Haran
HARAN
1. The eldest son of Terah, brother of Abraham, and father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah. He died before his father Terah, Gen 11:26- 31.2. An ancient city called in the New Testament Charran, in the northwest part of Mesopotamia. Here, after leaving Ur, Abraham dwelt till is father Terah died; and to this old homestead Isaac sent for a wife, and Jacob fled from the wrath of Esau, Gen 11:31,32 ; 12:5; 24:1-67; 27:43; 28:10; 29:4. Haran was ravaged by the Assyrians in the time of Hezekiah, 2Ki 19:12 ; Isa 37:12 . Here also Crassus the Roman general was defeated and killed by the Parthiuated on a branch of the Euphrates, in 36 degrees 52′ north latitude, and 39 degrees 5′ east longitude, in a flat and sandy plain, and is only peopled by a few wandering Arabs, who select it for the delicious water it furnishes.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Haran
(Authorized Version Charaan, Act 7:2; Act 7:4)
Haran was a city of some importance, on a tributary of the Euphrates. From Ur the ancestors of Abraham emigrated to Haran (Gen 11:31). Here one division, under Nahor, remained. Hence it is called the city of Nahor (Gen 24:10). It was a famous seat of the worship of Sin, the moon-god. Abram left it to enter Canaan.
J. W. Duncan.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Haran
Ha’ran appears in the Eng. Bible as the name of a place and also of three men, which, however, are represented by two essentially different Hebrew words. SEE BETH-HARAN.
1. HARAN (Heb. Haran’, , mountaineer; Sept. ), probably the eldest son of Terah, brother of Abraham and Nahor, and father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah. He died in his native place-before his father Terah (an event that may in some degree have prepared the family to leave Ur), which, from the manner in which it is mentioned, appears to have been a much rarer case in those days than at the present (Ge 11:27 sq.). B.C. 2223 ante 2088. Kitto. His sepulcher was still shown there when Josephus wrote his history (Ant. 1, 6, 5). The ancient Jewish tradition is that Haran was burnt in the furnace of Nimrod for his wavering conduct during the fiery trial of Abraham. (See the Targum Ps. Jonathan; Jerome’s Quaest. in Genesim, and the notes thereto in the edition of Migne). This tradition seems to have originated in a translation of the word Ur, which in Hebrew signifies “fire.” SEE ABRAHAM.
2. CHARAN (Heb. Charan’, , probably from the Arabic, parched; Sept. , also Josephus, Ant. i, 16, N.T., Ac 7:2, where it is Anglicized “Charran”), the name of the place where Abraham, after he had been called from Ur of the Chaldees, tarried till his father Terah died, when he proceeded to the land of Canaan (Ge 11:31-32; Ac 7:4). The elder branch of the family still remained at Haran, which led to the interesting journeys thither described in the patriarchal history (see Hauck, De profectionibus Abrahamie Charris [Lips. 1754, 1776]) -first, that of Abraham’s servant to obtain a wife for Isaac (Genesis 24); and, next, that of Jacob when he fled to evade the wrath of Esau (Ge 28:10). It is said to be in Mesopotamia (Ge 24:10), or, more definitely, in Padan-Aram 25:20), which is the “cultivated district at the foot of the hills”(Stanley, Syr. and Pal. p. 129, note), a name well applying to the beautiful stretch of country which lies below Mount Masius, between the Khabr and the Euphrates. SEE PADAN-ARAM. Haran is enumerated among the towns which had been taken by the predecessors of Sennacherib, king of Assyria (1Ki 19:12; Isa 37:12), and it is also mentioned by Ezekiel (27:23) among the places which traded with Tyre. It is alluded to in the cuneiform inscriptions (q.v.). Jerome thus describes Haran: “‘Charran, a city of Mesopotamia beyond Edessa, which to this day is called Charra, where the Roman army was cut off, and Crassus, its leader, taken”(Onomast. s.v. Charran). Guided by these descriptions and statements, which certainly appear sufficiently clear and full, sacred geographers have almost universally identified Haran with the Carrct (Kapptai) of classical writers (Herodian. 4:13, 7; Ptol. 5, 18, 12; Strabo, 16:747), and the Harran of the Arabs (Schultens, Index Geogr. in Vitam Saladini. s.v.). The plain bordering on this town (Ammian. Marc. 23:3) is celebrated in history as the scene of a battle in which the Roman army was defeated by the Parthians, and the triumvir Crassus killed (Plin. 5, 21; Dio Cass. 40:25; Lucan. 1, 104). Abulfeda (Tab. Syrice, p. 164) speaks of Haran as formerly a great city, which lay in an arid and barren tract of country in the province of Diar Modhar. About the time of the Christian era it appears to have been included in the kingdom of Eaessa (Mos. Chor. 2, 32), which was ruled by Agbarus. Afterwards it passed with that kingdom under the dominion of the Romans, and appears as a Roman city in the wars of Caracalla (Mos. Chor. 2, 72) and Julian (Jo.
Malal. p. 329). It is remarkable that the people of Harran retained to a late time the Chaldean language and the worship of Chaldean deities (Assemani, Bibl. Or. 1, 327; Chwolson’s Sabier und der Sabismus, 2, 39).
About midway in the district above designated is a town still called Harran, which really seems never to have changed its appellation, and beyond any reasonable doubt is the Haran or Charran of Scripture (Bochart’s Phaleg, 1, 14; Ewald’s Geschichte, 1, 384). It is only peopled by a few families of wandering Arabs, who are led thither by a plentiful supply of water from several small streams. Its situation is fixed by major Rennell as being twenty-nine miles from Orfah, and occupying a flat and sandy plain. It lies (according to D’Anville) in 36 40′ N. lat., and 39 2′ 45″E. long. (See Niebuhr, Travels, 2, 410; Ritter, Erdk. 10:244; 11:291; Cellar. Notit. 2, 726; Mannert, 5, 2, 280; Michaelis, Suppl. 930.) Harran stands on the banks of a small river called Belik, which flows into the Euphrates about fifty miles south of the town. From it a number of leading roads radiate to the great fords of the Tigris and Euphrates; and it thus formed an important station on the line of commerce between Central and Western Asia. This may explain why Terah came to it, and why it was mentioned among the places which supplied the marts of Tyre (Eze 27:23). Crassus was probably marching along this great route when he was attacked by the Parthians. Dr. Beke, in his Origines Biblicae (p. 122 sq.), made the somewhat startling statement that Haran must have been near Damascus, and that Aram-Naharaim is the country between the Abana and Pharpar. After lying dormant for a quarter of a century, this theory was again revived in 1860. The Rev. J. L. Porter visited and described a small village in the plain, four hours east of Damascus, called Harran el-Awamid (“Harran of the columns”). The description having met the eye of Dr. Beke (in Five Years in Damascus, 1, 376), he at once concluded that this village was the site of the real “city of Nahor.” He has since visited Harran el- Awamid, and traveled from it to Gilead, and is more confirmed in his view, though he appears to stand alone. His arguments have not been sufficient to set aside the powerful evidence in favor of Harran in Mesopotamia. The student may see the whole subject discussed in the Athenceunm for Nov. 23, 30; Dec. 7, 1861; Feb. 1, 15; March 1, 22, 29; April 6, 19; and May 24, 1862; also in Stanley’s Lectures on the Jewish Church, 1, 447 sq.
3. CHARAN (Heb. same as last, meaning here noble, according to First; Sept. v.r. ). The son of Caleb of Judah by his concubine Ephah, and father of Gazez (1Ch 2:46). B.C. between 1618 and 1083.
4. HARAN (Heb. same as No. 1; Sept. v.r. ). One of the three sons of Shimei, a Levite of the family of Gershon, appointed by David to superintend the offices at the tabernacle (1Ch 23:9). B.C. 1014.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Haran
(1.) Heb. haran; i.e., “mountaineer.” The eldest son of Terah, brother of Abraham and Nahor, and father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah. He died before his father (Gen. 11:27), in Ur of the Chaldees.
(2.) Heb. haran, i.e., “parched;” or probably from the Accadian charana, meaning “a road.” A celebrated city of Western Asia, now Harran, where Abram remained, after he left Ur of the Chaldees, till his father Terah died (Gen. 11:31, 32), when he continued his journey into the land of Canaan. It is called “Charran” in the LXX. and in Acts 7:2. It is called the “city of Nahor” (Gen. 24:10), and Jacob resided here with Laban (30:43). It stood on the river Belik, an affluent of the Euphrates, about 70 miles above where it joins that river in Upper Mesopotamia or Padan-aram, and about 600 miles northwest of Ur in a direct line. It was on the caravan route between the east and west. It is afterwards mentioned among the towns taken by the king of Assyria (2 Kings 19:12; Isa. 37:12). It was known to the Greeks and Romans under the name Carrhae.
(3.) The son of Caleb of Judah (1 Chr. 2:46) by his concubine Ephah.
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Haran
HARAN was Terah’s firstborn son, oldest brother of Abram (who is named first in Gen 11:27, because heir of the promises), father of Lot, and Milcah who married her uncle Nahor, and Iscah or Sarai who married her uncle Abram, being “daughter (i.e. granddaughter) of his father not of his mother” (Gen 20:12). That Haran was oldest brother appears from his brothers marrying his daughters, Sarai being only ten years younger than Abram (Gen 17:17). Haran died in Ur, his native place, before his father. In the Hebrew the country Haran begins with ‘ch’, the man Haran with ‘h’, as also the Haran the Gershonite Levite under David of Shimei’s family (1Ch 23:9). Hara begins with ‘h’; Caleb’s son by Ephah (1Ch 2:46) begins with ‘ch’. Jewish tradition makes Haran to have been cast into Nimrod’s furnace for wavering during Abram’s fiery trial.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Haran
HARAN.1. Son of Terah, younger brother of Abram, and father of Lot, Gen 11:26 (P [Note: Priestly Narrative.] ), also father of Milcah and Iscah, Gen 11:29 (J [Note: Jahwist.] ). 2. A Gershonite Levite (1Ch 23:9).
HARAN.A city in the N. W. of Mesopotamia, marked by the modern village of Harran, situated on the Blikh, a tributary of the Euphrates, and about nine hours ride S. E. of Edessa (Urfa). Terah and his son Abram and his family dwelt there on their way from Ur of the Chaldees to Canaan (Gen 11:31; Gen 12:4-5; cf. Act 7:2), and Terah died there (Gen 11:32; cf. Act 7:4). Nahor, Abrams brother, settled there; hence it is called the city of Nahor in the story of Isaac and Jacob (cf. Gen 24:10; Gen 27:43). Its position on one of the main trade-routes between Babylonia and the Mediterranean coast rendered it commercially of great importance (cf. Eze 27:23). It was the chief seat of the worship of Sin, the moon-god, and the frequent references to the city in the Assyrian inscriptions have to do mainly with the worship of this deity and the restoration of his temple. It is probable that Haran rebelled along with the city of Ashur in b.c. 763, and a reference to its subsequent capture and the suppression of the revolt may be seen in 2Ki 19:12; Sargon later on restored the ancient religious privileges of which the city had been then deprived. The worship of the moon-god at Haran appears to have long survived the introduction of Christianity.
L. W. King.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Haran (1)
haran (, haran):
(1) Son of Terah, younger brother of Abraham and Nahor, and father of Lot (Gen 11:27). He had two daughters, Milcah and Iscah (Gen 11:29).
(2) A Gershonite, of the family of Shimei (1Ch 23:9).
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Haran (2)
haran (, haran; , Charhran): The city where Terah settled on his departure from Ur (Gen 11:31 f); whence Abram set out on his pilgrimage of faith to Canaan (Gen 12:1). It was probably the city of Nahor to which Abraham’s servant came to find a wife for Isaac (Gen 24:10). Hither came Jacob when he fled from Esau’s anger (Gen 27:43). Here he met his bride (Gen 29:4), and in the neighboring pastures he tended the flocks of Laban. It is one of the cities named by Rabshakeh as destroyed by the king of Assyria (2Ki 19:12; Isa 37:12). Ezekiel speaks of the merchants of Haran as trading with Tyre (Eze 27:23).
The name appears in Assyro-Babalonian as Harran, which means road; possibly because here the trade route from Damascus joined that from Nineveh to Carchemish. It is mentioned in the prism inscription of Tiglath-pileser I. It was a seat of the worship of Sin, the moon-god, from very ancient times. A temple was built by Shalmaneser II. Haran seems to have shared in the rebellion of Assur (763 bc, the year of the solar eclipse, June 15). The privileges then lost were restored by Sargon II. The temple, which had been destroyed, was rebuilt by Ashurbanipal, who was here crowned with the crown of Sin. Haran and the temple suffered much damage in the invasion of the Umman-Manda (the Medes). Nabuna’id restored temple and city, adorning them on a lavish scale. Near Haran the Parthians defeated and slew Crassus (53 bc), and here Caracalla was assassinated (217 ad). In the 4th century it was the seat of a bishopric; but the cult of the moon persisted far into the Christian centuries. The chief temple was the scene of heathen worship until the 11th century, and was destroyed by the Mongols in the 13th.
The ancient city is represented by the modern Harran to the Southeast of Edessa, on the river Belias, an affluent of the Euphrates. The ruins lie on both sides of the stream, and include those of a very ancient castle, built of great basaltic blocks, with square columns, 8 ft. thick, which support an arched roof some 30 ft. in height. Remains of the old cathedral are also conspicuous. No inscriptions have yet been found here, but a fragment of an Assyrian lion has been uncovered. A well nearby is identified as that where Eliezer met Rebekah.
In Act 7:2, Act 7:4, the King James Version gives the name as Charran.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Haran
Haran, 1
Haran, eldest son of Terah, brother of Abraham and Nahor, and father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah. He died before his father Terah, which, from the manner in which it is mentioned, appears to have been a much rarer case in those days than at present (Gen 11:27, sq.).
Haran, 2
Haran, or rather Charan, called by the Greeks Charran, and by the Romans Charr. It was situated in the north-western part of Mesopotamia, on a river of the same name running into the Euphrates. It is supposed to have been so called from Haran, the father of Lot and brother of Abraham; but there appears no ground for this conclusion except the identity of names. Abraham, after he had been called from Ur of the Chaldees tarried here till his father Terah died, when he proceeded to the land of Canaan (Gen 11:31; Gen 11:28; Act 7:4). The elder branch of the family still remained at Haran, which led to the interesting journeys thither described in the patriarchal historyfirst, that of Abraham’s servant to obtain a wife for Isaac (Genesis 24), and next, that of Jacob when he fled to evade the wrath of Esau (Gen 28:10). The plain bordering on this town is celebrated in history as the scene of a battle in which the Roman army was defeated by the Parthians, and the Triumvir Crassus killed.
Haran still retains its ancient name in the form of Harran, and is only peopled by a few families of wandering Arabs, who are led thither by a plentiful supply of water from several small streams. It is situated in a flat and sandy plain, in 36 40 N. lat., 39 2 45 E. long.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Haran
[Ha’ran]
1. Son of Terah, and brother of Abraham, and father of Lot. Gen 11:26-31.
2. Son of Shimei a Gershonite. 1Ch 23:9.
3. Son of Caleb and Ephah. 1Ch 2:46. The Hebrew of this differs from Nos. 1 and 2.
[Ha’ran]
Ancient city in Mesopotamia to which Terah and his family removed from Ur of the Chaldees, and where Abraham tarried, when on his way to the land of Canaan, until his father’s death. Here also the descendants of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, established themselves; hence the city was called the ‘city of Nahor.’ Gen 24:10. The name occurs in Gen 11:31-32; Gen 28:10; Gen 29:4; Isa 37:12; Eze 27:23, etc. It appears in its Greek form as CHARRAN in Act 7:2; Act 7:4. Its district is situated between the river Khabour and the Euphrates. There is still a town in the district called Harran, about 36 50′ N, 39 E. The name signifies ‘road ‘ in Accadian. It was probably so called because the caravan routes of Syria, Assyria, and Babylonia crossed there. It was the seat of a bishopric in the fourth century, and there are still ruins of a cathedral.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Haran
H2039 H2771
1. Father of Lot and brother of Abraham
Gen 11:26-31
2. Son of Caleb
1Ch 2:46
3. A Levite
1Ch 23:9
4. Called also Charran
– A place in Mesopotamia to which Terah and Abraham migrated
Gen 11:31; Gen 12:4-5; Act 7:4
– Death of Terah at
Gen 11:32
– Abraham leaves by divine command
Gen 12:1-5
– Jacob flees to
Gen 27:43; Gen 28:7; Gen 29
– Jacob returns from, with Rachel and Leah
Gen 31:17-21
– Conquest of, by king of Assyria
2Ki 19:12
– Merchants of
Eze 27:23
– Idolatry in
Jos 24:2; Jos 24:14; Isa 37:12
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Haran
Haran (h’ran), a mountaineer. 1. The brother of Abraham, and the father of Lot. Gen 11:26. 2. A Levite. 1Ch 23:9.
Haran (h’ran), parched, dry; called Charran (kr’ran). Act 7:2. 4 A. V. The place to which Terah removed from Ur of the Chaldees. Terah died there, Gen 11:31-32; Abram and Lot moved to Canaan, Gen 12:4, while Nahor remained at Haran, which was called the city of Nahor. Gen 24:10. It was the early home of Rebekah, and Jacob afterward resided there with Laban. Gen 27:43. The city was in Mesopotamia, and more definitely in Padanaram, Gen 24:10; Gen 25:20, and also in western Assyria. It is generally identified with the modern Haran, the Roman Carr, situated on the river Belikthe ancient Bilichusabout 60 miles above its entrance into the Euphrates.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Haran
Ha’ran. (a mountaineer).
1. The third son of Terah, and, therefore, the youngest brother of Abram. Gen 11:26. (B.C. 1926). Three children are ascribed to him — Lot, Gen 11:27; Gen 11:31, and two daughters, namely, Milcah, who married her uncle Nahor, Gen 11:29, and Iscah. Gen 11:29. Haran was born in Ur of the Chaldees, and he died there, while his father was still living. Gen 11:28.
2. A Gershonite Levite, in the time of David, one of the family of Shimei. 1Ch 23:9.
3. A son of the great Caleb, by his concubine, Ephah. 1Ch 2:46.
4. Haran or Charran, Act 7:2; Act 7:4, name of the place whither Abraham migrated, with his family, from Ur of the Chaldees, and where the descendants of his brother, Nahor, established themselves. Compare Gen 24:10 with Gen 27:43.
It is said to be in Mesopotamia, Gen 24:10, or more definitely in Padan-aram, Gen 25:20, the cultivated district at the foot of the hills, a name well applying to the beautiful stretch of country which lies below Mount Masius between the Khabour and the Euphrates. Here, about midway in this district, is a small village still called Harran. It was celebrated among the Romans, under the name of Charrae, as the scene of the defeat of Crassus.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
HARAN
(a) Father of Lot
Gen 11:26
(b) Or Charran, Land of
Gen 11:31; Gen 12:5; Gen 27:43; Gen 28:10; 2Ki 19:12; Act 7:4
Fuente: Thompson Chain-Reference Bible
Haran
the eldest son of Terah, and brother to Abraham and Nahor. He was the father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah, Gen 11:26, &c. Haran died before his father Terah.
2. HARAN, otherwise called Charran, in Mesopotamia, a city celebrated for having been the place to which Abraham removed first, after he left Ur, Gen 11:31-32, and where Terah was buried. Thither it was likewise that Jacob repaired to Laban, when he fled from Esau, Gen 27:43; Gen 28:10. &c. Haran was situated in the north-western part of Mesopotamia on a river of the same name running into the Euphrates. Mr. Kinneir says, that Haran, which is still so called, or rather Harran, is now peopled by a few families of wandering Arabs, who have been led thither by a plentiful supply of good water from several small streams. It is situated in 36 52′ north latitude, and 39 5′ east longitude; in a flat and sandy plain. Some think that it was built by Terah, or by Haran, his eldest son.