |||||
| Haran born in Ur of the Chaldees (7) [strong, enlightened? mountaineer?] | Gen11.28 | ||||||||
| Abram is commonly considered Terah's eldest son because he is listed first in the list of Terach's sons. The traditional assumption is Terah's sons are listed in birth order. However, a detailed examination of the relevant Scriptures finds a different answer, as discussed in the Intro section. Haran was Terah's eldest son. | |||||||||
| According to Jashar, Haran was Terah's eldest son, born when Terah was 38 years old. Haran married at age 39 with Lot born when Abram was 8 years old. Haran was 42 years old when Sarai was born (Abram at 10 years old). Although the author of Jashar got Haran as Terah's eldest son correct, I think he was wrong about the ages. | |||||||||
| While 19th century scholars changed the traditional birthplace of Abraham from northwestern Mesopotamia to southwestern Mesopotamia and Ur of Sumer, the discovery of the Elba tablets in the mid-20th century re-ignited the debate because these tablets mentioned 'Ur in the region of Charran'. Before I found the article(7) by Cyrus H. Gordon reviewing his research and arguments for the traditional birthplace of Abraham in northwestern Mesopotamia, I had concluded, based on the Biblical evidence and logical interpretations of the geography of the region, that Ur of the Chaldees was most likely in northwestern Mesopotamia, possibly northwest of Charran. It made no sense to me that Terah would have gone 250 miles out of his way to go to Charran if he was travelling from Ur of Sumer to the land of Canaan. I discuss the matter in my essay, "Where was Ur of the Chaldees?" | |||||||||
| 28 YEARS UNTIL THE NEXT LIFE YEAR DATED EVENT, 2007 ICB | |||||||||
| 2007 | T0950 Gn11 | T950Noah | S41-07-06 | T1778 | -A1983/-V1982 | Noah son of Lamech died at 950 years old(8) | Gen9.28-29 | ||
| Jubilees 10:16-17 lists Noah's age as 19 jubilees, two weeks, and five years, which is 950 years, based on a 49-year jubilee count.(8) It gives his death year as 1659 A.M. Now, charting the ages listed in the Masoretic Genesis 5 geneaology puts Noah's death in 2007 ICB. Jashar gets it completely wrong in having Noah still alive when Abram was a child. | |||||||||
| 20 YEARS UNTIL THE NEXT LIFE YEAR DATE EVENT, 2027 ICB | |||||||||
| 2027 | T0970 Gn11 | T118Terah | S42-03-05 | T1798 | -A1963/-V1962 | Peleg son of Eber died at age 239 | 11.19 | ||
| 2028 | T0971Gn11 | T119Terah | S42-03-06 | T1799 | -A1962/-V1961 | Nahor son of Serug died at age 148 (Terah's father) | 11.26 | ||
| 11 YEARS UNTIL THE NEXT LIFE YEAR DATED EVENT, 2039 ICB | |||||||||
| 2039 | T0982 Gn11 | T130Terah | S42-05-03 | T1810 | -A1951 | T1952 | The Line of the Promise continued | ||
| -A1950 | N1951 | Abram born to Terah at 130 years old | 11.27 | ||||||
| Gen 21: Abram [the (divine) father is exalted] | |||||||||
| G21 Luke: @Avräm/Abram/Abraám | Lk 3.34 | ||||||||
| 10 YEARS UNTIL NEXT LIFE YEAR DATED EVENT, 2049 ICB; events listed likely occurred between life year dated events but timing is speculative | |||||||||
| 2040 | T0983 Gn11 | T131 Terah | VW292 | T1811 | -A1950/-V1949 | ?Lot(9) born to Haran the son of Terah? (veil, covering) | 11:27 | ||
| 2041 | T0984 Gn11 | T132 Terah | G052 | T1812 | -A1949/-V1948 | ?Nahor born to Terah? (piercer, slayer, or river, or light) | 11.27 | ||
| 2047 | T0990 Gn11 | VW293 | ?Milcah born to Haran brother of Terah? [queen, or counsel] | 11.27 | |||||
| 2049 | T0992 Gn11 | T140 Terah | S42-06-06 | T1820 | -A1941/-V1940 | Sarai (Iscaah) born to Haran (Terah's brother)(10) ? [my princess] | 17.17 | ||
| 8 YEARS UNTIL NEXT LIFE YEAR DATED EVENT, 2057 ICB | |||||||||
| 2057 | T1000 Gn11 | T148Terah | S42-07-07 | T1828 | -A1933/-V1932 | Reu son of Peleg died at 239 years old | 11.12 | ||
| 23 YEARS UNTIL NEXT LIFE YEAR DATED EVENT, 2080 ICB; events listed likely occurred between life year dated events but timing is speculative | |||||||||
| 2075 | T35 Abram | VW297 | ?Abram marries Sarai at (25yo)? and Nahor marries Milcah? | 11.30 | |||||
| 2079 | T1022 G11 | T170 Terah | AW298 | S43-04-01 | T1850 | -A1911 | T1912 | Abram at 40 years old(11); possible date for YHWH's call | |
| -V1910 | N1912 | ?Terah left for Canaan but stopped in Haran? | 11.31-32 | ||||||
| 2080 | T1023G11 | T171 Terah | S43-04-02 | T1851 | -A1910/-V1909 | Serug son of Reu died at 230 years old | 11.23 | ||
| 17 YEARS UNTIL NEXT LIFE YEAR DATED EVENT, 2097 ICB | |||||||||
| Sarai has no children | 11.31 | ||||||||
| 2097 | T1040 Gn11 | T188Terah | S43-06-05 | T1868 | -A1893/-V1892 | Arpachshad son of Shem died at 438 years old | 11.13 | ||
| 17 YEARS UNTIL NEXT LIFE YEAR DATED EVENT, 2114 ICB; events listed likely occurred between life year dated events but timing is speculative | |||||||||
| 2108 | T1051 Gn11 | T199 Terah | S44-01-02 | ?Haran dies before his father Terah? | 11.29 | ||||
| 2109 | T1052 Gn11 | T070Abram | S44-01-03 | T1880 | -A1881 | T1882 | Abram at 70 years old(12) ; possible date for YHWH's call (Gen 15.7, Acts 7.2-4) | 12.1-3 | |
| T200 Terah | -V1880 | N1881 | ?Terah left for Canaan but stopped in Haran? | 11.31-32 | |||||
| 2114 | T1057 Gn11 | T205 Terah | AW303 | S44-02-01 | T1885 | -A1876/-V1875 | Terah died at 205 years old; Go to Abraham's chart | 11.32 | |
FOOTNOTES (1) See essay 'Who was born first?Return (2) including ages, armies, and population counts. Apparently the Ancient Near East scribes did this to increase their country's status and to impress their enemies and/or allies. In their fluid mindset, they apparently did not view these inflated numbers as inaccurate because everybody at that time knew how to read the numbers. It's reading the numbers from the literal Western Greco-Roman mindset that finds the numbers inaccurate. Return (3) I would restrict this hypothesis to the Genesis 5 and 11 genealogies, as I don’t think the Masoretic reduced all the numbers found in Scripture nor do I think the Septuagint and the Samaritan Pentateuch inflated all the numbers in their manuscripts. However, the Septuagint and Josephus fairly consistantly inflate the Genesis 5 and 11 fatherhood age counts by 100 years in comparison to the Masoretic. Curiously, the Samaritan Pentateuch's Genesis 5 fatherhood ages tend to agree with the Masoretic while its Genesis 11 fatherhood ages tend to agree with the Septuagint. Return (4) Josephus. Antiquities, Bk 1, Chap 6, #5 Return (5) See DMD essay, "A Question of Two Harans." Return (6) See essay 'Who was born first?' I discuss my reasons for concluding that Japheth and Haran were the eldest sons of Noah and Terach respectively with Shem and Abram as the middle sons.Return (7) Gordon, Cyrus H. “Where is Abraham’s Ur?”, Biblical Archaelogical Review Return (8) While there is debate today over whether to count jubilees as 50 years or as 49 years with the 50th year overlapping with the 1st year of the next 49, a comparison of the ages given in Jubilees using a 49 year jubilee count makes it clear that, for this author, a jubilee counted as 49 years. I doubt the author made that up. I think he simply used the jubilee counting method used by the Hebrew scholars in his day, which probably had not changed down through the millenia. So, in the ICB, a jubilee counts as 49 years with the 50th year overlapping with the first year of the next 49. Return (9) Scripture gives no indication of how old Lot or Nahor were in relation to Abram or how old Haran was when Lot was born. Return (10) See "A Question of Two Harans" for a discussion of Dr. Arthur C. Custance's hypothesis that the Haran who fathered Iscaah and Milcah was Terah's brother, rather than Terah's son.Return (11) I don"t think Scripture gives a life year date for when Abram received YHWH"s call. I picked 40 years old as a possible life year date because Scripture often uses the time period of 40 years. Bullinger, E.W. Numbers in Scripture, 4th Ed., Revised. Part II. “Forty.” London: Bible Warehouse, 1921. Return (12) I picked Abram at 70 years old as another possible life year date for YHWH's call because 70 is also a number frequently used in Scripture. One question is how long did Abram stay in Haran before YHWH removed him to Canaan: five years or thirty-five years? I suspect five years is more likely.Return Return to ICB Menu Return to blog post
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