Genesis 11:31 states: וַיִּקַּ֨ח תֶּ֜רַח אֶת־אַבְרָ֣ם בְּנ֗וֹ וְאֶת־ל֤וֹט בֶּן־הָרָן֙ בֶּן־בְּנ֔וֹ וְאֵת֙ שָׂרַ֣י כַּלָּת֔וֹ אֵ֖שֶׁת אַבְרָ֣ם בְּנ֑וֹ וַיֵּצְא֨וּ אִתָּ֜ם מֵא֣וּר כַּשְׂדִּ֗ים לָלֶ֙כֶת֙ אַ֣רְצָה כְּנַ֔עַן וַיָּבֹ֥אוּ עַד־חָרָ֖ן וַיֵּ֥שְׁבוּ שָֽׁם׃: “And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law the wife of Abram his son; and they left together from Ur Kasdim to travel to the land of Canaan and they came until Charan and they dwelled there.”

My question is why was Terah heading towards Canaan? There had not yet been any commandment for Abram to go to Canaan and Canaan was not yet the “holy land.” Nor was Canaan their home country or a place where they had relatives.

I can think of an answer to this question based the Jewish Oral Tradition. Is there a way to explain Terach’s attempt to travel to Canaan based solely on the text?