29Abram and Nahor took wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah.
The term that is transliterated as “Abram” in English is translated in American Sign Language with the sign signifying sojourning with a staff, clearly differentiating it from Abraham. (Source: Ruth Anna Spooner, Ron Lawer)
“Abram” in American Sign Language, source: Deaf Harbor
Similarly, in Vietnamese (Hanoi) Sign Language it is translated with a sign that demonstrates that he has to wander from his home. (Source: The Vietnamese Sign Language translation team, VSLBT)
“Abram” in Vietnamese Sign Language, source: SooSL
The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Sarai” and “Sarah” in English is translated in Spanish Sign Language with the sign depicting coins on a headband, referring to women from the Middle East and North Africa who wear a headband decorated with small coins. (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 11:29:
Kankanaey: “Abram and Nahor also married-with (spouses). The spouse of Nahor, it was Milca who was the older-sibling of Isca the child of Haran, and the spouse of Abram, it was Sarai.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Newari: “Abram married Sarai. Nahor married Milcah, the daughter of Haran. Haran was also the father of Iscah.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Abram married Sarai, and Nahor married Milca. The father of Milca and of her sister Isca was/is Haran.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
English: “Abram and Nahor both married. Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah. Milcah and her younger sister Iscah were the daughters of Haran.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Abram and Nahor took wives is the same expression as used in 6.2. See there for discussion. The sense is “they married their wives” or “chose women to marry.” Good News Translation is more direct with “Abram married Sarai….”
The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai … Nahor’s wife, Milcah: attention is drawn to these two names because they serve more as titles than names. Sarai means “princess” and Milcah “queen.”
According to 20.12 Sarai is Abram’s half-sister, that is, they share one parent but not both. For many people around the world, marriage within this relationship is regarded as forbidden or incestuous, and the fact that Sarai was barren could be readily understood as a just retribution for this terrible behavior. But in Abram’s culture the marriage of a man with a close female relative such as his sister, half-sister, or cousin, was encouraged; and so Abram was actually following the custom of his people in choosing Sarai as his wife. In some translations it may be necessary to provide this cultural information, as background at the beginning of the story of Abraham, so that readers will not form a negative opinion about him on this account. If it is possible to include an introduction to division 2A, that may be the best way to give this and other cultural information that applies to the story of Abraham.
Milcah is identified as the daughter of Haran, and so Nahor married his dead brother’s daughter, his niece. The father of Milcah repeats the previous statement from the father’s perspective.
And Iscah: no further mention is made of this person in the Old or New Testaments.
The order of the information in verses 27-29, and the different relationships that are given, make these verses quite complicated. So translators may wish to adjust the order of the elements to give a sequence that is more natural in their own languages. For example, one translation runs as follows:
• These are the people who were descended from Terah. Terah’s children were Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And the children of Haran were Lot, Milcah, and Iscah. Haran died in his own town, Ur in Chaldea. At that time his father was still living. Abram married a woman named Sarai, and Nahor married Milcah, the daughter of his brother.
Another translation does it this way:
• … Terah had three boys named Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran died in the country of Babylonia. He died in that same town called Ur where he was born. He died before his father died: old Terah was still living when his son Haran died. And Haran left three children, one boy named Lot and two girls named Milcah and Iscah. Milcah was married to her own uncle Nahor; and her other uncle Abram married a woman named Sarai.
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 .
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