In the report of Terah, as in the case of Noah at the end of the genealogies in chapter 5, Terah has not one son named but three: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. In this way the line of descent has been traced from Shem down to Abram and his brothers.

The second section of the Handbook will now open in 11.27, in which Terah dies and the focus falls on Abraham as the first in the line of Israel’s great ancestors.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .