This shows the relative placement of the proto-historical patriarchs set against the context of various external sources allowing for an estimate of chronology. The horizontal black lines show 200 year intervals without any explicit reference to calendar years. Reasons for placing the external sources at these dates are given elsewhere. Although the relative sequence is as given in Genesis, the indications of years given in chapter 11 have been disregarded. Placement must be viewed as conjectural rather than definite.
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Explanatory notes
Shem
A son of Noah and ancestor of the Semitic peoples. Linguistically the name is probably related to Sumer, reflecting the region first settled in the expansion after the flood.
Arphaxad
Son/descendant of Shem.
Shelah
Son/descendant of Arphaxad.
Eber
Son/descendant of Shelah. Eber is often taken as the eponymous ancestor for the Hebrews, though there are several alternative derivations for this name and it is not clear which (if any) is correct.
Peleg
Descendant of Eber. The Hebrew name means 'divided' and Peleg is taken here to have been leader at approximately the same time as Enmerkar (Nimrod), builder of the Tower of Babel and instigator of division on the earth.
Reu
Descendant of Peleg.
Serug
Descendant of Reu.
Nahor
Descendant of Serug. Abraham's brother also had the same name. In Genesis 24, Abraham's servant traveled to the 'city of Nahor' while following instructions to find a bride for Isaac from the land of Abraham's birth.
Terah
Father of Abraham and descendant of Nahor. He moved from 'Ur of the Chaldees' towards the land of Canaan, but halted at the city of Haran. See
Dating the patriarchs - Objections for a brief discussion of the city of Ur.
Abraham
Son of Terah, he was born in Ur but moved with his father, his wife Sarah, his brothers Nahor and Harran, and his nephew Lot to Harran. When his father died, he moved on to Canaan. As the first of the series of patriarchs discussed at length in Genesis, more details are given on the
patriarchs page.
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