Genesis 11:29

Summary

Genesis 11:29 reports that Abram and Nahor each took a wife: Abram married Sarai, and Nahor married Milcah, who is identified as the daughter of Haran, a man also described as father of Milcah and of Iscah.

Key words

• va-yiqqach ("and he took", H3947I) — qal verb with narrative vav, marking a new sequential event; the singular verb form takes a compound subject (Abram and Nahor), a common construction in Biblical Hebrew narrative.
• lahem ("for themselves", H9038) — preposition + pronominal suffix, reinforcing that the wives were taken for the two men themselves (reflexive/benefactive nuance).
• eshet ("wife of", H0802H) — construct form of "woman/wife," used twice to link each man to his wife by name (eshet-Avram, eshet-Nachor).
• bat ("daughter of", H1323G) — construct noun placing Milcah in a genealogical relation to Haran.
• avi ("father of", H0001G) — construct form repeated twice, identifying Haran as father of both Milcah and Iscah.

What the text says

The verse opens with a single narrative verb, va-yiqqach ("and he took", H3947I), governing the double subject Avram ("Abram", H0087) and Nachor ("Nahor", H5152H), followed by lahem nashim ("for themselves wives", H9038 + H0802H). This is a common Hebrew pattern where a plural or dual subject is treated with a singular verb form, especially when the action (marrying) is described as parallel for both men.

The second half of the verse uses the construct chain shem eshet-X ("the name of the wife of X", H8034 + H0802H) twice, first for Abram's wife Sarai (H8297), then for Nahor's wife Milcah (H4435G). Milcah is further specified through a chain of construct nouns: bat Haran ("daughter of Haran", H1323G + H2039G), and Haran himself is called avi Milkah ("father of Milcah", H0001G) va-avi Yiskah ("and father of Iscah", H0001G + H3252). The repetition of avi ("father of") for both daughters places Milcah and Iscah in parallel construct relationships to Haran, structurally linking the two women as siblings under the same paternal reference, without any verb — the genealogical information is conveyed entirely through noun chains.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders Haran as Ἀρράν (Arran) and gives the genealogical note as "θηάτηρ Ἀρράν, καὶ πατὴρ Μελχὰ καὶ πατὴρ Ἱεσχά" — literally "daughter of Arran, and father of Melcha and father of Hiescha" — preserving the double avi structure found in the Hebrew. The Vulgate renders the same genealogical clause as "filia Aran, patris Melchæ, et patris Jeschæ" ("daughter of Aran, father of Melcha, and father of Jeschae"), also maintaining the double genitive construction, consistent with the Hebrew's repeated avi ("father of").