Bible Families: Shem to Abram

Following the story of the Tower of Babel, we have the fourth and fifth genealogy of the Bible, the lineage from Noah’s son Shem to Abram. 

This passage can be considered two, overlapping accounts. Gen. 11:11-26 is the last family chart of the “primordial history” that begins with Genesis 1 and continues through most of Genesis 11. Gen. 11:25-26 refers to Terah, Abram's father. Then Genesis 11:27 elaborates Terah's family---and with that, we basically the rest of the Bible: the story of Abraham, his faith, and his descendants. He is a key hero of faith in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  

Genesis 11:10. These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:

11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:

13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:

15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:

17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.

18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:

19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.

20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:

21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.

22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:

23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:

25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.

26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.

28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

I found this chart on Wikipedia commons.  

My Jewish Study Bible notes that Gen. 11:31-12:2 seem to indicate two leave-takings on the part of Abram. The two versions are an example of the weaving together of the J and P sources, but the two versions also show that Abram and his family sojourned in Hara, apparently for the sake of his father, and when Terah died, the Lord instructed him (and them) to proceed further, to Canaan (p. 30). 

Here's a lovely madras (quoted in Torah: A Modern Commentary): "Why did Abraham have to go forth to the world? At home he was like a flask of myrrh with a tight-fitting lid. Only when it is open can the fragrance be scattered to the winds" (p. 95). 

The page from the 1629 Prayer Book: