Terah

Person mentioned in the Bible; the text below shows the biblical story, which may have been altered considerably between the period described and the period when the Bible was first written down.

Terah was the father of Abraham. His name in Hebrew means the wanderer. For some unknown reason he emigrated with his family from his native mountains in the north to the plains of Mesopotamia. He had three sons, Haran, Nahor, and Abraham, and one daughter, Sarah. He settled in "Ur," where his son Haran died, leaving behind his son Lot. Nahor settled at Haran, a place on the way to Ur. Terah afterwards migrated with Abraham (probably his youngest son) and Lot (his grandson), together with their families, from Ur, intending to go with them to Canaan; but he ended his voyage in Haran, where he spent the remainder of his days, and died at the age of two hundred and five years (Genesis 11:24-32).