Serug(saruch)
“Branch or strength”
Summary
A postdiluvian patriarch in the line from Shem to Abraham, the son of Reu and great-grandfather of Abraham.
☩Genealogical Position
Serug was the son of Reu and the father of Nahor, who was the grandfather of Abraham. He appears in the genealogies of both Testaments, connecting the generations from Noah to the patriarchs. In Luke's genealogy of Christ, he is called by the Greek form 'Saruch.'
☩Age and Chronology
According to the Hebrew Bible, Serug lived 230 years—thirty years before begetting Nahor and two hundred years afterward. The Septuagint assigns him 130 years before Nahor's birth, making his total age 330 years. This is one of the systematic variations between the Hebrew and Greek texts that affects calculations of ancient chronology.
☩Traditions
Bochart conjectured that the town of Seruj in Mesopotamia, a day's journey from Haran, was named after this patriarch. According to Epiphanius, Serug's name signifies 'provocation,' and idolatry (though limited to images) began in his time—before this, mankind's religion was 'Scythic,' but after Serug and the building of Babel, it became Hellenic or Greek.
Related Verses6 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Serug," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IX (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Hastings (ed.), "Serug," in Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels, vol. II (T. & T. Clark, 1906–1908).
- 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Serug," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).