Genesis records that when Abram received the divine call he was in Haran (Gen 12:4). Yet Stephen said God called Abram in Ur (Acts 7:3-4). Which was it, Ur or Haran? — M.U.
Here's how I see it. Abram's father Terah, with the entire family, left the idolatrous city of Ur (see Josh 24:2) and settled in Haran. Later Abram was called personally (directly) to depart from Haran for the land of Canaan. Yet he may already have been called—Gen 12:1 NIV, KJV reads "the Lord had said... 'Go from your country...'" (translating the verb as a past perfect). Abram knew he was to go all the way from Ur to Canaan, but first he fulfilled familial obligations by waiting till the death of Terah.
In Gen 15:7, the Lord himself states that he had brought Abraham—note that his name has by now been changed—out of Ur. See also Neh 9:7. The call, as Stephen describes it, is proleptic. That is, God was working to bring the patriarch out of Mesopotamia (the city of Ur) to the ultimate destination of Canaan, and the scripture portrays the departure from Ur with the end in sight.
One more thought: Abram was called twice, once in Ur and once in Haran. Yet multiplication of calls is not necessary if my interpretation above is correct.
