Haran
Encyclopedia
Haran or Aran is a figure in Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible
. Haran was born in Ur Kaśdim
(Ur of the Chaldees), the son of Terah
and thus a descendant of Shem
. Haran's brothers were Abram/Abraham
and Nahor
. Haran fathered two daughters, Milcah
and Iscah
, and a son, Lot, who fled Sodom and Gomorrah
and fathered the Edom
ites and Ammon
ites.
Haran died in Ur Kaśdim
in the presence of his father Terah. After Haran's death, Terah took his son Abram, Abram's wife Sarai
, and his grandson Lot with the intention of going to Canaan
. But they stopped at Charan (or Haran)
in the region of Paddan Aram
or Aram Naharaim and settled there. After Terah (aged 205) died in Haran, God again instructed Abram to depart. He was "seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran."
In the New Testament
, Stephen
says that their departure from Ur was in obedience to God's instruction, given to Terah's son Abram.
Similar names associated with Haran are ha-ri and ha-ru that appear around the second millennium BC. The name ha-ar-ri appears in the Mari
and Alalakh
texts, but none of their meanings have been deciphered. The initial element of Haran can be found in the Phoenician personal name, hr-b’l and also in the Israelite
personal name hryhw (Gibeon).
.
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
. Haran was born in Ur Kaśdim
Ur Kasdim
Ur Kaśdim or Ur of the Chaldees is a biblical place mentioned in the Book of Genesis that refers to a location that the Patriarch Abraham may have been from...
(Ur of the Chaldees), the son of Terah
Terah
Terah or Térach is a biblical figure in the book of Genesis, son of Nahor, son of Serug and father of the Patriarch Abraham, all descendants of Shem. He is mentioned in the Hebrew bible and the New Testament.-Genesis narrative:...
and thus a descendant of Shem
Shem
Shem was one of the sons of Noah in the Hebrew Bible as well as in Islamic literature. He is most popularly regarded as the eldest son, though some traditions regard him as the second son. Genesis 10:21 refers to relative ages of Shem and his brother Japheth, but with sufficient ambiguity in each...
. Haran's brothers were Abram/Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
and Nahor
Nahor
Nahor, Nachor, or Naghor may refer to three different names in the Hebrew bible: two biblical people, who were both descendants of Shem, and one biblical place named after one of these descendants....
. Haran fathered two daughters, Milcah
Milcah
Milcah was thedaughter of Haran and the wife of Nahor in Genesis.Milcah was a woman of ancient Mesopotamia and an ancestor of the patriarch Jacob. Milcah was born to Haran, who had another daughter, Iscah. This Haran seemed to be different from Haran, Abraham's brother, who had a son, Lot...
and Iscah
Iscah
Iscah is Hebrew for Jessica. Iscah was daughter of Haran, and sister or half-sister of Lot and Milcah.The name Iscah is mentioned only once throughout the entire Hebrew Bible, found in Genesis 11:29....
, and a son, Lot, who fled Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and later expounded upon throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources....
and fathered the Edom
Edom
Edom or Idumea was a historical region of the Southern Levant located south of Judea and the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in biblical records as a 1st millennium BC Iron Age kingdom of Edom, and in classical antiquity the cognate name Idumea was used to refer to a smaller area in the same region...
ites and Ammon
Ammon
Ammon , also referred to as the Ammonites and children of Ammon, was an ancient nation located east of the Jordan River, Gilead, and the Dead Sea, in present-day Jordan. The chief city of the country was Rabbah or Rabbath Ammon, site of the modern city of Amman, Jordan's capital...
ites.
Haran died in Ur Kaśdim
Ur Kasdim
Ur Kaśdim or Ur of the Chaldees is a biblical place mentioned in the Book of Genesis that refers to a location that the Patriarch Abraham may have been from...
in the presence of his father Terah. After Haran's death, Terah took his son Abram, Abram's wife Sarai
Sarah
Sarah or Sara was the wife of Abraham and the mother of Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. Her name was originally Sarai...
, and his grandson Lot with the intention of going to Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
. But they stopped at Charan (or Haran)
Haran (biblical place)
Ḥaran, Charan, or Charran is a Biblical place. Haran is almost universally identified with Harran, an Assyrian city whose ruins are in present-day Turkey. In the Hebrew Bible, the name first appears in the Book of Genesis, in the context of Patriarchal times...
in the region of Paddan Aram
Paddan Aram
Paddan Aram or Padan-aram was an early Aramean kingdom in Mesopotamia. Paddan Aram in Aramaic means the field of Aram. The name may correspond to the Hebrew “sedeh Aram,” or “field of Aram.”...
or Aram Naharaim and settled there. After Terah (aged 205) died in Haran, God again instructed Abram to depart. He was "seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran."
In the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, Stephen
Saint Stephen
Saint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....
says that their departure from Ur was in obedience to God's instruction, given to Terah's son Abram.
Etymology
The name Haran possibly comes from the Hebrew word hr (mountain) with a West Semetic suffix appearing with proper names, anu/i/a. Thus, it has been suggested that Haran may refer to "mountaineer".Similar names associated with Haran are ha-ri and ha-ru that appear around the second millennium BC. The name ha-ar-ri appears in the Mari
Mari, Syria
Mari was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria...
and Alalakh
Alalakh
Alalakh is the name of an ancient city-state near modern Antakya in the Amuq River valley of Turkey's Hatay Province.Now represented by an extensive mound, the name of the modern archaeological site is Tell Atchana.-History:...
texts, but none of their meanings have been deciphered. The initial element of Haran can be found in the Phoenician personal name, hr-b’l and also in the Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
personal name hryhw (Gibeon).
Other biblical people
Haran is the name of two other people mentioned in the Hebrew BibleHebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
.
- Haran, son of Caleb . His name's Hebrew spelling, however, is like that of Haran the place.
- Haran, son of Shimei . He was a Levite who lived in the time of DavidDavidDavid was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
and SolomonSolomonSolomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
.