Print this page

How old was Terah when Abram was born 70 or 130?

Answer:

This is an interesting question. Compare the following verses: Gen. 11:26 "And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran." Gen. 12:4 "So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran." Acts 7:2-4 says "And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell."

The book of Jasher (mentioned in Joshua 10:13 and II Sam. 1:18) is not inspired scripture but it is interesting ancient history. It tells us:

Jasher 12:61 "And Abram hastened and ran to safety to the house of Noah and his son Shem...69. and Abram ceased to peak when Noah and his son Shem answered Terah...

13:1. And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of his son Abram, and all the souls of his household and went with them from Ur Casdim to go to the land of Canaan. And when they came as far as the land of Haran they remained there, for it was exceedingly good land for pasture, and of sufficient extend for those who accompanied them.

2. And the people of the land of Haran saw that Abram was good and upright with God and men, and that the Lord his God was with him, and some of the people of the land of Haran came and joined Abram, and he taught them the instruction of the Lord and his ways; and these men remained with Abram in his house and they adhered to him.

3. And Abram remained in the land three years, and at the expiration of three years the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him; I am the Lord who brought thee forth from Ur Casdim, and delivered thee from the hands of all thine nemies.

4. And now therefore if thou wilt harken to my voice and keep my commandments, my statutes and my laws, then will I cause thy enemies to fall before thee, and I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven, and I will send my blessing upon all the works of thy hands, and thou shalt lack nothing.

5. Arise now, take thy wife and all belonging to thee and go to the land of Canaan and remain there, and I will there be unto thee for a God, and I will bless thee. And Abram rose and took his wife and all belonging to him, and he went to the land of Canaan as the Lord had told him; and Abram was fifty years old when he went from Haran.

6. And Abram came to the land of Canaan and dwelt in the midst of the city, and he there pitched his tent amongst the children of Canaan, inhabitants of the land.

7. And the Lord appeared to Abram when he came to the land of Canaan, and said to him, This is the land which I gave unto thee and to thy seed after thee forever, and I will make thy seed like the starts of heaven, and I will give unto thy seed for an inheritance all the lands which thou seest.

8. And Abram built an altar in the place where God had spoken to him, and Abram there called upon the name of the Lord.

9. At that time, at the end of three years of Abram's dwelling in the land of Canaan, in the year Noah died, which was the fifty-eighth year of the life of Abram; and all the days that Noah lived were nine hundred and fifty years and he died.

10. And Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, he, his wife, and all belonging to him, together with those that joined him from the people of the land; but Nahor, Abram's brother, and Terah his father, and Lot the son of Haran and all belonging to them dwelt in Haran.

Solution: There are several possible answers to this question.
1. Some think Abram was not the first born even though his name appears first. The same thing happens with Shem, Ham and Japheth even though Japheth is the elder (Gen. 5:32).
2. Abram made several trips to and from Haran so Terah was 70 when Abram was born. 3. Acts 7:4 refers to Abram taking the body of Terah from Haran to Canaan. Our chart shows Terah at 70 when Abram was born though the scripture does not seem to give enough detail to be dogmatic.