Haran or Aran ( ''Hārān'') is a man in the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...
in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
. '' Terah
Terah or Terach ( ''Teraḥ'') is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis. He is listed as the son of Nahor and father of the patriarch Abraham. As such, he is a descendant of Shem's son Arpachshad. Terah is mentioned in Genesis 11:26–27, ...
, brother of
Abraham, and father of son
Lot and daughters
Milcah and
Iscah. He died in
Ur of the Chaldees
Ur Kasdim (), commonly translated as Ur of the Chaldees, is a city mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as the birthplace of Abraham, the Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Israelites and the Ishmaelites. In 1862, Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, Hen ...
. Through Lot, Haran was the ancestor of the
Moab
Moab () was an ancient Levant, Levantine kingdom whose territory is today located in southern Jordan. The land is mountainous and lies alongside much of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The existence of the Kingdom of Moab is attested to by ...
ites and
Ammonites.
Haran and his family
Terah
Terah or Terach ( ''Teraḥ'') is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis. He is listed as the son of Nahor and father of the patriarch Abraham. As such, he is a descendant of Shem's son Arpachshad. Terah is mentioned in Genesis 11:26–27, ...
, a descendant of
Shem son of
Noah, was the father of Abram/Abraham,
Nahor, and Haran. Their home's location is not certain, but it is usually supposed to have been in
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
. Besides Lot and
Milcah, Haran fathered a daughter
Iscah.
After Haran died in Ur of the Chaldees 'before his father Terah', his family travelled towards
Canaan, the
Promised Land
In the Abrahamic religions, the "Promised Land" ( ) refers to a swath of territory in the Levant that was bestowed upon Abraham and his descendants by God in Abrahamic religions, God. In the context of the Bible, these descendants are originally ...
. However, Terah stopped at
Charan (or Haran ebrew חָרָן, Ḥārān and settled there, as did Nahor and Milcah, whereas Lot accompanied Abraham and others onwards to Canaan.
Death
According to legends from Book of Jubilees, Terah owned his father's and grandfather's sculpture workshop, where he made idols and sold them successfully. This greatly irritated the pious Abraham. In one version, Abraham simply smashes the statues in his father's workshop, whereas in another, Abraham sets fire to the temple where his father's idols were shown, and Haran died in the fire while trying to save them.
Etymology
The name ''Haran'' possibly comes from the Hebrew word ''har'', = "mountain", with a
West Semitic suffix appearing with proper names, ''anu/i/a''. Thus, it has been suggested that ''Haran'' may mean "mountaineer". 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.
[D. Sivan, ''Grammatical Analysis of Northwest Semitic Vocables'', p. 222][Alexander & Baker. ]
Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch
', 2002, p. 380 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.
[
]
Others called Haran
Haran is the English name of two other people mentioned in the Bible.
* Haran, son of Caleb ( – ''Ḥārān'') ().
* Haran, son of Shimei ( – ''Hārān''). He was a Levite who lived in the time of David and Solomon ().
See also
* Harran
* Sabians
References
{{Authority control
Family of Abraham
Lot (biblical person)
Noach (parashah)
Ur of the Chaldees