- published: 28 Oct 2015
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Haran or Aran (Hebrew: הָרָן, Modern: Hārān ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. (Genesis 11:27-32) Haran was born in Ur of the Chaldees (Ur Kaśdim), the son of Terah and thus a descendant of Shem. Haran's brothers were Abram/Abraham and Nahor. Haran fathered two daughters, Milcah and Iscah, and a son, Lot, who fled Sodom and Gomorrah's destruction and fathered the Moabites and Ammonites.
Haran died in Ur of the Chaldees before his father Terah. After Haran's death, Terah took his son Abram, Abram's wife Sarai, and his grandson Lot with the intention of going to Canaan. But when they stopped at Charan (or Haran) in the region of Paddan Aram or Aram Naharaim, Terah did not continue, but settled there. After a stay of unstated length, when Abram was "seventy-five years old", Abram took Sarai, Lot and other "souls", and continued on to the promised land. (Genesis 11:28-12:5)
All the children of Jacob (called Israel) are descended from Haran, through his daughter Milcah. (See family tree below.) As a son of David, Jesus Christ is a descendent of Haran's son Lot through David's great-grandmother Ruth, who is descended from Lot's son Moab. (Ruth 4:21-22) Solomon's wife Naamah is descended from Lot's other son Ben-ammi, the father of the Ammonites. (1Kings 14:21,31)