1363. Abram, Nahor, and Haran were sons of Terah, and they were also nations named after those men as their forefathers; here they symbolize idolatrous forms of worship. This can be seen from evidence offered above [§1358] and also from the fact that Terah (whose children they were) symbolizes idolatry.

Just what types of idolatrous cult are symbolized here by Terah's three sons and later by Lot (Haran's son) can be determined by examining the different kinds of idolatrous cults. There are four kinds in general, each one deeper than the next. The three deeper levels are like the children of one parent; the fourth is like a child of the third.

There are inward and outward types of idolatrous worship. The inward types are those that damn us, while the outward types do not. The deeper a form of idolatrous worship goes, the more it condemns us; the shallower it is, the less it condemns us.

[2] Inward idolaters do not acknowledge God but adulate themselves and the world; all their cravings serve as their idols. Outward idolaters, however, can acknowledge God, even though they do not know who the God of the universe is.

Internal idolaters are recognized by the life they have acquired for themselves; the further their life diverges from a life of charity, the deeper their idolatry goes. External idolaters are recognized only by their worship; even though they are idolaters, they can still live a life of charity.

Inward idolaters are capable of profaning holy things, but outward idolaters are not. Outward idolatry is tolerated, then, to keep people from profaning holy things, as indicated by earlier remarks, at §§571, 582, and above at verse 9, §1327.

1358. The fact that Abram, Nahor, and Haran were real people, and that nations were named after them, whose members were idolaters, can be seen in the Word's narrative parts. The truth of this in respect to Nahor has already been demonstrated [§1356:2], since his city was actually called the city of Nahor (Genesis 24:10). In that day, cities were nothing but a number of clans living in the same place, and a collection of clans was a nation.

Many non-Jewish nations were born from Abraham, as can be seen not only from the descendants of Ishmael, or the Ishmaelites, ¹ but also from the descendants of the numerous children he had by his wife Keturah, who are named in Genesis 25:1, 2, 3, 4.

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