וָ֠אֶקַּח אֶת־אֲבִיכֶ֤ם אֶת־אַבְרָהָם֙ מֵעֵ֣בֶר הַנָּהָ֔ר וָאוֹלֵ֥ךְ אוֹת֖וֹ בְּכָל־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנָ֑עַן וארב [וָאַרְבֶּה֙] אֶת־זַרְע֔וֹ וָֽאֶתֶּן־ל֖וֹ אֶת־יִצְחָֽק׃
At kinuha Ko ang inyong amang si Abraham mula sa kabila ng Ilog, at pinalakad Ko siya sa buong lupain ng Canaan, at pinarami Ko ang kanyang lahi, at ibinigay Ko sa kanya si Isaac.
Be'er Mayim Chaim
And this is as the Scripture states "beyond the river dwelt your ancestors from olden times; Terach, the father of Avraham" (Yehoshua 24:2). That is to say, Terach the father of Avraham, his dwelling and his level was in the attribute of "beyond the river", which is, the second side of the river, to perform evil deeds [chasadim hara'im] in the world. "But I took your father Avraham from beyond the river" (Yehoshua 24:3) - from that level itself of "beyond the river" I took Avraham, to the other, opposite side: to do and to increase good deeds in the world [chasadim tovim]. And this is a great and wondrous level, the attribute of one who is forgiving [lit. "passes over their traits"], who the Sages of blessed memory praised (Ta'anit 25b:5). Since They took evil attributes and reversed their attributes to be made into good attributes, regarding this the Scripture says (Yirmiyahu 15:19) "If you produce what is noble out of the worthless, you shall be like My mouth". And our Sages of blessed memory said (Bava Metzia 85a) that even if the Holy Blessed One decrees a decree, They will nullify it for the sake of such a one. And behold, our sages of blessed memory said, blood is spoiled up and made into milk (Niddah 9a), as it is said "Who will make pure from impure?" (Iyov 14:4). And they explained it, that the impure blood alone, it itself is spoiled and made into pure milk. Regarding this it says "Who will make pure from impure?" -- like Avraham from Terach, from the impurity of Terach, Terach himself who was accustomed to do evil deeds in the world and to make known matters of idolatry, how to serve every different idol: from this impurity itself Avraham reversed and made it pure, and taught the people the ways of God and converted the converts, as it is said!
Likutei Moharan
As such, the Holy One is called "God of the Hebrews," (Exodus 3:18), like "Beyond the river" (Joshua 24:2), [the word 'ever] refers to the sides, since He retracted His light to the sides, and this is why Israel is also called Hebrews because of their faith in the Holy One, by which they transcend the wisdoms of the first kind of heresy and the non-wisdoms of the second.