Haran(charran)
“Mountaineer; or for the city, from Arabic meaning parched”
Summary
Haran refers to both a person (the brother of Abraham who died in Ur) and a city in Mesopotamia where Abraham's family settled after leaving Ur and where the patriarchs later sought wives for their sons.
☩Haran the Person
Haran was the son of Terah, brother of Abraham and Nahor, and father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah. He appears to have been the eldest of Terah's sons, since his brothers married his daughters—Milcah married Nahor, and Sarai (identified with Iscah) married Abraham. He died in his native place Ur of the Chaldees before his father Terah, an event mentioned as unusual for that era and which may have prepared the family to leave Ur. Jewish tradition holds that Haran was cast into Nimrod's furnace for his wavering conduct during Abraham's fiery trial.
☩The City of Haran
Haran (called Charran in the New Testament) was the place where Abraham tarried after leaving Ur of the Chaldees until his father Terah died, when he proceeded to Canaan. It is described as being in Mesopotamia, or more specifically in Padan-Aram, "the cultivated district at the foot of the hills"—a name well applying to the beautiful stretch of country below Mount Masius between the Khabour and the Euphrates. The elder branch of Abraham's family remained at Haran, leading to significant journeys there: Abraham's servant seeking a wife for Isaac, and Jacob fleeing from Esau.
☩Religious and Commercial Importance
Haran was a famous seat of the worship of Sin, the moon-god. The people of Harran retained to a late time the Chaldean language and the worship of Chaldean deities. Joshua reminded Israel that their fathers, including Terah, served other gods "beyond the River" in Haran. The city was also an important commercial center, mentioned by Ezekiel among the places that traded with Tyre, and stood on leading roads connecting the great fords of the Tigris and Euphrates, forming a crucial station on the line of commerce between Central and Western Asia.
☩Later History and Identification
Haran is enumerated among the towns taken by the predecessors of Sennacherib king of Assyria. The city, still called Harran, stands on the banks of a small river called Belik which flows into the Euphrates about fifty miles south. It was celebrated among the Romans under the name Carrhae as the scene of the battle where the Roman army was defeated by the Parthians and the triumvir Crassus was killed. The site lies about twenty-nine miles from Orfah (ancient Edessa) and is today populated only by a few families of wandering Arabs.
☩Other Persons Named Haran
Two other men bear this name in Scripture: a Gershonite Levite in the time of David, one of the family of Shimei appointed to superintend offices at the tabernacle; and a son of Caleb of Judah by his concubine Ephah, and father of Gazez. The Hebrew spelling of these names differs slightly from that of Abraham's brother.
Related Verses22 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Haran," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IV (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Hastings (ed.), "Haran," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. I (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).
- 3.George Morrish, "Haran," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 4.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Haran," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).