HARAN

(Haʹran).

[Heb., Ha·ranʹ, mountaineer]

1. Son of Terah and brother of Abram (Abraham) and Nahor. Haran fathered Lot and two daughters, Iscah and Milcah; the latter married her uncle Nahor. Haran died before Terah and Abram left Ur of the Chaldees.—Gen. 11:26-31.

2. A descendant of Gershon through Shimei; tribe of Levi.—1 Chron. 23:6-9.

[Heb., Hha·ranʹ]

3. A son of Caleb by his concubine Ephah, and “father” of Gazez; tribe of Judah.—1 Chron. 2:3, 42, 46.

4. A city of northern Mesopotamia, where Abram (Abraham) resided temporarily and where Terah his father died. (Gen. 11:31, 32; 12:4, 5; Acts 7:2-4) The name “Haran” also seems to have embraced the surrounding area, for Haran is listed among the “nations” conquered by the kings of Assyria.—2 Ki. 19:11, 12.

Some time after leaving Haran, Abraham sent his oldest servant to his relatives (apparently residing at Haran or a nearby town, “the city of Nahor”), to find a bride for his son Isaac. (Gen. chap. 24) Later, Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, went to Haran to escape the wrath of his brother Esau and also to find a wife among the daughters of his uncle Laban. (Gen. 27:42-46; 28:1, 2, 10) At a well, evidently near Haran, Jacob met Rachel.—Gen. 29:4-12.

In the eighth century B.C.E., Assyrian King Sennacherib tried to intimidate Judean King Hezekiah with messages boasting about his forefathers’ conquest of Haran and other places.—2 Ki. 19:8-13; Isa. 37:8-13.

Assyrian sources seem to refer to Haran as Harranu (meaning “road”), perhaps because of being on the caravan route linking it with cities such as Nineveh, Asshur, Babylon and Tyre, as well as the land of Egypt. (Compare Ezekiel 27:23.) The name of the ancient city is preserved in modern Harran, situated on the Belikh River, about sixty-eight miles (109 kilometers) N of its junction with the Euphrates. But some believe that the ancient site itself lies to the N of modern Harran. Certain scholars see evidence for patriarchal residence (as described in the Bible) in the correspondency of ancient place-names in this area to such personal names as Serug, Nahor and Terah.—Gen. 10:22-26.