Interesting Facts

• Jidlaph is identified as one of the sons born to Nahor and Milcah.
• His name appears in genealogical lists alongside his brothers.
• The variation in spelling between “Jidlaph” and “Tidlaf” suggests potential variations in textual transmission.
• According to one genealogical listing, Tidlaf was the father of Mushan, Cushan, and Mutzi.

Genealogy

• Jidlaph/Tidlaf was a son of Nahor, the brother of Abraham.
• His mother was Milcah, the daughter of Haran and sister of Sarah.
• He was one of at least eight sons of Nahor and Milcah, his brothers being Huz, Buz, Kemuel (the father of Aram), Chesed, Hazo/Chazo, Pildash, and Bethuel.
• One source indicates that Tidlaf was the father of Mushan, Cushan, and Mutzi. The other sources do not provide information about his marital connections or other offspring.

Historical Context

The life of Jidlaph/Tidlaf is set within the context of Nahor’s family remaining in Haran while Abraham journeyed to Canaan. The listing of Jidlaph/Tidlaf among Nahor’s children signifies the expansion of Terah’s descendants in Mesopotamia before Abraham’s covenant with the Lord at the age of ninety-nine. The birth of Jidlaph/Tidlaf and his brothers occurred sometime between Abraham’s departure from Haran and the birth of Isaac. The eventual migration of some of Nahor’s descendants, including the possibility of Jidlaph/Tidlaf’s line, indicates a period of familial growth and movement in the ancient Near East. While Abraham’s story focuses on the lineage leading to the promised land, the account of Nahor’s family provides a broader picture of the ancestral context.

Narrative

The narrative presence of Jidlaph/Tidlaf in the provided sources is primarily genealogical, placing him within the lineage of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. His inclusion in the list of Nahor’s sons born to Milcah serves to document the familial ties of Abraham’s extended family. The information that Tidlaf fathered Mushan, Cushan, and Mutzi further illustrates the continuation of Nahor’s line and the subsequent generations that branched out from Haran. While no specific actions or dialogues are attributed to Jidlaph/Tidlaf himself, his existence contributes to the larger historical record of Abraham’s kin and their proliferation in the Mesopotamian region. His lineage, as recorded, forms a part of the broader narrative of the early post-flood generations and the dispersal of families, providing a genealogical backdrop to the central narrative of Abraham and his covenant.