The History of the Patriarchs from Reu to Abraham; the Corruption of the Human Race (xi. 1-15)

The History of the Patriarchs from Reu to Abraham (cf. Gen. xi, 20-30); the Corruption of the Human Race (xi. 1-15).

1681 A.M.

XI. And in the thirty-fifth jubilee, in the third week, in the first year thereof, Reu took to himself a wife, and her name was ’Ôrâ, the daughter of ’Ûr, the son of Kêsêd, and she bare him a son, and he

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called his name Sêrôḫ, ¹ in the seventh year of this week in this jubilee. 2. ² And the sons of Noah began to war on each other, to take captive and to slay each other, and to shed the blood of men on the earth, and to eat blood, and to build strong cities, and walls, and towers, and individuals (began) to exalt themselves above the nation, ³ and to found the beginnings of kingdoms, and to go to war people against people, and nation against nation, and city against city, and all (began) to do evil, and to acquire arms, and to teach their sons war, and they began to capture cities, and to sell male and female slaves. 3. And ’Ûr, the son of Kêsêd, ⁴ built the city of ’Arâ ⁵ of the Chaldees, and called its name after his own name and the name of his father. 4. And they made for themselves molten images, and they worshipped each the idol, the molten image which they had made for themselves, and they began to make graven images and unclean simulacra, and malignant spirits assisted

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and seduced (them) into committing transgression and uncleanness. 5. And the prince Mastêmâ exerted himself to do all this, and he sent forth other spirits, those which were put under his hand, to do all manner of wrong and sin, and all manner of transgression, to corrupt and destroy, and to shed blood upon the earth. ¹ 6. For this reason he called the name of Sêrôḫ, Serug, for every one turned to do all manner of sin and transgression. 7. And he grew up, and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, near to the father of his wife's mother, and he worshipped idols, and he took to himself a wife in the thirty-sixth jubilee, in the

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fifth week, in the first year thereof, and her name was Mêlkâ, ² the daughter of Kâbêr, the daughter of his father's brother. 8. And she bare him Nahor, in the first year of this week, and he grew and dwelt in Ur of the Chaldees, and his father taught him the researches of the Chaldees to divine and augur, according to the signs of heaven. 9. And in the thirty-seventh jubilee, in the sixth week, in the first

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year thereof, he took to himself a wife, and her name was ’Îjâskâ, ³ the daughter of Nêstâg of the Chaldees. 10. And she bare him Terah ⁴ in the seventh year

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of this week. 11. And the prince Mastêmâ sent ravens and birds to devour the seed which was sown in the land, in order to destroy the land, and rob the children of men of their labours. Before they could plough in the seed, the ravens picked (it) from the surface of the ground. 12. And for this reason he called his name Terah, because the ravens and the birds reduced them to destitution and devoured their seed. ⁵ 13. And the years began to be barren, owing to the birds, and they devoured all the fruit of the

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trees from the trees: it was only with great effort that they could save a little of all the fruit of the

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earth in their days. 14. And in this thirty-ninth jubilee, in the second week in the first year, Terah took to himself a wife, and her name was ’Êdnâ, ¹ the daughter of ’Abrâm ² the daughter of his father's

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sister. 15. And in the seventh year of this week she bare him a son, and he called his name Abram, by the name of the father of his mother; for he had died before his daughter had conceived a son. ³

Footnotes

84:1 Cf. Gen. xi. 20 f. (MT. has Serug for Sêrôḫ).

84:2 In 2-6 the corruption of mankind is ascribed to the period of Serug.

84:3 A note of hostility to monarchy.

84:4 The place name Ur Kasdîm ("Ur of the Chaldees") is here transformed into the names of two persons, after whom the city is named.

84:5 i. e. Ur.

85:1 Cf. 1 Enoch xvi.

85:2 In Gen. xi. 29 Milcah is the name of the wife of Nahor, Abram's brother.

85:3 = Iscah (cf. Gen. xi. 29; but there she is daughter of Haran).

85:4 Cf. Gen. xi. 24.

85:5 Apparently some play on the name Terah is involved in the original Hebrew; but the explanation is uncertain.

86:1 According to the Talmud (Baba bathra 91a) her name was Amthelai, daughter of Karnebo.

86:2 i. e. the grandfather of the Biblical Abram.

86:3 it was customary to name a child after a grandfather. Here the child's name apparently perpetuates the memory of a grandfather who had died before the child was conceived.