Haran

mountainous country

(a mountaineer ).

1. The third son of Terah, and therefore youngest brother of Abram. ( Genesis 11:26 ) (B.C. 1926.) Three children are ascribed to him --Lot, vs. ( Genesis 11:27 Genesis 11:31 ) and two daughters, viz., Milcah, who married her uncle Nahor, ver. ( Genesis 11:29 ) and Iscah. ver. ( Genesis 11:29 ) Haran was born in Ur of the Chaldees, and he died there while his father was still living. ver. ( Genesis 11:28 )
2. A Gershonite Levite in the time of David, one of the family of Shimei. ( 1 Chronicles 23:9 )
3. A son of the great Caleb by his concubine Ephah. ( 1 Chronicles 2:46 )
4. HARAN or CHARRAN, ( Acts 7:2 Acts 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. Comp. ( Genesis 24:10 ) with Genesis27:43 It is said to be in Mesopotamia, ( Genesis 24:10 ) or more definitely in Padan-aram, ch. ( Genesis 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.

HARAN (1)

ha'-ran (haran):

(1) Son of Terah, younger brother of Abraham and Nahor, and father of Lot (Genesis 11:27). He had two daughters, Milcah and Iscah (Genesis 11:29).

(2) A Gershonite, of the family of Shimei (1 Chronicles 23:9).

HARAN (2)

ha'-ran (charan; Charhran):

The city where Terah settled on his departure from Ur (Genesis 11:31); whence Abram set out on his pilgrimage of faith to Canaan (Genesis 12:1). It was probably "the city of Nahor" to which Abraham's servant came to find a wife for Isaac (Genesis 24:10). Hither came Jacob when he fled from Esau's anger (Genesis 27:43). Here he met his bride (Genesis 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 (2 Kings 19:12; Isaiah 37:12). Ezekiel speaks of the merchants of Haran as trading with Tyre (27:23).

The name appears in Assyro-Babalonian as Charran, 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 Charran 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 Acts 7:2,4, the King James Version gives the name as Charran.

W. Ewing