Genesis Vol 3.pdf - College Press

THE GENERATIONS OF TERAH 11:27-32
wrath of his brother Esau. (b) Or, was it the death of
Haran in the territory of Ur that provided the impetus
for this migration? (c) Or, was the first move made
with the ultimate goal in mind of the journey all the way
to the Land of Promise? This suggestion would necessarily
imply that Terah was cognizant of the Call of Abram,
and that this was the first step in the projected Abrahamic
pilgrimage. Some authorities hold that Terah sought to
make the long trek to the Promised Land in the anticipa-
tion of sharing the inheritance which had been promised
to Abram and his seed: a point not beyond the range of
probability. At any rate, the journey was interrupted for
a time by the “stop-over” at Haran. As noted above,
some authorities think that Terah died in Ilaran long after
Abram’s departure.
(1 1) The influence of paganism seems already to have
corrupted Abram’s ancestry. It is explicitly stated, on
Divine authority, in Joshua’s farewell address, that the
“fathers”-and Terah is mentioned specifically--“served
other gods” (Josh. 24:2). This fact is corroborated by
the evidence that Laban was wont to make some ritual or
magical use of teraphim (Gen. 31:19, 30-32). This passage
indicates that these were small objects (figurines), but
First Sam. 19:13-16 suggests a life-size figure or bust (per-
haps, however, Michal in this instance placed the teraphim
beside rather than in the bed). (Corruption with pagan-
ism is also indicated by the pairing of the ephod and the
teraphim in the idolatrous cult of Micah (Judg. 18: 14-20) .
At any rate, when these objects are mentioned they are
always condemned (cf. Judg., chs. 17, 18; 1 Sam. 15:23,
19:13-16; 2 Ri. 23:24 [in this passage they are categorized
as “abominations”] ; Hos. 3 :4), They are frequently di-
rectly associated with divination (by chance drawing from
a quiver of arrows, belonzanteia, or by hepatoscopy: see
Ezek. 21 :21, Zech. lo:& 2 Ki. 23 :24), Considering the
environment in which they had been sojourning, one might
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