Haran

Haran in the Bible

• The stay of Abraham's family: According to Genesis 11:31-32, Terah took his son Abram (Abraham), his grandson Lot, and his daughter-in-law Sarai (Sarah) and set out from Ur of the Chaldees for Canaan; they came to Haran and dwelt there. Terah died in Haran at the age of 205. In Genesis 12:4-5, Abram leaves Haran at the age of seventy-five and enters Canaan.
• Jacob's flight and twenty years in Haran: Rebekah sent Jacob to her brother Laban in Haran so that he might escape the anger of Esau (Genesis 27:43; 28:10). On the way, Jacob had a dream at Bethel. In Haran he married Rachel and Leah and remained there for twenty years (Genesis 29:4; 31:38-41).
• Other references: The envoys of the king of Assyria listed Haran among the places Assyria had conquered (2 Kings 19:12; Isaiah 37:12). Ezekiel 27:23 lists Haran among the places that traded with Tyre.
• New Testament: In his speech, Stephen says that God appeared to Abraham "when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran," and that after his father died, God removed him into Canaan (Acts 7:2-4).

Background

Haran lay on the Balikh River, a tributary of the Euphrates, along trade routes linking Mesopotamia with the Mediterranean coast and Anatolia. Its name is often explained as related to an Akkadian word meaning "road" or "caravan route." Along with Ur, the city is known as a center of the worship of the moon god Sin. After the fall of Nineveh, it was the last stronghold of Assyrian power. In the Roman period it was called Carrhae.

The New Korean Revised Version also renders the name of Abraham's brother as "Haran" (Genesis 11:26-28). In Hebrew, however, the place name and the personal name are different words.

Significance in the Bible as a Whole

Haran is an intermediate stop on Abraham's journey from his homeland to the Promised Land. It is also the setting in which the call of Genesis 12:1-3 and the Abrahamic covenant begin. The New Testament reads this departure as an act of obedient faith: Hebrews 11:8-12 says that Abraham "went out, not knowing whither he went." Haran was also the land of the kinsfolk from whom the wives of Isaac and Jacob came, and so it is also read as a place that marks the boundaries of the patriarchs' lineage and faith.

Interpretation and Issues

• The place of the call: The call of Genesis 12:1 is read as having taken place in Haran. Genesis 15:7 and Acts 7:2, by contrast, indicate that the call had already come in Ur. Some interpreters therefore hold that God called Abraham twice, while others take Genesis 12:1 as recalling the earlier call.
• The chronological problem: A simple calculation from the ages given in Genesis 11:26, 11:32, and 12:4 suggests that Terah was still alive when Abram departed, which appears to conflict with Acts 7:4. A common explanation is that Abram was not the firstborn and that Terah fathered him later in life. Another explanation points to the Samaritan Pentateuch, which gives Terah's lifespan as 145 years.
• A related observation: Joshua 24:2 states that Terah served other gods. Connecting this with the moon worship at Haran is a scholarly conjecture; the text does not say so directly.

In the Korean Church

Korean preachers frequently point to the statement that Terah, while on his way to Canaan, "dwelt" in Haran. On this basis, the passage is commonly applied as an exhortation not to stop partway on the journey of faith. This is, however, a homiletical application; the text itself does not directly evaluate Terah's settling there.