Genesis 11:31

We do not know where Ur was. A city in east Mesopotamia was called Ur. (Mesopotamia is the country that is between the river Tigris and the river Euphrates. Nowadays it is mostly in the countries Iraq and Syria.) That city Ur is about 1000 kilometres (600 miles) from Haran. Many people think that Abram was born there. But that city Ur would not be called ‘a city in Chaldea’. It is in east Mesopotamia, but the Chaldea was in the west part of Mesopotamia. And Abram called the west of Mesopotamia ‘my country’. That seems to mean that he was born in the west of Mesopotamia. (See Genesis 24:4.) So it is more likely that Abram’s city Ur was near to Haran. Perhaps it is the same as Urfa. That is 30 kilometres (20 miles) to the north of Haran.

‘They set out together to go into the country that is called *Canaan.’ They probably did not know that they would go to *Canaan. This is probably a short way to say, ‘They set out together on a journey. And the journey ended in the country that is called *Canaan.’ That is likely for this reason. In Genesis 12:1, God says to Abram, ‘Go to the country that I will show to you.’ So Abram probably did not know what country that was. He did not know until God showed him.

We do not know why Terah and Abram left Ur. Perhaps God told them to do so.

‘Haran’ was the name of a man. He was a brother of Abram. (See verse 27.) And ‘Haran’ was also the name of a city. It was the city where Terah and his family stayed.

ark ~ an ark is a box. The ark in Genesis was a very big box that floated on water like a ship.
Lord ~ a lord is a person who has authority. ‘The Lord’ means God. It is a translation of God’s name. The Hebrews wrote God’s name as YHWH. We may write it as Yahweh.

Hebrew ~ the Hebrew people were Abraham and his descendants. The ancient Hebrew language is the original language of Genesis. It is also the original language of most of the Old Testament (the first part of the Bible). This language is like the modern Hebrew language, which people speak in the country Israel today.

descendants ~ children and grandchildren and later members of the family.
Hebrew ~ the Hebrew people were Abraham and his descendants. The ancient Hebrew language is the original language of Genesis. It is also the original language of most of the Old Testament (the first part of the Bible). This language is like the modern Hebrew language, which people speak in the country Israel today.

descendants ~ children and grandchildren and later members of the family.
descendants ~ children and grandchildren and later members of the family.
Canaan ~ the country where the Canaanites lived. (See Canaanites.) It is approximately the same land as the modern country Israel together with the land of the Palestinians.

Canaanites ~ Canaan’s descendants. Canaan was a grandson of Noah. (see Genesis 9:18.) The word Canaanites included Amorites and Hivites and other nations. (see Genesis 10:16-17.) It sometimes also included other people who lived in the country Canaan. These people were not descendants of Canaan.

descendants ~ children and grandchildren and later members of the family.