Haran
Born
Ur Kaśdim
(present-day unknown; probably Harran, Turkey)
Died
Paddan Aram, or Haran
(present-day Harran, Turkey)
Other namesAran
ChildrenLot (son), Milcah (daughter), Iscah (daughter)
ParentTerah (father)
Relatives

Haran or Aran (Hebrew: הָרָן Hārān)[1] is a man in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible.[2] He died in Ur of the Chaldees, was a son of Terah, and brother of Abraham. Through his son Lot, Haran was the ancestor of the Moabites and Ammonites.

Haran and his family

Terah, a descendant of Shem son of Noah, was the father of Abram/Abraham, Nahor, and Haran.[3] Their home's location is not certain, but it is usually supposed to have been in Mesopotamia. Besides Lot and Milcah, Haran fathered a daughter Iscah.[4]

After Haran died in Ur of the Chaldees 'before his father Terah', his family travelled towards Canaan, the Promised Land. However, Terah stopped at Charan (or Haran [Hebrew חָרָן, Ḥārān]) and settled there, as did Nahor and Milcah, whereas Lot accompanied Abraham and others onwards to Canaan.[5][6]

Etymology

The name Haran possibly comes from the Hebrew word har, = "mountain", with a West Semitic suffix appearing with proper names, anu/i/a.[7] Thus, it has been suggested that Haran may mean "mountaineer".[8] Personal names which resemble Haran include ha-ri and ha-ru, from texts of second millennium BC Mari and Alalakh, and ha-ar-ri, from one of the Amarna letters—but their meanings are uncertain.[9][10][11] The initial element of Haran can be found in the Phoenician personal name hr-b`l, and also in the Israelite personal name hryhw from Gibeon.[11]

Others called Haran

Haran is the English name of two other people mentioned in the Bible.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Freedman, Meyers & Beck. Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible ISBN 978-0-8028-2400-4, 2000, p.551
  2. ↑ Genesis 11:27–32
  3. ↑ Genesis 11:10–27
  4. ↑ Genesis 11:29
  5. ↑ Genesis 11:28–12:5
  6. ↑ Eerdmans dictionary, p. 997
  7. ↑ D. Sivan, Grammatical Analysis and Glossary of the Northwest Semitic Vocables in Akkadian Texts of the 15th–13th C., BC from Canaan and Syria, 1984, p.97–98
  8. ↑ A Dictionary of the Bible: Dealing with its Language, Vol. 1, 1899, p.301
  9. ↑ H. Huffmon, Amorite Personal Names in the Mari Archives: A Structural and Lexical Study, 1965, p.204
  10. ↑ D. Sivan, Grammatical Analysis of Northwest Semitic Vocables, p. 222
  11. 1 2 Alexander & Baker. Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch, 2002, p. 380
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.