Bible Dictionary
Haran
The name of Haran, brother of Abraham and father of Lot, and of the important city in Mesopotamia where Terah died and Abraham stayed before entering Canaan. A third Haran was a descendant of Caleb.
Definition
Haran is the name of three biblical subjects: the son of Terah and brother of Abraham, the city of Haran in Mesopotamia, and a descendant of Caleb. Haran the man was father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah and died before his father.
Biblical Usage
Abram stayed in the city of Haran after leaving Ur until Terah died, then continued to Canaan. Haran is also called Charran and the city of Nahor; Jacob later lived there with Laban.
Historical Background
The city stood on the river Belik in Upper Mesopotamia, on the caravan route between east and west. It was later known to the Greeks and Romans as Carrhae and was listed among the cities taken by the Assyrian king.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(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.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(a mountaineer).