"The function of this genealogy is not so much to connect Abraham with the preceding events, as the previous genealogies have done, but to provide the reader with the necessary background for understanding the events in the life of Abraham. The list includes eight names. All the individuals named are relevant for understanding the events of the following narrative except "Iscah" ( Genesis 11:29). The inclusion of this otherwise insignificant name in the list suggests that the author is seeking to achieve a specific number of names. Thus far in the Book of Genesis , the author has followed a pattern of listing ten names between important individuals in the narrative. In this short list only eight names are given, hence if we are expecting ten names, the number of individuals in this list appears to be short by two names. By listing only eight names, the author leaves the reader uncertain who the ninth and, more importantly, the tenth name will be. It is only as the narrative unfolds that the ninth and tenth names are shown to be the two sons of Abraham, "Ishmael" ( Genesis 16:15) and "Isaac" ( Genesis 21:3)." [1][source]
Abram evidently grew up in the city of Ur. A few scholars believe that the Ur in view was located just east of Haran, near the top of the Fertile Crescent. [2] However most hold that it was the Ur in southern Mesopotamia. Since the Chaldeans later lived in southern Mesopotamia, this seems to be the correct site. [source][source][source]
"Ur is well known as an important center in the land of Sumer; it reached its zenith under the kings of the third dynasty of Ur, who around2060-1950 B.C. [3] revived for the last time the ancient cultural traditions of the Sumerians. The names of several of Abram"s relatives are also the names of known cities: ... Terah ... Nahor ... Serug ... Haran ... and Laban the Aramean, Jacob"s father-in-law, was from the city Haran in Paddan-aram. All these are places around the river Balih in northern Mesopotamia. Haran and Nahor are often mentioned in the Mari documents of the eighteenth century B.C, and cities named Tell-terah and Serug are known from later Assyrian sources." [4][source]
A later writer probably added the reference to the Chaldeans in Genesis 11:28 since the Chaldeans did not enter Babylonia until about1 ,000 B.C. [5][source]
"The movement between Ur and Haran becomes easy to understand when we recall that Ur was the greatest commercial capital that the world had yet seen . . . ." [6][source]
God first called Abram to leave his home when the patriarch still lived in Ur ( Genesis 12:1-3; cf. Genesis 15:7; Nehemiah 9:7; Acts 7:2). Abram"s family members were polytheists ( Joshua 24:2). [source][source][source]
"Several of Abram"s relations have names that suggest adherence to lunar worship (cf. Sarah, Milcah, Laban), a cult that was prominent in Ur and Harran [7]." [8][source]
Abram married his half-sister, Sarai, which was not contrary to God"s will at this early date in history (cf. Leviticus 18:9; Leviticus 20:17; Deuteronomy 27:22). Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a family group. God"s call was pure grace; there is no evidence in the text that God chose Abram because he merited favor. God was beginning to form a family of faithful followers for Himself. He called them to leave this urban center in trust and obedience. Abram"s exodus from his homeland and Israel"s exodus from Egypt were two key events in the formation of national Israel. [source][source][source]
Abram"s family stayed in Haran for some time ( Genesis 11:31-32). [source][source][source]
"The difference between Terah and Abraham was one thing only: a response of faith to God"s call." [2]5 [source]
When the patriarch Terah died, Abram continued his trek toward Canaan in obedience to God"s call. [source][source][source]
"Like Nuzi, Haran was also part of the Hurrian Mitanni Empire whilst the Hurrians were at the height of their power, so that the tablets discovered at Nuzi would also reflect the way of life in Haran. In this manner, scholars have ascertained from a careful study of the Nuzi tablets that they are very helpful in explaining many of the Biblical episodes relating to the Patriarchs, which had hitherto been somewhat puzzling. [source][source][source]
"Although the Bible indicates that Abram eventually left Haran ( Genesis 12:4), the Patriarchs nevertheless kept in close contact with that city. Abram sent his servant back to Aram-naharaim, the region in which Haran was situated, in order to find a wife for his son Isaac ( Genesis 24:2-10). Isaac later told his younger son Jacob to flee to his uncle Laban in Haran, in order to escape the wrath of his brother Esau, whom he had tricked out of his birthright blessing ( Genesis 27:43). Jacob indeed fled to Haran, subsequently marrying there his cousins Leah and Rachel ( Genesis 29:1-30). [source][source][source]
"The influence of Hurrian society on the Patriarchs was undoubtedly very strong, not only because of the origins of Abram in Mesopotamia, but also because all the Patriarchs maintained contact with the area. This is borne out by the fact that many of the incidents in the Biblical narratives relating to the Patriarchs in reality reflect Hurrian social and legal customs, and prove beyond reasonable doubt that the Patriarchal way of life had its roots in Hurrian society." [10][source]
Archaeologists have dated the Nuzi tablets four or five hundred years after the patriarchs, but they reflect customs that had been prevalent for centuries. [11] We should be careful not to overemphasize the influence of Hurrian civilization, however. [12][source]
"In the period (the first part of the Middle Bronze Age [13]) Palestine was receiving an infusion of population as semi-nomadic groups infiltrated the land. . . . [source][source][source]
"That these newcomers were "Amorites," of the same Northwest-Semitic stock as those whom we have met in Mesopotamia, can scarcely be doubted. Their names, so far as these are known, point unanimously in that direction. Their mode of life is splendidly illustrated by the Tale of Sinuhe, but especially by the stories of Genesis -for it is difficult to escape the conclusion that the migration of Israel"s ancestors was a part of this very movement. These people brought to Palestine no fundamental ethnic change, for they were of the same general Northwest-Semitic stock as were the Canaanites." [10]0 [source]
Major Historical Periods of the Promised LandStone (Neolithic) Ageto ca4000 BC (?)Copper (Calcolithic) Ageca4000-3150 BC (?)Early Bronze Age I3150-2850 BCEarly Bronze Age II2850-2650 BCEarly Bronze Age III2650-2350 BCEarly Bronze Age IV2350-2200 BCMiddle Bronze Age I2200-2000 BCMiddle Bronze Age IIA2000-1750 BCMiddle Bronze Age IIB1750-1630 BCMiddle Bronze Age IIC1630-1550 BCLate Bronze Age I1550-1400 BCLate Bronze Age IIA1400-1300 BCLate Bronze Age IIB1300-1200 BCIron Age I1200-1000 BCIron Age II1000-586 BCBabylonian/Persian Period586-332BCHellenistic Period I (Ptolemaic and Seleucid)332-152BCHellenistic Period II (Hasmonean)152-37 BCRoman Period I (Herodian)37 BC-AD70Roman Period IIAD70-180Roman Period IIIAD180-324Major Historical Periods of the Promised Land (cont.)Byzantine Period (Christian)AD324-640Arab Period (Moslem)AD640-1099Crusader Period (Christian)AD1099-1291Mameluk Period (Moslem)AD1291-1517Turkish Period (Moslem)AD1517-1917British Mandate Period (Christian)AD1917-1948State of Israel Period (Jewish)1948 - today[source]