Interesting comment: Did Abraham Really Marry His Sister? The short answer is no, Abraham did not really marry his sister. I think the explanation for this is interesting. I hope you will find it enlightening. Here is the quote from Genesis 11:29. Genesis 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abrams wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahors wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. Lets take a look at two verses dealing with Abram and Lot. Gen 14:12 And they took Lot, Abrams brothers son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. Gen 14:16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. Did you notice that in Genesis 14:12 Lot is called Abrams brothers son or his nephew, as we would say today, and then in Genesis 14:16 Lot is called Abrams brother. So one might suggest that in Abrams day the word brother could be understood to also include nephews. Let me suggest that the same is true for the word sister. I have learned that in the Hebrew language a noun can be singular or plural based on the context. Strongs says that the Hebrew word for daughter is bath, 1323. If you do an Englishmans search for this word you will see that quite a number of the instances are translated as daughters and also some are daughter. So now here is Genesis 11:29 with the word daughters instead of the singular daughter. Genesis 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abrams wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahors wife, Milcah, the daughters of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. Interesting! So now lets get a second source for this idea. The Book of Jasher, while not inspired, is mentioned twice in scripture that we should look at it. So here is what it says. Jasher 12:44 And at that time Nahor and Abram took unto themselves wives, the daughters of their brother Haran; the wife of Nahor was Milca and the name of Abrams wife was Sarai. And Sarai, wife of Abram, was barren; she had no offspring in those days. Haran had just died before they took his daughters as wives. Abram then also took upon himself the care of his nephew Lot. Also according to Jasher Abram spent a number of years living in the house of Shem being taught the law of God. So Abraham knew Gods law very well and would have known it was improper for him to marry his sister. Sarah was actually Abrahams niece. Leviticus 18 does not prohibit the marriage of a man and his niece. So it is helpful to remember how Abraham understood the word sister when reading the following. Genesis 20:12 And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 05:14:25 +0000
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