Commentary on Genesis, Chapter 11
CHAP. XI.
Ver. 1. AND all the Earth,] i. e. The Inhabitants of the Earth; as 1 Kings X. 24. all the Earth is explained 2 Chron. IX. 23. all the Kings of the Earth.
Were of one Language.] In the Hebrew of one Lip; which is one Inſtrument of Speech, comprehending the reſt. Their Mouth found the ſame words. So it follows.
And of one Speech.] Or, Word, as the Hebrew hath it. Some diſtinguiſh theſe two ſo ſubtilly, as to ſay, they had not only the ſame Language, but the ſame manner of pronunciation; which is often very different in the ſame Language. The Heathens themſelves acknowledge there was but one Language anciently, (ſee Joſephus, and out of him Euſebius, L. IX. Praep. Evang. c. 14, 15.) which in all likelihood, was the ſame that had been from the Beginning, which Adam himſelf ſpake. For Methuſelah, the Grand-Father of Noah, lived ſome time with him, and ſpake, we may well ſuppoſe, the ſame Language that he did. And we cannot but think the ſame of Noah: Who propagated it among his Poſterity till this time. But whether this was the Hebrew or no, we cannot be certain. The Chaldee Paraphraſts, and the Hebrew Writers generally ſay it was; and moſt Chriſtian Writers have been of their Opinion: In ſo much that R. Gedalian, upon theſe words, ſaith; The wiſe Men among the Chriſtians have ſearched what was the firſt Tongue; and all the World confeſſes that from Adam to the Flood they ſpake the Holy Language. Which it is not to be thought, we have now intire and pure; but that a conſiderable part of it ſtill remains in the Bible. As may be proved by no contemptible Arguments; particularly this, that Shem the Son of Noah, was for ſome time contemporary with Abraham, who deſcended from him; and in whoſe Family continued the ſame Language which they both ſpake, unto Moſes his days.
They that have fanſied there were more Languages than one, at this time, grounded their miſtake upon thoſe words, Gen. X. 5, 20, 31. where the Sons of Noah are ſaid to have had the Earth divided among them, according to their Tongues. Not conſidering, that he ſpeaks of this very Diviſion, of which he is going to give an account; and briefly mentioned there, verſe 25. For the thirteen Sons of Joktan, immediately after mentioned, (who had their ſhare in the diviſion,) were not in being, when their Uncle Peleg was born; as the moſt learned Primate Ʋſher hath demonſtrated in his Annals, A. M. 1757.
Ver. 2. As they journeyed from the Eaſt.] He doth not ſpeak of all the Poſterity of Noah, who after the Flood planted in the Eaſt; much leſs Noah himſelf: But of a great Colony of them, who when the Eaſt was much peopled, choſe to go Weſtward. By the Eaſt, moſt underſtand Armenia, where they ſuppoſe the Ark reſted, and Noah with his Sons planted. But this hath great difficulty in it, for the Mountains of Armenia lay North of Shinar, or Aſſyria, and not Eaſt. Which Bochart ſolves in this manner: Aſſyria being divided into two parts; one on this ſide, the other on the further ſide of Tigris, they called all that part beyond Tigris, the Eaſt Country; though a great part of it towards Armenia was really Northward; and that part on this ſide they called Weſt, though ſome of it lay to the South, L. I. Phaleg, c. 7. But there is no need of the help of this ſolution; the Mountains of Ararat running a long way Eaſtward: From which when Noah and his Sons deſcended, they ſetled it's likely in Countries which were very much Eaſtward of Aſſyria.
They found a plain.] They continued to dwell in the Mountainous Countries of the Eaſt, where the Ark reſted, till they grew very numerous, and wanted room; and then deſcended into the Plain, and ſome of them went Weſtwardly into the Land of Shinar, that pleaſant Plain (as Mr. Mede fanſies) where God at the Beginning had placed the firſt Father of Mankind, Adam.
Shinar.] By this Name we are to underſtand not only that part of Aſſyria, where Babylon ſtood; but all that Country which bordered upon Tigris unto the Mountains of Armenia; from whence Noah and his Sons are ſuppoſed to have deſcended, when the Earth was dry, and not to have gone far from thence at firſt till they were multiplied; and then ſome of them came into this Country; which Noah had inhabited before the Flood. Thus Bochart, in the place before-named. But there is no certainty the Ark reſted in Armenia; it might be further Eaſtward, upon ſome other part of that long Ridge of Mountains, called Ararat: From whence they deſcended when the Earth was dry, and dwelt in the lower Grounds, which were warmer and more fruitful than the Mountains.
But that from the Eaſt Mankind were propagated, is apparent from the increaſe of Arts and Sciences, which as Dr. Jackson obſerves, (Book I. c. 16.) were in ſome meaſure perfected there, (in Times as ancient as any prophane Hiſtory can point us unto,) and thence derived as from a Center, to more remote parts of the World, the ripeneſs of Literature, civil Diſcipline, and Arts among the Eaſtern People, before they did ſo much as bud forth in Greece or Italy (I may add Egypt either) is a demonſtration, that theſe were the Stock, and the other but Slips or Branches tranſplanted from thence. Nay, the State and Grandure of thoſe Eaſtern Countries, before Greece or Italy, or any other Weſtern People grew into the faſhion of a Kingdom, ſhows, that the Eaſtern People were the Heirs of the World, and other Nations but as Colonies from them.
Ver. 3. They ſaid one to another.] i. e. Conſulted together.
Go to.] And ſtirred up one another to lay all their Hands to this Work.
Let us make Brick.] In that low and fat Soil, there was no Stone, as is intimated in the next Words, and they had Brick for Stone. No Body doubts but this is a true Tranſlation of the Hebrew word Labenah: For Herodotus, and Juſtin, and many others, deſcribe the Walls of Babylon as made of ſuch Materials. What Chemar is (which was the Cement to joyn the Bricks together) doth not ſo plainly appear. We tranſlate it Slime; following herein a great many of the Hebrews: Particularly Kimchi, who ſays it is Mortar, made of Sand and Lime. But there is much reaſon to think it was that which the Ancients called foreign, a kind of Pitch, (as Kimchi himſelf acknowledges ſome underſtand it,) which is deſcribed by Authors as a very glewy thing, and therefore uſed by Noah, by God's Direction, about the Ark. There was great plenty of it in Aſſyria, as Theodoret here obſerves, from ſome Fountains which vomited it up with the Water. And ſo Strabo and Dion affirm, that it was very fit for this purpoſe; and Herodotus ſays expreſly, that the Walls of Babylon were cemented with it; and ſo do many others, both Greek and Roman Authors, mentioned by Bochartus, L. I. Phaleg, c. 13. And it is very obſervable, that Arrianus ſaith, L. VII. The Temple of Belus in the midſt of the City of Babylon, of a vaſt bigneſs, was made of Brick, cemented with Aſphaltus.
Ver. 4. And they ſaid, Go to now.] At the firſt perhaps they ſpake only of building themſelves Houſes; but now they laid their Heads together, and conſulted to make a huge Monument of their Greatneſs.
A City and a Tower.] Some fanſie one thing to be expreſſed in two words: A City and a Tower, being a City with Turrets. But both this Verſe and the next, expreſs them ſo ſeverally, that we ought to think them to have been diſtinct. Yet, that the Tower was part of the City, is plain by verſe 8. where it is ſaid, they left off to build the City, making no mention of the Tower: Which was contained in the City, as a part of it; and may well be thought, to have been the Acropolis, (as the Greeks ſpeak,) a ſtrong Place, in the higheſt part of the City; ſuch as we call a Cittadel. For the Scripture by a Tower, means ſome Fortreſs to keep out an Enemy, which was wont to be built in the midſt of the City, that it might command every part of it.
Some fanſie the Temple of Belus, before-mentioned, was afterward built, where this Tower ſtood; and was nothing elſe but the Tower perfected for another uſe. Or, rather, a Temple was built round about the Tower, which ſtood in the midſt of it, as Herodotus deſcribes it, L. I. foreign, &c. in the midſt of the Temple, was a ſtrong Tower, &c.
Whoſe top may reach up unto Heaven.] i. e. To the Clouds. As much as to ſay, an exceeding high Tower. For the ſame is ſaid of the Walls of the Cities of Canaan, Deut. I 28. IX. 1. and therefore can mean no more here. And is an uſual Phraſe in Scripture; as when the Pſalmiſt ſays, They that ſail upon the Sea, are ſometime lifted up to Heaven, CVII. 25. which is a Language that other Authors ſpeak; for Homer mentions a Firr-tree which was foreign, extended to Heaven, i. e. very tall. Which I note to ſhow the ſenſleſs Spite of Julian the Apoſtate, who endeavoured to diſcredit this Sacred Story, by the Poetical Fiction of the Giants warring with Heaven: As if there were no more Truth in the one, than in the other. But St. Cyril in his Fourth Book againſt him, truly obſerves, That in Scripture, this Phraſe, foreign, to Heaven, is put foreign, for that which is highly elevated; as this Tower was. Which being half a quarter of a Mile in breadth and length, had another Tower ſtood upon it; and a third upon that; and ſo on, foreign, (as Herodotus ſpeaks,) till there were eight Towers in all: Which made it of a vaſt heighth.
Let us make us a Name, &c.] Here he plainly acquaints us with their Intention in building this City and Tower: Which was to be a perpetual Monument of their Fame. To ſpread it far and wide, while they were alive; and that their Names might live in this Monument when they were dead: All Poſterity ſaying, ſuch and ſuch Perſons were the Founders of the Firſt and Mother City of the World. So David is ſaid to have got himſelf a Name, 2 Sam. VIII. 13. i. e. extended his Fame by his great Atchievements. And God is ſaid to do the ſame, Iſai. LXIII. 12, 14. Therefore there was no occaſion for aſſigning other Reaſons for the building of this Tower; when Moſes gives one ſo clearly. That which hath been commonly fanſied is, That they might ſecure themſelves againſt another Inundation: From which they were ſecured by the Divine Promiſe, (if they would believe it,) together with the addition of a Sign to it, IX. 12. And, if they did not believe it, why did they come down from the Mountains into the plain Country, to build this Tower; which might more rationally have been erected upon the top of the higheſt Mountains, if their meaning had been, by this means, to preſerve themſelves from future Floods. If there were any other meaning beſides that mentioned by Moſes, I ſhould think that moſt probable which I find in Dr. Jackson, (Book I. on the Creed, c. 16.) That it might be a Refuge whereunto they might reſort, and continue their Combination: Something of which ſeems to be intimated in the next words. There is a Conjecture alſo made by a moſt worthy Friend of mine, a good while ago, Dr. Teniſon, now Biſhop of Lincoln, in his Book of Idolatry, (which is not inconſiſtent with theſe,) That this Tower was conſecrated by the Builders of it to the Sun, as the cauſe of drying up the Waters of the Deluge (or rather, as the moſt illuſtrious and neareſt reſemblance of the Schechinah, as I noted on Chap. IV.) and that it was intended as an Altar whereon to Sacrifice to it. But it is propounded only as a Conjecture: Which thoſe Jews ſeem alſo to have had in their Minds, who by the Word Shem, (Name) underſtand God: As if their meaning were, Let us make us a God; and raiſe him a Temple. And perhaps future times did convert it to that uſe.
Leaſt we be ſcattered abroad upon the Face of the whole Earth.] Here they ſpeak as if they feared a diſperſion; but it's hard to tell from what cauſe, unleſs it were this, That Noah having projected a diviſion of the Earth among his Poſterity, (for it was a deliberate buſineſs, as I noted upon X. 5.) theſe People had no mind to ſubmit unto it; and therefore built this Fortreſs to defend themſelves in their Reſolution of not yielding to his deſign. Thus the moſt learned Ʋſher, ad A. M. 1757. But what they dreaded, they brought upon themſelves by their own vain attempt to avoid it: And now there is no memory preſerved of the Names of thoſe that conſpired in this attempt. Thus what Solomon ſaith, was long before verified, Prov. X. 24. The fear of the Wicked ſhall come upon him. But this evil by God's providence was attended with a great Good: For by this diſperſion the whole Earth was peopled, and the foundation laid of ſeveral great Nations and Kingdoms.
Ver. 5. And the LORD came down to ſee, &c.] This is an accommodation to our conceptions; and means no more; but that by the Effects, he made it appear, that he obſerved their Motions, and knew their Intentions.
Which the Children of Men builded.] It is generally agreed that Children of Men in Scripture, is oppoſed to Children of God: As bad Men and Infidels, are to the good and the Faithful. Which gives us to underſtand, that neither Noah, nor Shem, nor Arphaxad, Salah or Heber were engaged in this Work: But ſome of the worſer ſort of People who degenerated from the Piety of their Anceſtors. It is probable ſome of the Race of Ham; who it's likely carried much of the Spirit of Cain with him into the Ark: Otherwiſe he could not have behaved himſelf ſo vilely towards his Father after they came out of it. For that terrible Judgment, it ſeems, had not reformed him; and then it is no wonder if he grew more wicked after it was over. Joſephus and others take Nimrod (his Grandchild) to have been the foreign, as his Word is, Ring-leader of this Crew, who combined in this deſign. But I take it to be more probable that he came and ſetled here after the Diſperſion. For there being not much above an Hundred Years between the Flood and this time, it is not likely ſuch a great Kingdom could be erected in that ſpace, as we read of, Gen. X. 10. And therefore he grew ſo great after this Diſperſion, when he came out of Arabia, or ſome neighbouring Country, and ſetled here in Babel: Which was called by this Name, upon occaſion of the Confuſion of Languages, and had it not before. Which is an Argument that what we read, X. 10, 11. muſt be underſtood to have hapned after this time. But, if all this be true that ſome of Cham's Race began this deſign, which other bad People were too much diſpoſed to follow, and that they who retained the true Religion (from whom Abraham deſcended) were not of the number, it is credible that they eſcaped the puniſhment here mentioned (in the next Verſes) retaining ſtill their ancient Seat, and the ancient Language alſo; which continued in the Family of Heber, and was called Hebrew.
Ver. 6. And the LORD ſaid, &c.] This Verſe only expreſſes a Reſolution to ſpoil their Project; and the neceſſity of ſo doing.
Ver. 7. Let us.] The Rabbins fanſie this is ſpoken to the Angels. But it is beyond the Angelical Power to alter Mens Minds ſo in a moment, that they ſhall not be able to underſtand what they did before. Therefore God ſpake to himſelf: And this Phraſe ſuggeſts to us more Perſons than One in the Godhead. In ſhort, none but He who taught Men at firſt to ſpeak, could, in an Inſtant, make that variety of Speech, which is deſcribed in the next Words. Novatianus therefore anciently took it, that this was ſpoken by God to his Son.
Confound their Language.] The Word Confound is to be mark'd: For God did not make every one ſpeak a new different Language, but they had ſuch a confuſed remembrance of the Original Language which they ſpake before, as made them ſpeak it very differently: So that by the various Inflections, and Terminations, and Pronunciations of divers Dialects, they could no more underſtand one another, than they who underſtand Latin can underſtand thoſe who ſpeak French, Italian, or Spaniſh; though theſe Languages ariſe out of it.
And yet it is not to be thought, there were as many ſeveral Dialects as there were Men; ſo that none of them underſtood another: For this would not meerly have diſperſed Mankind, but deſtroyed them. It being impoſſible to live without Society, or to have Society without underſtanding one another: For if the Father could not have underſtood the Son, nor the Husband his Wife, there could have been no comfort in living together. Therefore it is likely that every Family had its peculiar Dialect; or rather the ſame common Dialect (or way of ſpeaking) was given to thoſe Families, whom God would have to make one Colony in the following Diſperſion. Unto which Diſperſion they were conſtrained by their not being able to have ſuch familiarity as they had before with every body; but only with thoſe who underſtood their particular Speech.
Into how many Languages they were divided, none can determine. The Hebrews fanſie into LXX. which Opinion hath much prevailed: Being grounded upon the foregoing Chapter; where the Deſcendants from the Sons of Noah are juſt ſo many. The Greek Fathers make them LXXII. becauſe the Greek Verſion adds two more (Eliſa among the Sons of Japhet, and Cainan among the Sons of Shem) and the Latin Fathers follow them. But this is a very weak Foundation; it being apparent that many of the Sons of Canaan uſed the very ſame Language in their Country, and ſo did Javan and Eliſhah in Greece: And in other places ſo many concurred in the Uſe of the ſame Speech, that ſcarce Thirty remains of the Seventy to be diſtinct, as Bochart hath obſerved. See Selden, L. II. de Synedr. cap. 9. Sect. III.
Ver. 8. So the LORD ſcattered them.] Broke their combination by making them ſpeak ſeveral Languages; which cut off the common bond of one Society. For as the Ʋnity of one common Language (to uſe the Words of Mr. Mede, p. 362.) had knit all Mankind into one community: So God in his Wiſdom ſaw that plurality of Languages was the beſt means to force them into a plurality of Societies.
Abroad from thence.] Into all the Regions of the North, South, and Weſt: The Eaſt being inhabited before by Noah and ſuch of his Offspring as abode with him. Which is not to be underſtood as if they were immediately ſcattered into the remoteſt places from Babel: But firſt into the neighbouring Countries; and by degrees into thoſe which were further off, according as their Families increaſed.
How long this Diſperſion hapned after the Flood, cannot be certainly determined. But we can demonſtrate it was not much above 100 Years. For Peleg (in whoſe days this came to paſs, X. 25.) was born but an Hundred and one Years after: As was obſerved before upon that place. Now ſome think this diviſion was made juſt at his Birth: Which St. Auſtin takes to have been the reaſon why his Father called him Peleg, quia tunc ei natus eſt, quando per linguas terra diviſa eſt, becauſe he was then born to him, when the Earth was divided by their Languages. But the Text doth not make this out, for it only ſays in his Days the Earth was divided. And the Thirteen Sons of Joktan (Peleg's Brother) who had their ſhare in this diviſion, being not then born, we muſt conclude that if this diviſion began at Peleg's birth, it was not finiſhed 'till ſome Years after. Elmacinus ſays in the Fortieth Year of Peleg's Age; the Hebrews generally ſay at his Death.
See Hottinger's Smegma Orient. p. 62. and 166.
And they left off to build the Tower.] I ſee no reaſon to believe that God overturn'd it by a terrible Tempeſt, as Epiphanius expreſſes it, foreign. Which is the Opinion of Joſephus, L. I. c. 5. Antiq. and Abydenus mention'd by Euſebius, L. IX. c. 4. Praepar. Evang. and divers others of the Ancients. Nor is there any ground for what others ſay, (particularly Benjamin Tudel, in his Itinerary, p. 77.) that it was burnt by Fire from Heaven. For Moſes doth not intimate that it was either burnt, or over-turned: But only that they deſiſted from their Enterprize: Which naturally ceaſed, when they could no longer joyn to carry on the Building. Which may rather lead us to think, that the City and Tower ſtood long after this: And that Bochart's Conjecture is not unreaſonable, That it was the very Tower which was afterward conſecrated to Belus, deſcribed by Herodotus, L. I. For it is evident, that though this City and Country lay waſte for ſome time, Men being frighted by the confuſion of their Languages from living there, yet Nimrod, a bold Man, came and made this the Seat of his Empire: And, it's very probable, carried on that Work which was broke off by the Diſperſion. For it is not ſaid, Gen. X. 10. that he built Babel, (as he did Niniveh, and other Cities, verſe 11.) but only that it was the beginning of his Kingdom, the head City, where he made his reſidence.
Ver. 9. Therefore is the Name of it called Babel.] Which ſignifies in Hebrew Confuſion: So frivolous is their Conceit, who make it to have been called by this Name, from Babylon, the Son of Belus. All the difficulty is to know who called it by this Name. Some think the Children of Heber, in whoſe Family the original Language continued. But it may be as rationally conceived, that in the confuſion of Languages, all retained ſome of the ancient words, and particularly this: By which they all commonly called this Place.
Confound the Language of all the Earth.] That is, the Language of all thoſe People who were in this Weſtern Colony; not the Language of Noah, and his Plantation more Eaſterly, who kept, as I ſaid, the Primitive Language.
Scatter them abroad upon the face, &c.] This Diſperſion was ſo ordered, that each Family and each Nation dwelt by it ſelf: Which could not well be done, as Mr. Mede obſerves, but by directing an orderly Diviſion: Either by caſting of Lots, or chuſing according to their Birth-right, after Portions of the Earth were ſet out according to the Number of their Nations and Families. For otherwiſe, ſome would not have been content to go ſo far North as Magog did, and others ſuffered to enjoy more pleaſant Countries.
Ver. 10. Theſe are the Generations of Shem.] It appears from the foregoing Chapter, that theſe here mentioned, were not all the Perſons who deſcended from him: But theſe were the Anceſtors of Abraham, whom Moſes derives by theſe from Shem.
Ver. 11. Lived after he begat Arphaxad, five hundred Years.] So that as he had ſeen Methuſelah and Lamech before the Flood, he might alſo ſee, not only Abraham, but his Son Iſaac, who by this Account was one and twenty Years old when Shem died.
Ver. 14. Begat Eber.] Who was the Father of thoſe from whom came the Hebrew Nation: Abraham being deſcended from him in the ſixth Generation. And that Nation being called Eber, Numb. XXIV. 24. and the Children of Eber, Gen. X. 21. It is not reaſonable, as I obſerved before, to ſeek for any other derivation of the Name of Hebrews.
Ver. 16. Peleg, or Phaleg.] It is not unlikely that either he, or ſome of his Poſterity in memory of him, gave Name to a Town upon Euphrates called Phalga: Not far from the place where Chaborus runs into it, upon which Harah (or Charrah) ſtood, built by Haran, Abraham's Brother.
Ver. 18. Reu, or Ragau.] (As ſome pronounce the Hebrew word) gave Name to a Field near Aſſyria, Judith I. 5. or, as Tobit ſaith, in Media: Where Strabo mentions a City called Raga, and ſo doth Stephanus, foreign. In the hundred and thirtieth Year of his life, if we may believe Elmacinus, (p. 29.) Nimrod began to Reign in Babylon. And in his days alſo he ſays, the Egyptian Kingdom began. Which need not ſeem ſtrange, though ſcarce two hundred Years were paſſed ſince the Flood, when we conſider the vaſt increaſe of People in theſe Ages, from a few Planters, within ſuch a compaſs of time: And likewiſe the extraordinary fruitfulneſs which God after the Flood beſtowed upon them for the Peopling of the Earth. For he ſays twice to Noah, and his Sons, immediately after they came out of the Ark, increaſe and multiply, IX. 1, 7. and repleniſh the Earth. From this Antiquity of the Egyptian Kingdom, it is, that the later Pharaohs called themſelves the Sons of ancient Kings, Iſai. XIX. 11.
In Reu's time alſo both the Egyptians and Babylonians now began to make Images and worſhip them, if Patricides may be credited. See Hotting. Smegma, Orient. cap. 8. n. 16.
Ver. 20. Begat Serug.] From whom (Bochartus thinks) ſome of his Deſcendants might call the City Sarug: Which the Arabian Geographer ſays was near to Charrae or Haran. He firſt began to celebrate every Year the Memory of famous Men, after they were dead; and commanded them to be honoured as Benefactors; if we may believe Suidas in the word foreign, and Damaſcen, and a long Roll of other Authors mentioned by Jacobus Geuſius, Par. I. c. 2. De Victimis Humanis.
Ver. 22. Begat Nahor.] The ſame Writers ſay, That Idolatry increaſing much in his days, there was a great Earthquake (the firſt that had been obſerved) which overturned their Temples, and broke their Images in Arabia.
Ver. 24. Terah.] Whom they make to have been an Idolatrous Prieſt; but to have repented and been converted to the worſhip of the True God. See Verſe 31.
Ver. 26. And Terah lived ſeventy Years, and begat Abraham, Nahor, and Haran.] i. e. He was ſeventy Years old before he had any Children; and then had three Sons one after another: Who are not ſet down in the order wherein they were born. For Abraham's being firſt named doth not prove him to have been the eldeſt Son of Terah; no more than Shem's being firſt named among Noah's three Sons, proves him to have been the firſt-born, IX. 18. For there are good Reaſons to prove that Abraham was born ſixty Years after Haran; who was the eldeſt Son; having two Daughters, married to his two Brothers, Nahor and Abraham: Who ſeems to be the youngeſt, though named firſt, both here and in the next Verſe, becauſe of his preheminence. See Verſe 32.
Ver. 28. Haran died before his Father, &c.] In his own Country, (as it here follows) out of which he did not go, as the reſt of this Family did.
In Ʋr of the Chaldees.] That part of Meſopotamia, which was next to Aſſyria, is called the Land of the Chaldees. For Ʋr, as Abarbinel obſerves, was in Meſopotamia: Lying in the way from Tigris to Niſibis. And therefore St. Stephen makes Meſopotamia and the Land of the Chaldees the very ſame, Act. VII. 2, 4. Eupolemus indeed, as Bochart notes, places this Ʋr, from whence Abraham came, (Verſe 31.) in Babylon: But Ammianus ſpeaks of an Ʋr in Meſopotamia, ſituated as before-mentioned; which we have reaſon to think was the place from whence Abraham came, becauſe from thence to Canaan the way lay ſtraight through Charran (or Haran,) but it did not do ſo, if he came from Babylon. And no good account can be given why he ſhould go about through Meſopotamia, and Charran; when there was a ſhorter way through Arabia, if he came from Babylon.
Ver. 29. The Father of Iſcah.] i. e. Of Sarai, whom Abraham married; ſhe being his eldeſt Brother's Daughter, Siſter to Lot. For Haran had three Children, Lot, verſe 27, and Milchah, whom Nahor married, and Sarah whom Abraham married. That is, Haran dying, the two remaining Brethren married his two Daughters. For if we ſhould underſtand any Body elſe by Iſcah, but Sarah; there is no account whence ſhe deſcended: Which Moſes ſure would not have omitted; becauſe it very much concerned his Nation to know from whom they came, both by the Father's and the Mother's ſide. It is no wonder ſhe ſhould have two Names; one perhaps before they came out of Chaldaea, and another after.
Ver. 31. Went forth from Ʋr of the Chaldees.] See what was ſaid Verſe 26. unto which I have nothing to add but this, That this Country was ſo famous for Superſtition, that the Chaldaeans in Daniel's time were reckoned as a diſtinct ſort of Diviners, from Magicians, Aſtrologers, and South-ſayers, or Sorcerers, (Dan. II. 2, 10. IV. 7. V. 11.) And, it's likely, from ſome ſuch ſort of Men Terah and his Family learnt the worſhip of Idols, Joſh. XXIV. 2. But though he had been an Idolater, yet it may be probably concluded from his leaving Ʋr of the Chaldees, with an intention to go to Canaan, (as it is here ſaid) that now he was become a worſhipper of the True God. For what ſhould move him to it, but Obedience to the Divine Direction, which Abraham received, (as we read in the next Chapter,) to which he would not have agreed, if he had not believed in God. As Lot it's plain did, whom he took along with him. That word is much to be remarked; which makes him the principal Agent in their removal: Abraham himſelf being governed by his Motion. For Moſes ſays, He took Abraham, and Lot, the Son of Haran, &c. And though Nahor did not now go along with his Father to Haran, (being left behind perhaps to look after ſome concerns,) yet afterwards he followed him, with all his Family. As appears from Chapter XXVII. 43. and the following Chapter. And he alſo forſook Idolatry; for Rebekkah his Grand-Child was married to Iſaac, and his great Grand-Children, Rachel and Leah, nay, their Father Laban, ſeem to have been worſhippers of the True God, (though with a mixture of ſome Superſtition,) for he makes mention of Jehovah upon ſeveral occaſions, Gen. XXIV. 31, 50, 51.
And they came unto Haran.] It is poſſible that Terah going from Ʋr to Canaan, and ſtaying in this place, called the City foreign, (Charrae) after the Name of his Son Haran, (or Charan) who died a little before, verſe 28. For both the Greek and Roman Writers call a City, famous for the death of Craſſus, by the Name of Charrae: Situate on a River of the ſame Name. It's likely from Abraham's Brother were derived both the Name of the River and of the City, which the Arabians to this day call Charan or Charran.
And dwelt there.] It's plain he intended to go to Canaan, and not to ſettle here: But being arreſted with the Sickneſs of which he died, could go no further.
Ver. 32. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five Years.] Moſes doth not ſumm up the Years of any Man's Life mentioned in this Chapter, (as he doth in Chapter V.) but only of Terah's. Which he doth on purpoſe that we may know when this new Period of time began, (of Abraham's leaving his own Country, and thereby becoming the Father of the Faithful,) which we are not to count from the time when Terah began to have Children, (Ver. 26.) but from the time of his Death; immediately after which Abraham went on towards Canaan. See Ʋſſer. Chronol. C. III. and C. VII.
From this alſo we learn when Abraham was born. For, if ſeventy five Years (which was Abraham's Age when his Father, died and he went from Haran, XII. 4.) be ſubducted from two hundred and five; it is manifeſt that he was born when his Father was an hundred and thirty Years old: That is, threeſcore Years after his Brother Haran, as I ſaid on Verſe 26.