49 And Terah the son of Nahor, prince of Nimrod's host, was in those days very great in the sight of the king and his subjects, and the king and princes loved him, and they elevated him very high.
50 And Terah[1] took a wife and her name was Amthelo the daughter of Cornebo; and the wife of Terah conceived and bare him a son in those days.
51 Terah was seventy years old when he begat him, and Terah called the name of his son that was born to him[2] Abram, because the king had raised him in those days, and dignified him above all his princes that were with him.
CHAPTER VIII.
1 And it was in the night that Abram was born, that all the servants of Terah, and all the wise men of Nimrod, and his conjurors came and ate and drank in the house of Terah, and they rejoiced with him on that night.
2 And when all the wise men and conjurors went out from the house of Terah, they lifted up their eyes toward heaven that night to look at the stars, and they saw, and behold one very large star came from the east and ran in the heavens, and he swallowed up the four stars from the four sides of the heavens.
3 And all the wise men of the king and his conjurors were astonished at the sight, and the sages understood this matter, and they knew its import.
4 And they said to each other, This only betokens the child that has been born to Terah this night, who will grow up and be fruitful, and multiply, and possess all the earth, he and his children for ever, and he and his seed will slay great kings, and inherit their lands.
5 And the wise men and conjurors went home that night, and in the morning all these wise men and conjurors rose up early, and assembled in an appointed house.
6 And they spoke and said to each other, Behold the sight that we saw last night is hidden from the king, it has not been made known to him.
7 And should this thing get known to the king in the latter days, he will say to us, Why have you concealed this matter from me, and then we shall all suffer death; therefore, now let us go and tell the king the sight which we saw, and the interpretation thereof, and we shall then remain clear.
8 And they did so, and they all went to the king and bowed down to him to the ground, and they said, May the king live, may the king live.
9 We heard that a son was born to Terah the son of Nahor, the prince of thy host, and we yesternight came to his house, and we ate and drank and rejoiced with him that night.
10 And when thy servants went out from the house of Terah, to go to our respective homes to abide there for the night, we lifted up our eyes to heaven, and we saw a great star coming from the east, and the same star ran with great speed, and
- ↑ By this it seems he had another wife who bare Abram, different from her who bare Haran and Nahor. See verse 22.
- ↑ (
Hebrew characters) From this it seems that Abram was called so, not because he was a mighty father, but because Terah was a mighty father in the court of Nimrod, and therefore God changed his name to Abraham, appropriating to him in a much more extensive sense, the meaning which Terah applied to himself.
