There are two men in the Bible named Nahor, and they are related.
- Nahor (1) is the father of Terah and the grandfather of Abram.
- Nahor (2) is the son of Terah and brother of Abram and Haran.
Of Terah’s three sons, Haran dies early in life, Abram goes to Canaan, and Nahor stays home. We’ll circle back to him in a bit.
Terah sets out for Canaan with his nephew Lot (Haran’s son), Abram, and Abram’s wife Sarai. Yet Terah doesn’t complete his journey. He stops midway at Harran.
When Terah dies, God calls Abram to complete what his father failed to finish.
Abram, Sarai, and Lot set out for Canaan and reach it.
Much later, Abram and Sarai (then known as Abraham and Sarah) seek a suitable wife for their son Isaac. Abraham sends a trusted servant back to his relatives to find his son a bride.
Once there, Abraham’s servant finds Rebekah. She’s the sister of Laban, the daughter of Bethuel, and the granddaughter of Nahor—Abraham’s brother.
This means that Rebekah is Isaac’s first cousin once removed. Though we may shudder at the idea of marrying a close relative, God has not yet prohibited the practice, so the pair do nothing wrong by marrying.
What is notable is that God guided the servant to find Nahor’s family and confirmed that Rebekah was to be Isaac’s wife. Rebekah agrees and leaves with the servant.
In all of this, Nahor does nothing to make these events happen, yet without him they wouldn’t have occurred.
How might God be working in our lives to bring about his plan?
In what ways might we have opposed him or cooperated with him?
[Read about Nahor in Genesis 11:26–27. Discover more in Genesis 24:15–24.]
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More Old Testament Sinners and Saints is part of the Bible Character Sketches series.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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