Verses 20, 21. - And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug.Vine-shoot, from sarag, to wind (Gesenius, Lange, Lewis, Murphy); strength, firmness, from the sense of twisting which the root bears (Furst). And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years (in all 239), and begat sons and daughters.
11:10-26 Here is a genealogy, or list of names, ending in Abram, the friend of God, and thus leading towards Christ, the promised Seed, who was the son of Abram. Nothing is left upon record but their names and ages; the Holy Ghost seeming to hasten through them to the history of Abram. How little do we know of those that are gone before us in this world, even of those that lived in the same places where we live, as we likewise know little of those who now live in distant places! We have enough to do to mind our own work. When the earth began to be peopled, men's lives began to shorten; this was the wise disposal of Providence.
And Reu lived thirty two years, and begat Serug. He is thought to give name to a city called Sarug, which, according to the Arabic geographer (i), was near Charrae, or Haran, in Chaldea; and another Arabic writer (j) speaks of a city called to this day "Sarug", which he places in Mesopotamia.
(i) Apud Bochart. Phaleg. l. 2. c. 14. Colossians 95. (j) Comment. ad Tab. Ilchanic apud Hyde, Hist. Relig. Pers. c. 2. 57.
(i) Apud Bochart. Phaleg. l. 2. c. 14. Colossians 95. (j) Comment. ad Tab. Ilchanic apud Hyde, Hist. Relig. Pers. c. 2. 57.