Who is…
Haran

also known as: Harran

Hebrew: הָרָן —transliteration: Haran —meaning: mountaineer

This is the name of 3 biblical men and a city.

  1. Haran, the eldest son of Terah

    He was a brother of Abram ( Abraham) and Nahor, and father of Lot, Milcah, and Iscah. He died before his father (Genesis 11:27), in Ur of the Chaldees.

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  2. Haran, son of Caleb of Judah

    His mother was Judah’s concubine Ephah (1 Chronicles 2:46).

  3. Haran, son of Shimei

    He was Shimei’s youngest son and one of the heads of households (1 Chronicles 23:9) of Ladan (Laadan, Libni) (1 Chronicles 23:7-9).

    Relatives of Haran, son of Shimei

    • Father: Shimei
    • Brothers: Shelomoth and Haziel

  4. Haran, a major ancient city now in Turkey

    also known as: Harran, Ḫarrānu, Charran, Carrhae, City of Nahor, Hellenopolis

    Hebrew: חָרָן —transliteration: Haran —meaning: “parched;” or probably from the Accadian: charana, meaning “a road”

    It is here that Abram remained, after he left Ur of the Chaldees, till his father Terah died (Genesis 11:31-32). Later, Abram left, continuing his journey into the land of Canaan—his promised land.

    Haran was a major ancient city in northwest Mesopotamia—a river city on the caravan route between the east and west. In ancient times, the water table was probably much higher in this area. It stood on the continually flowing Balikh River (aka Belik) which drained the Harran Plain.

    Today, the diminished Balikh is still a major tributary of the Euphrates River, 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.

    Laban

    Laban lived in Haran with his daughters Rachel and Leah, who eventually became wives of Jacob. Laban was a great-nephew of Abraham. He was Isaac’s brother-in-law, and Jacob’s father-in-law.

    Jacob fled to Haran and stayed for years, before returning to face his twin brother Esau in Canaan.

    Charran

    Haran is called Charran (the Greek name for Haran) in the Septuagint and in Acts 7:2 KJV, but more modern translations say “Haran.”

    …“Hear me, brethren and fathers! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran…” —Acts 7:2 NASB

    City of Nahor

    Haran is called the “city of Nahor” in Genesis 24:10.

    It was known to the Greeks and Romans by the name Carrhae.

    Ebla Tablets

    Haran is mentioned in the Ebla Tablets. It is among the towns later taken by a king of Assyria (2 Kings 19:12; Isaiah 37:12).

    Location

    The modern Turkish city of Harran now stands on the ruins of ancient city.

    Modern Harran, Turkey—satellite view

    Relationship of Haran city to Ur—and the moon-god Sin

    Ur was consecrated to the worship of Sin, the Babylonian moon-god.

    It shared this honor, however, with another city, and this city was Haran, or Harran. Harran was in Mesopotamia, and took its name from the highroad which led through it from the east to the west. The name is Babylonian, and bears witness to its having been founded by a Babylonian king.

    The same witness is still more decisively borne by the worship paid in it to the Babylonian moon-god and by its ancient temple of Sin. Indeed, the temple of the moon-god at Harran was perhaps even more famous in the Assyrian and Babylonian world than the temple of the moon-god at Ur.

    Between Ur and Harran there must, consequently, have been a close connection in early times… It may be that Harran owed its foundation to a king of Ur; at any rate the two cities were bound together by the worship of the same deity, the closest and most enduring bond of union that existed in the ancient world.

    That Terah should have migrated from Ur to Harran, therefore, ceases to be extraordinary. If he left Ur at all, it was the most natural place to which to go. It was like passing from one court of a temple into another.

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Article Version: January 28, 2025