Genesis 11:29

Gen 11:29 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.

Ver. 29. And the father of Iscah.] The Chaldee Paraphrast addeth Hi Sara; , the same is Sarah. It was not yet flatly forbidden to marry a brother’s daughter, as afterwards it was. {Lev 18:14} Why then should Burgensis on the text say, that such marriages were never prohibited?

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11:29 Sarai means “princess” in Hebrew. No mention is made of Sarai’s parentage, perhaps to add suspense to the Abimelech story, which reveals that she was Abram’s half sister (20:9-12). Later, the law prohibited such a marriage (Lev 18:9; 20:17; Deut 27:22). • Nahor’s wife was Milcah: Milcah was Haran’s daughter and Nahor’s niece (see Gen 11:29). Her son Bethuel was the father of Rebekah, the wife of Abram’s son Isaac (24:10, 15, 24). The name Milcah is related to the Hebrew word meaning “queen.” In Akkadian, it is a title of the goddess Ishtar, the moon-god’s daughter. Terah’s name is related to the word for “moon” in Hebrew; his whole family appears to have worshiped Sin, the moon-god (see Josh 24:14).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Some think that this Iscah was Sarai.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 29. Milcah, the daughter of Haran] Many suppose Sarai and Iscah are the same person under two different names; but this is improbable, as Iscah is expressly said to be the daughter of Haran, and Sarai was the daughter of Terah, and half sister of Abram.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(29) Iscah.—Not the same as Sarai, for we learn in Gen_20:12 that she was Abraham’s half-sister—that is, a daughter of Terah by another wife. Nor was she Lot’s wife, as Ewald supposed, for she was his full sister. Marriages between near relatives seem to have been allowed at this time, and were perhaps even common for religious reasons (see Gen_24:3-4; Gen_28:1-2), but not marriages between those actually by the same mother. Thus Abraham takes his half-sister to wife, and Nahor his niece. Iscah, like Naamah (Gen_4:22), was probably eminent in her time, but for reasons not recorded.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

29. Sarai] Abram’s wife was, according to Gen_20:12, his half-sister, i.e. a daughter of Terah by another wife. Milcah, Nahor’s wife, is Nahor’s niece. Whether in these marriages we have to deal with the actual details of relationship permitted in nomadic life, or whether we have presented to us, under the imagery of matrimony, the fusion of families or tribes in the main community, is a question which we are not able through lack of evidence to answer. The blending of personal and tribal history produces a result, in which it is impossible to be sure of disentangling the separate elements.

“Sarai” is believed to be an archaic form of “Sarah” = “princess”: cf. Gen_17:15.

The fact that Sarratu (= “princess”) was a title of the moon-goddess, consort of Sin, and Malkatu (= “queen”), a title of Istar, among the deities worshipped in Harran, raises questions with regard to the origin of the Hebrew proper names, Sarah and Milcah.

For Milcah cf. Gen_22:20; Gen_22:23; Gen_24:15; Gen_24:24; Gen_24:47. “Iscah,” otherwise unknown: by some identified with Sarai; by others as Lot’s wife.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jescha, whom many confound with Sarai, as if both Nacher and Abram had married the daughters of their brother Aran. But why then does Moses mention Sarai before, and then call her Jescha in the same verse? It seems as if he intended to designate two different women. (Haydock) --- In effect, Abram himself says, Sarai was truly his sister, born of the same father, chap. xii. 13. See chap. xx. 12, where we shall give the reasons that seem to prove that she was the daughter of Thare, and not Aran. (Calmet) --- Jescha does not accompany her grandfather, preferring, perhaps, to stay with Nachor, or to marry in her own country; if she were not already dead when Thare departed from Ur, a city of the Chaldees. (Haydock) --- This city is probably Ura, in Mesopotamia, not far from Nisibis, which the Scripture often mentions is a part of Chaldea. (Acts. vii. 2, &c.) (Calmet) --- It is not, however certain that the rest of Thare’s family remained behind; if they did, they removed soon after into the country about Haran, or Charræ, on the Charboras. (chap. xxix. 4; Josephus, Antiquities 1. 6.) (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Such marriages of uncles and nieces being permitted then, Exo 6:20, (as in the beginning of the world the marriages of brethren and sisters were), though afterwards, the church being very much enlarged, they were severely forbidden, Lev 18:12,14.

Iscah is either Sarai, as the Jews and many others think, or rather another person. For,

1. Why should Moses express Sarai thus darkly and doubtfully? Had he meant her, he would have added after Iscah, this is Sarai, according to his manner in like cases, Gen 14:2,7; 35:6.

2. He elsewhere calleth her, the daughter, not of his brother, as he should have done, had she been Iscah, but of his father, by another mother.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

29. Iscah is, by Josephus, (Ant., 1:6,) and by the Jewish writers generally, identified with Sarai or Sarah. If so, Abram married his niece, and Lot was his brother-in-law as well as his nephew. See the plan under Gen_11:27. That Sarah was in some way descended from Terah appears from Abram’s statement to Abimelech, Gen_20:12, “She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Abram and Nahor took them wives: (cf. Gen_6:2) the name of Abram"s wife was Sarai. My princess," from sarah, to rule (Gesenius, Lange); "Strife" (Kalisch, Murphy): "Jah is ruler" (Furst). The LXX write Sara, changing afterwards to SarjrJa to correspond with Sarah. That Sarai was Iscah (Josephus, Augustine, Jerome, Jonathan) has been inferred from Gen_20:12; but, though receiving apparent sanction from ver. 31, this opinion "is not supported by any solid argument" (Rosenm And the name of Nahor"s wife, Milcah (Queen, or Counsel), the daughter of Haran, i.e. Nahor"s niece. Marriage with a half-sister or a niece was afterwards forbidden by the Mosaic code. (Lev_18:9, Lev_18:14) The father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah, whose name "Seer" may have been introduced into the narrative like that of Naamah, (Gen_4:22) as that of an eminent lady connected with the family (Murphy). Ewald"s hypothesis, that Iscah was Lot"s wife, is pure conjecture.

HOMILIES BY W. ROBERTS Vers. 29, 30. Two weddings.

I THE TWO BRIDEGROOMS Abram and Nahor.

1. Younger sons in Terah s family.

2. Eminent men in Ur of the Chaldees.

3. Favored saints in the Church of God. Marriage is honorable in all.

II THE TWO BRIDES Sarai and Milcah.

1. Near relations of their husbands. Though permissible at that early stage of the world"s history, the intermarriage of relatives so close as half-sister and niece is not now sanctioned by the law of God.

2. Attractive ladies in themselves. As much as this may be inferred from their names. It is both allowable and desirable to seek as wives women distinguished for beauty and intelligence, provided also they are noted for goodness and piety.

3. Descendants of the holy line. Doubtless this was one cause which led to the choice of Abram and Nahor. So Christians should not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

III THE TWO HOMES. Formed it might be at the same time, and under similar benignant auspices, they were yet divided.

1. And from the first in their constitutions. This was of necessity.

2. And afterwards in their fortunes. Sarai had no child; Milcah was the mother of a family. "Lo, children are the heritage of the Lord.

3. And eventually in their locations. Nahor and Milcah remained in Ur, and ultimately moved to Haran; Abram and Sarai pitched their tent and established their home in Canaan. So God parts the families of earth. W.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

took wives

"married wives"

Iskah

This is a female name. (See: How to Translate Names)

Now

This word is used to introduce new information about Sarai that will become important in later chapters.

barren

This term describes a woman who is physically unable to conceive or bear a child. (See: Euphemism)

translationWords

Abraham

Sarah

barren

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

יסכה JISCAH — This was Sarah; she was also named Jiscah (from a root meaning “”to see”, “to look”) because she could see the future by holy inspiration, and because everybody looked (gazed) at her beauty (Megillah 14a). The name Jiscah also has reference to princely dignity (נסיכות) just as the name Sarah (שרה) has an allusion to “ruling’’(שררה).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ויקח ארם ונחור, the singular mode here where we would have expected a plural mode, seeing that each of the brothers took himself a wife, is similar to the singular mode used by the Torah in Exodus 7,10 ויבא משה ואהרן, “Moses and Aaron came,” where we would have expected the plural mode, seeing that two people came. The Torah mentioned the names of the wives in honour of Avram. G’d changed Sarai’s name to Sarah. Seeing that Rivkah was the granddaughter of Milkah and became the wife of Yitzchok they were deserving of mention by name.

בת הרן אבי מלכה ואבי יסכה. This is an unusual sequence the daughter being referred to before the father. Seeing that the Torah had written earlier that Haran had begotten Lot, (verse 26) I might have formed the impression that he had not fathered any other children. To make sure we do not make such a mistake, the Torah, after telling us the names of these girls, reminds us that Haran also fathered these two girls. Our sages in Megillah 14 state that Yiskah was identical with Sarai. This is very plausible, seeing that in 20,12 Avraham refers to her as “my sister the (grand)daughter of my father. From these words of Avraham it is clear that Sarai was Haran’s daughter. Still, it is surprising that the two daughters of Haran are not described as בנות הרן in the plural mode, but each one is referred to separately as בת הרן, a daughter of Haran (singular mode). Perhaps, Sarai was the daughter of a daughter of Terach, although the Torah had not mentioned specifically that Terach had fathered daughters.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.