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The City of God

Chapter 13.--Why, in the Account of Terah's Emigration, on His Forsaking the Chaldeans and Passing Over into Mesopotamia, No Mention is Made of His Son Nahor.

Next it is related how Terah with his family left the region of the Chaldeans and came into Mesopotamia, and dwelt in Haran. But nothing is said about one of his sons called Nahor, as if he had not taken him along with him. For the narrative runs thus: "And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarah his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and led them forth out of the region of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; and he came into Haran, and dwelt there." ¹ Nahor and Milcah his wife are nowhere named here. But afterwards, when Abraham sent his servant to take a wife for his son Isaac, we find it thus written: "And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his lord, and of all the goods of his lord, with him; and arose, and went into Mesopotamia, into the city of Nahor." ² This and other testimonies of this sacred history show that Nahor, Abraham's brother, had also left the region of the Chaldeans, and fixed his abode in Mesopotamia, where Abraham dwelt with his father. Why, then, did the Scripture not mention him, when Terah with his family went forth out of the Chaldean nation and dwelt in Haran, since it mentions that he took with him not only Abraham his son, but also Sarah his daughter-in-law, and Lot his grandson? The only reason we can think of is, that perhaps he had lapsed from the piety of his father and brother, and adhered to the superstition of the Chaldeans, and had afterwards emigrated thence, either through penitence, or because he was persecuted as a suspected person. For in the book called Judith, when Holofernes, the enemy of the Israelites, inquired what kind of nation that might be, and whether war should be made against them, Achior, the leader of the Ammonites, answered him thus: "Let our lord now hear a word from the mouth of thy servant, and I will declare unto thee the truth concerning the people which dwelleth near thee in this hill country, and there shall no lie come out of the mouth of thy servant. For this people is descended from the Chaldeans, and they dwelt heretofore in Mesopotamia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers, which were glorious in the land of the Chaldeans, but went out of the way of their ancestors, and adored the God of heaven, whom they knew; and they cast them out from the face of their gods, and they fled into Mesopotamia, and dwelt there many days. And their God said to them, that they should depart from their habitation, and go into the land of Canaan; and they dwelt," ³ etc., as Achior the Ammonite narrates. Whence it is manifest that the house of Terah had suffered persecution from the Chaldeans for the true piety with which they worshipped the one and true God.

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La cité de dieu

CHAPITRE XIII.

POURQUOI L’ÉCRITURE NE PARLE POINT DE NACHOR, QUAND SON PÈRE THARÉ PASSA DE CHALDÉE EN MÉSOPOTAMIE.

L’Ecriture raconte ensuite comment Tharé avec tous les siens laissa la Chaldée, vint en Mésopotamie et demeura à Charra; mais elle ne parle point de son fils Nachor, comme s’il ne l’avait pas emmené avec lui. Voici de quelle façon elle fait ce récit: «Tharé prit donc son fils Abram, Lot, fils de son fils Aran, et Sarra , sa belle-fille, femme de son fils Abram, et il les emmena de Chaldée en Chanaan, et il vint à Charra où il établit sa demeure ». Il n’est point ici question de Nachor ni de sa femme Melca. Lorsque plus tard Abraham envoya son serviteur chercher une femme à son fils Isaac, nous trouvons ceci: « Le serviteur prit dix chameaux du troupeau de son maître et beaucoup d’autres biens, et se dirigea vers la Mésopotamie, en la ville de Nachor¹ ». Par ce témoignage et plusieurs autres de l’histoire sacrée, il paraît que Nachor sortit de la Chaldée, aussi bien que son frère Abraham, et vint habiter avec lui en Mésopotamie. Pourquoi l’Ecriture ne parle-t-elle donc point de lui, lorsque Tharé passe avec sa famille en Mésopotainie, tandis qu’elle ne marque pas seulement qu’il y mena son fils Abraham, mais encore Sarra, sa belle-fille, et son petit-fils Lot? pourquoi, si ce n’est peut-être qu’il avait quitté la religion de son père et de son frère pour embrasser la superstition des Chaldéens, qu’il abandonna depuis, ou parce qu’il se repentit de son erreur, ou parce qu’il devint suspect aux habitants du pays et fut obligé d’en sortir, afin d’éviter leur persécution. En effet, dans le livre de Judith, quand Holopherne, ennemi des Israélites, demande quelle est cette nation et s’il lui faut faire la guerre, voici ce que lui dit Achior, général des Ammonites : « Seigneur, si vous vouiez avoir la bonté de m’entendre, je vous dirai ce qui en est de ce peuple qui demeure dans ces montagnes prochaines, et je ne vous dirai rien que de très-vrai. Il tire son origine des Chaldéens; et comme il abandonna la religion de ses pères pour adorer le Dieu du ciel, les Chaldéens le chassèrent, et il s’enfuit en Mésopotamie, où il demeura longtemps. Ensuite leur Dieu leur commanda d’en sortir, et de s’en aller en Chanaan, où ils s’établirent, etc.² » On voit clairement par là que la maison. de Tharé fut persécutée par les Chaldéens, à cause de la religion et du culte du vrai Dieu.