Person Old and New Testament
Reu
Also known as Reu =ESV, NIV; Ragau =KJV
Reu was the son of Peleg and an ancestor of Abraham, living to the age of 239 years. Mentioned in 6 verses across 3 books, first at Genesis 11:18.
Why it matters. Son of Peleg, ancestor of Abraham
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Reu
Reu, mentioned in the genealogies of Genesis 11, 1Chronicles 1, and Luke 3, was the son of Peleg and an ancestor of Abraham. He was born when Peleg was 30 years old (Gen.11.18) and lived for a total of 239 years (Gen.11.20-21). Reu fathered Serug at the age of 32 and lived an additional 207 years, having other sons and daughters (Gen.11.19-21). He is listed as one of the descendants of Shem, the son of Noah, and is part of the lineage that traces from Adam to Abraham, and ultimately to Jesus Christ (Luk.3.35). The name Reu means "friend" or "associate" in Hebrew. His inclusion in the genealogies emphasizes the continuity of the godly line from which the Messiah would eventually come.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 6 verses across 3 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.