HARAN
(Haʹran).
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 Chaldeans.—Ge 11:26-31.
2. A descendant of Gershon through Shimei; tribe of Levi.—1Ch 23:6-9.
3. A son of Caleb by his concubine Ephah, and “father” of Gazez; tribe of Judah.—1Ch 2:3, 42, 46.
4. A city of northern Mesopotamia in which Abram (Abraham) resided temporarily; here Terah his father died. (Ge 11:31, 32; 12:4, 5; Ac 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.—2Ki 19:11, 12.
Present-day Haran preserves the name of the ancient city at or near which Abraham’s servant found a wife for Isaac
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. (Ge 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. (Ge 27:42-46; 28:1, 2, 10) At a well, evidently near Haran, Jacob met Rachel.—Ge 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.—2Ki 19:8-13; Isa 37:8-13.
Assyrian sources seem to refer to Haran as Harranu (meaning “Road”), perhaps because of its being on the caravan route linking it with cities such as Nineveh, Asshur, Babylon, and Tyre, as well as the land of Egypt. (Compare Eze 27:23.) The name of the ancient city is preserved in modern Haran, situated where two wadis join to form a stream that reaches the Balikh River in the winter, about 110 km (68 mi) above where the Balikh empties into the Euphrates River. But some believe that the ancient site itself lies to the N of modern Haran. 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.—Ge 11:22-26.