Endnote 11 – Abraham’s Ur—Is the Pope Going to the Wrong Place?

One answer to this argument is that “land of my birth” in Genesis 24:24 may more properly be translated “land of my kindred,” which makes the place less explicit. The Hebrew word is moladti. There is no agreement among scholars as to this issue. The New Jewish Publication Society translation has “land of my birth.” Others translate “my kindred.” According to Saggs, “There is thus no objection to taking the phrase ‘eres moladti in Gen. xxiv. 7 as denoting not ‘the land where I was born’ but ‘the land where my kindred are currently to be found’” (Saggs, “Ur of the Chaldees,” p. 201).