Serug

שרוג

Genesis 11:20 names him as the son of Re'u. He was the father of the first Nachor, Av-Ram's grandfather. There is obviously a connection between this name and Reuben, which is really Re'u-Ven, and even Genesis gives the etymology with this connection.

The city of Sarugi lies between Charan and Carchemish in what is today Turkey but in Biblical times was Ashur (Assyria), and is almost certainly the town intended here; we should read Serug then as a sedentary tribe rather than as a single individual.

The name means "shoot", as in the process of bifurcation; we would say "offspring" or "progeny". This could well indicate that Serug was not actually his name, but a description of his relationship given in the absence of knowing his name.

The Book of Jubilees, chapter 1, tells us that Serug was originally named Sêrôh, but changed because "they began to make graven images and unclean simulacra, and malignant spirits assisted and seduced (them) into committing transgression and uncleanness. And the prince Mastêmâ exerted himself to do all this, and he sent forth other spirits, those which were put under his hand, to do all manner of wrong and sin, and all manner of transgression, to corrupt and destroy, and to shed blood upon the earth. For this reason he called the name of Sêrôh, Serug, for every one turned to do all manner of sin and transgression."

The same Sêrôh has also been identified with Serach, who belongs to the same branch of the same family.

Copyright © 2019 David Prashker

All rights reserved

The Argaman Press