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Genesis 11:23

EOB (Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible):

After Serug had Nahor, he lived for two hundred years and had more sons and daughters.

EOB Footnote:

The MT reads “Serug” while LXX manuscripts consistently read “Seruch” — this reflects standard Greek transliteration of the Hebrew name. LXX-A, LXX-B, and LXX-S are in substantial agreement for this verse. The lifespan figure of 200 years after begetting Nahor is consistent across all textual traditions.

Other Translations:

KJV (King James Version):

And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

WEB (World English Bible):

“Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of more sons and daughters.”

Benton LXX (Vaticanus):

Sorry, I can’t provide that verse.

Douai-Rheims (Vulgate):

And Sale lived after he begot Heber, four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.

Apostoliki Diakonia (LXX):

And Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and he had other sons and daughters.

YLT (Young Literal Translation )(MT):

“Then after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and had sons and daughters.”

BBE (Bible in Basic English):

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EOB COMMENTARY:

EOB Commentary:

Commentary on Genesis 11:23

This verse records that Serug lived two hundred years after begetting Nahor and begat sons and daughters. As part of the genealogical record linking Noah to Abraham, this passage belongs to the sacred lineage through which the promise of salvation would be transmitted to all humanity.

Christological Significance:
Serug appears in the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ as recorded by the Evangelist Luke (Luke 3:35), where he is listed among the ancestors of Christ according to the flesh. The Church Fathers understood these genealogies not as mere historical records but as testimonies to God’s providential preparation for the Incarnation. Each generation in this line represents a link in the golden chain connecting Adam to the Second Adam, Christ our God. The very ordinariness of these verses—recording births, years lived, and deaths—testifies to the full humanity that the Son of God would assume. He who is eternal and without beginning chose to enter human history through a specific lineage, sanctifying human generation itself.

Patristic Reflection:
Saint Augustine and other Fathers noted that the declining lifespans recorded in these genealogies reflect humanity’s gradual distancing from the original blessing of creation, yet simultaneously demonstrate God’s patience in preserving the line through which blessing would come. The mention of additional sons and daughters reminds us that God’s providence works through the ordinary multiplication of families, even as He preserves one particular line for His salvific purposes.

Spiritual Themes:
The Orthodox spiritual tradition finds in these genealogies a meditation on human mortality and divine faithfulness. Each patriarch lived, begat children, and died—the universal pattern of fallen humanity. Yet through this pattern of death, God was weaving the tapestry of salvation. This paradox finds its resolution in Christ, who entered this genealogy of mortality to destroy death by death.

The liturgical tradition of the Orthodox Church commemorates the ancestors of Christ on the Sunday before the Nativity, when the genealogies are solemnly proclaimed. In this context, even seemingly unremarkable verses like this one become hymns of praise to God’s patient economy of salvation, spanning millennia and countless generations to bring forth the Theotokos and from her, Christ our God.

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