We ended the last Torah Portion with the birth of Abram and the death of his father, Terah. Terah was 70 years old when he became a father, and he lived for 205 years. Genesis 12:4 tells us that Abram was 75 when he left Haran after his father died. That would mean that Terah was 130 years old when he fathered Abram. (205-75=130). Abram was not the firstborn of Terah. And, there would have been 60 years between the firstborn and Abram. Since Nahor took one of Haran’s daughters as his wife, we may be safe in saying that Haran was the oldest, Nahor was the middle child, and Abram was the youngest. But, it’s not possible to pinpoint the age of Terah at the birth of Nahor.
After Haran died, Terah took Abram and Abram’s wife Sarai and his grandson Lot and went to the city of Haran. It is doubtful that Terah’s son Haran founded the city of Haran. They resided in Ur, which is by the Persian Gulf. Haran is about 600 miles northwest, almost directly west of Ninevah.
After Terah died, God told Abram to leave his father’s house and go to the land of Canaan. Here, we find a contradiction. In Acts 7, Stephen is preaching before being stoned to death and saying that God called Abraham from Mesopotamia before going to Haran. Genesis 11 says that Terah was the one to take his family to Canaan but settled in Haran instead. It could be that God called Abram from Ur to Canaan, but after Haran died, Terah decided they should all leave the land of the Chaldeans. God specifically told Abram to leave his father’s house. Since his father’s house went with him, God could have caused Terah to settle in Haran, where he would pass away. God then could have called Abram again to leave his father’s house and go to Canaan. Terah may have been too influential in Abram’s life, which is why he was supposed to leave. This contradiction is not problematic to the text. Whether the calling began in Ur and repeated in Haran or originated in Haran is not the point. God called Abram to leave his father’s house (of influence maybe) and go to the land of Canaan, the land God was giving to him.
Abram journeyed to Shechem, where God showed him the land of promise, but the Canaanites were in that area. He traveled to Bethel and set up an altar to the Lord but then encamped in the wilderness. A famine caused Abram to dwell in Egypt. Let’s not forget that Abram had a lot of livestock and many servants in his entourage.
Abrah told Sarai to say that she was his sister so that the Egyptians wouldn’t kill him to get her. Because of her beauty, Pharaoh took Sarai as his wife. Abram acquired a lot of animals and servants while in Egypt. But God afflicted Pharaoh and his household because of Sarai, so Pharaoh told Abram to take Sarai and leave. Abram’s household left larger than when it came.
Abram returned once again to the place of Bethel and the altar that he had built. He and Lot settled their households there.