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{{short description|Biblical character}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Haran
| image = Facial Chronicle - b.01, p.079 - Abraham sets fire to the temple; Haran's death.jpg
| image_size = 
| caption = Death of Haran
| birth_name = 
| birth_date =
| birth_place = [[Ur of the Chaldees]]
| death_date = 
| death_place = [[Paddan Aram]], or [[Haran (biblical place)|Haran]]<br>(present-day Harran, Turkey)
| occupation = 
| other_names = Aran
| spouse = 
| parents = [[Terah]] (father)
| children = [[Lot (biblical person)|Lot]] (son), [[Milcah]] (daughter), [[Iscah]] (daughter) 
| relatives = {{plainlist |
* [[Abraham]] (brother)
* [[Nahor, son of Terah|Nahor]] (brother)
}}
}}

'''Haran''' or '''Aran''' ({{langx|he|הָרָן}} ''Hārān'')<ref>Freedman, Meyers & Beck. ''Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible'' {{ISBN|978-0-8028-2400-4}}, 2000, p.551</ref> is a man in the [[Book of Genesis]] in the [[Hebrew Bible]].<ref>{{bibleref2|Genesis|11:27-32|9}}</ref> He was a son of [[Terah]], brother of [[Abraham]], and father of son [[Lot (biblical person)|Lot]] and daughters [[Milcah]] and [[Iscah]]. He died in [[Ur of the Chaldees]]. Through Lot, Haran was the ancestor of the [[Moab]]ites and [[Ammon]]ites.

==Haran and his family==
[[Terah]], a descendant of [[Shem]] son of [[Noah]], was the father of Abram/Abraham, [[Nahor, son of Terah|Nahor]], and Haran.<ref>{{Bibleref2|Genesis|11:10-27|9}}</ref> Their home's location is not certain, but it is usually supposed to have been in [[Mesopotamia]]. Besides Lot and [[Milcah]], Haran fathered a daughter [[Iscah]].<ref>{{Bibleref2|Genesis|11:29|9}}</ref>

After Haran died in Ur of the Chaldees 'before his father Terah', his family travelled towards [[Canaan]], the [[Promised Land]]. However, Terah stopped at [[Haran (biblical place)|Charan (or Haran [Hebrew חָרָן, Ḥārān])]] and settled there, as did Nahor and Milcah, whereas Lot accompanied Abraham and others onwards to Canaan.<ref>{{Bibleref2|Genesis|11:28-12:5|9}}</ref><ref>''Eerdmans dictionary'', p. 997</ref>

=== Death ===
According to legends from Book of Jubilees, Terah owned his father's and grandfather's sculpture workshop, where he made idols and sold them successfully. This greatly irritated the pious Abraham. In one version, Abraham simply smashes the statues in his father's workshop, whereas in another, Abraham sets fire to the temple where his father's idols were shown, and Haran died in the fire while trying to save them.

==Etymology==
The name ''Haran'' possibly comes from the Hebrew word ''har'', = "mountain", with a [[West Semitic languages|West Semitic]] suffix appearing with proper names, ''anu/i/a''.<ref>D. Sivan, ''Grammatical Analysis and Glossary of the Northwest Semitic Vocables in Akkadian Texts of the 15th–13th C., BC from Canaan and Syria'', 1984, p.97–98</ref> Thus, it has been suggested that ''Haran'' may mean "mountaineer".<ref>A Dictionary of the Bible: ''Dealing with its Language'', Vol. 1, 1899, p.301</ref> Personal names which resemble ''Haran'' include ''ha-ri'' and ''ha-ru'', from texts of second millennium BC [[Mari, Syria|Mari]] and [[Alalakh]], and ''ha-ar-ri'', from one of the [[Amarna letters]]—but their meanings are uncertain.<ref>H. Huffmon, ''Amorite Personal Names in the Mari Archives: A Structural and Lexical Study'', 1965, p.204</ref><ref>D. Sivan, ''Grammatical Analysis of Northwest Semitic Vocables'', p. 222</ref><ref name=Alexander&Baker>Alexander & Baker. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ao5ecZ0ZsG8C&pg=PA380 Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch]'', 2002, p. 380</ref> The initial element of ''Haran'' can be found in the [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] personal name ''hr-b`l'', and also in the [[Israelite]] personal name ''hryhw'' from [[Gibeon (ancient city)|Gibeon]].<ref name=Alexander&Baker/>

==Others called Haran==
Haran is the English name of two other people mentioned in the Bible.
* [[Haran, son of Caleb]] ({{langx|he|חָרָן}} – ''Ḥārān'') ({{bibleref2|1Chronicles|2:46|NIV}}). 
* [[Haran, son of Shimei]] ({{langx|he|הָרָן}} – ''Hārān''). He was a Levite who lived in the time of [[David]] and [[Solomon]] ({{bibleref2|1Chronicles|23:1-9|NIV}}).

==See also==
* [[Harran]]
* [[Sabians]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Family of Abraham]]
[[Category:Lot (biblical person)]]
[[Category:Noach (parashah)]]
[[Category:Ur of the Chaldees]]