And Abram and Nahor took 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 Iscah.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The text subtly highlights that Nahor married his niece, Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran. This detail reveals that familial relationships and marriage customs were different and more fluid than what we might expect today, even within the lineage leading to God's chosen people. It also underscores how God chose to work through existing, albeit evolving, family structures.
And Abram and Nahor took 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 Iscah.
English Standard Version (ESV)
Following the account of humanity's prideful attempt to build a tower to heaven and God's scattering of them with confused languages, the narrative shifts to a genealogy. This genealogical list traces the lineage from Shem down to Terah, Abraham's father, detailing their lives and offspring. Finally, it introduces Abram and his brother Nahor, noting that they took wives, specifically naming Abram's wife Sarai and Nahor's wife Milcah.
In a world so different from ours, how did family and marriage function in Abram's time? This verse offers clues.
Genesis 11:29 introduces us to Abram and Nahor taking wives. The text specifies that Nahor married Milcah, who was the daughter of their brother Haran. This means Nahor married his niece.
Allowed, Then Forbidden
This practice of marrying close relatives, like a brother's daughter, was permissible in the early days of humanity. It was a time when the population was small, and the emphasis was on multiplying and establishing families. As the human race grew and spread, God's law became more specific, forbidding such close marriages to protect the sanctity of family and community. For instance, the Levitical law later strictly prohibited these unions (Leviticus 18:12-14).
The Identity of Sarai
The verse also mentions Abram's wife, Sarai. There's scholarly debate about whether Sarai was the same person as Iscah, who is also mentioned as Haran's daughter. However, the consensus among commentators is that Sarai and Iscah were likely different individuals. Sarai is later described as Abram's half-sister, the daughter of Terah (Genesis 20:12), while Iscah was Haran's daughter. This distinction is important for understanding Abram's lineage.
Names in the Bible aren't just labels; they often carry deep meaning and tell a story. What do the names in this verse reveal?
The names mentioned in Genesis 11:29—Abram, Nahor, Sarai, Milcah, and Haran—are not random. They form a crucial part of the genealogical record, tracing the lineage that leads to God's chosen people.
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Tracing the Covenant Path
This verse serves as a vital link in the unfolding story of God's covenant. While the Tower of Babel incident highlights human pride and rebellion, this genealogy grounds us in God's faithfulness. Despite humanity's failures, God continues to work through specific individuals and families to fulfill His promises.
Milcah: A Key Ancestor
Milcah, Nahor's wife and Haran's daughter, is significant because she is an ancestor of Rebekah (Genesis 22:20-23), who becomes Isaac's wife. This detail underscores how interconnected these families were and how God's plan for the covenant people involved marriages and relationships within these patriarchal lines. The mention of Haran as the father of both Milcah and Iscah emphasizes the importance of tracing lineage through both paternal and maternal lines.
This verse marks the marriages of Abram and his nephew Nahor, connecting them to the lineage of Haran. These marriages, particularly Nahor's to his niece Milcah, highlight the familial and societal norms of the time, which differed significantly from later Mosaic Law. The verse also introduces key figures like Sarai and Milcah, whose descendants will play crucial roles in the unfolding narrative of God's covenant people.
c. 2165 BC— this verse
Terah departs Ur
Terah, father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran, leaves the city of Ur in Chaldea to migrate towards Canaan. Abram, his wife Sarai, and his nephew Lot accompany him.
c. 2095 BC
Terah dies in Haran
Terah settles in the city of Haran and dies there. Abram, now about 75 years old, continues his journey to Canaan as commanded by God.
c. 2095-2000 BC
Abram's early life in Canaan
Abram sojourns in Canaan, encountering famine, making agreements with local rulers, and trusting God's promises despite the lack of an heir.
c. 2085 BC
Abram rescues Lot
Abram, with his household and allies, rescues his nephew Lot and his family from captivity after a conflict between Mesopotamian kings and cities in the region of Sodom.
c. 2077 BC
God establishes covenant with Abram
God appears to Abram, ratifies His promises of land and descendants, and establishes a formal covenant with him, marked by a smoking pot and flaming torch passing between pieces of animals.
c. 2076 BC
Birth of Ishmael
Sarai, still childless, gives her servant Hagar to Abram. Hagar conceives and bears Ishmael, the first son of Abram.
c. 2065 BC
God reaffirms covenant, names change
God appears to Abram again, reaffirms His covenant, and changes Abram's name to Abraham and Sarai's to Sarah, signifying a new era and the promise of a son.
This passage directly follows Abraham's family and immediately details God's call to him, showing the divine purpose behind this lineage and its migration from Ur.
Galatians 3:15-18Paul explains how God's promises to Abraham, initiated through his lineage and covenant, are ultimately fulfilled in Christ, demonstrating the long-term significance of these early family accounts.
Genesis 17:15-16God renames Sarai to Sarah and promises that she will bear a son, highlighting the divine intervention and the specific destiny tied to Abram and his wife, despite her previous barrenness.
Joshua 24:2-3Joshua recounts the history of Israel's ancestors, including Terah, stating they served other gods beyond the River, which provides a broader context for the family's idolatrous background from which Abram was called.
gillGenesis 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."
And Abram and Nahor took them wives,.... Very probably after the death of their elder brother Haran, whose daughters they married, at least one of them did, and some think both: the name of Abraham's wife was Sarai: it is not said whose daughter she was, unless she is the same with Iscah, the daughte…
calvinGenesis 11:1-32: "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech."
And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
Et dixerunt quisqui ad proximum suum, Agite, laterificemus lateres, et coquamus ad coctionem: et fuit eis later pro lapide, et bitumen fuit eis pro caemento.
And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us…
The text subtly highlights that Nahor married his niece, Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran. This detail reveals that familial relationships and marriage customs were different and more fluid than what we might expect today, even within the lineage leading to God's chosen people. It also underscores how God chose to work through existing, albeit evolving, family structures.
Following the account of humanity's prideful attempt to build a tower to heaven and God's scattering of them with confused languages, the narrative shifts to a genealogy. This genealogical list traces the lineage from Shem down to Terah, Abraham's father, detailing their lives and offspring. Finally, it introduces Abram and his brother Nahor, noting that they took wives, specifically naming Abram's wife Sarai and Nahor's wife Milcah.
Following the account of humanity's prideful attempt to build a tower to heaven and God's scattering of them with confused languages, the narrative shifts to a genealogy. This genealogical list traces the lineage from Shem down to Terah, Abraham's father, detailing their lives and offspring. Finally, it introduces Abram and his brother Nahor, noting that they took wives, specifically naming Abram's wife Sarai and Nahor's wife Milcah.
"And Abram and Nahor took 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 Iscah." — The text subtly highlights that Nahor married his niece, Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran. This detail reveals that familial relationships and marriage customs were different and more fluid…
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Last reviewed October 2026