Abraham‘s family

The table „Abraham‘s family“ shows the relatives of Abraham and starts with Abraham’s grandfather Nahor and continues to the children of Jacob, therefore to the 12 tribes of Israel.

Abraham’s grandfather Nahor is the 18th generation from Adam and the children of Jacob are the 23rd. These numbers form the top row of the table.

Abraham had two relatives with the name Nahor, once his grandfather, Genesis 11:22-25, and the other his brother, Genesis 11:27-29.

The main line of heirs from Adam to Jesus is here described through the names Nahor, Terah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Judah. These names are boldly edged.

Female names have a yellow background.

Different parts of the family are portrayed with different colours.

Lot is Abraham’s nephew, but the actual relationship to Abraham would probably have been more that of a son because Lot’s father Haran died early. Haran, Abraham’s brother, died still before the father of Abraham, Terah, when all were still living in Ur. Terah then went away from Ur to Canaan and called the new home probably after his deceased son: Haran.

The maternal forefathers of Jacob have a blue background. They are Nahor, the brother of Abraham, and then Bethuel, his son, and then Rebekah, Bethuel’s daughter, the mother of Jacob.

Between Abraham and Jacob is therefore one generation on the father’s side, Isaac, and on the mother’s side two generations, Bethuel and Rebekah.

The 13 children of Jacob are described in the sequence of their birth, from Reuben, the oldest, to Benjamin, the youngest. The connection with their different mothers is also described.

Jacob has Abraham as grandfather, on the father’s side, and on the mother’s side Bethuel, the son of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. And Jacob’s great-grandmother on the mother’s side is Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the brother of Abraham. Via Milcah there are even three generations between Abraham and Jacob.

All four children of Terah belong to Jacob’s ancestors. Abraham (1) is his grandfather on his father’s side. Sarai (2), the daughter of Terah, and sister of Abraham, is also Abraham’s wife and grandmother of Jacob on the father’s side. Nahor (3), the son of Terah, is Jacob’s great-grandfather of the mother’s side. And Haran (4), the son of Terah, is Jacob’s great-great-grandfather via Jacob’s grandmother on the mother’s side, Milcah.

The next table, Table 2, shows only the direct ancestors of Jacob and illustrates the complications which result when one has a look at genealogical tables, as for example those in Matthew chapter 1 and Luke chapter 3, or the descendants of Lot, where Lot’s sons are also Lot’s grandsons, see the table above.

Table 2: The direct ancestors of Jacob