Mesopotamia

Biblical Text

The New Korean Revised Version renders the name of this region as Mesobodamia (메소보다미아). In the Old Testament it uses this name to translate the Hebrew Aram Naharaim ("Aram of the two rivers"), and in the New Testament it transliterates the Greek place name. The superscription of Psalm 60 retains the original name, Aram Naharaim.

• Genesis 24:10: Abraham's servant goes to the city of Nahor in Mesopotamia to find a wife for Isaac and meets Rebekah.
• Deuteronomy 23:4: The passage recalls the hiring of Balaam of Pethor in Mesopotamia to curse Israel.
• Judges 3:8-10: Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, rules over Israel for eight years until Othniel defeats him.
• 1 Chronicles 19:6: The Ammonites hire chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia and elsewhere to fight against David.
• Acts 2:9: Among those gathered in Jerusalem at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost were "the dwellers in Mesopotamia."
• Acts 7:2: Stephen says that God appeared to Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran.

Background

The name "Mesopotamia" comes from a Greek word meaning "between the rivers." Ancient civilizations such as Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, and Assyria arose in this region, where cuneiform, a wedge-shaped script, was used. The Old Testament's Aram Naharaim is generally understood to refer chiefly to the area around Haran on the upper Euphrates, that is, northern Mesopotamia. Many places that the Bible does not call Mesopotamia nonetheless belong to the region in a broader sense. Examples include Ur of the Chaldees, the land of Shinar, where the Tower of Babel was built, Nineveh of Assyria, and Babylon.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

Mesopotamia is the place from which Israel's ancestors set out. Terah and Abraham served other gods "on the other side of the flood" before they were called (Joshua 24:2). The wives of Isaac and Jacob likewise came from their kinsfolk in this region. Later, Israel fell to Assyria and Babylon, powers that arose in the same region, and was carried back to this land in the Babylonian exile. In the New Testament, Mesopotamia appears as a home of Jewish communities of the Dispersion and serves as a place name indicating the reach of the events of Pentecost.

Interpretation and Issues

• Where Abraham was called: The call in Genesis 12:1 follows the account of the stay in Haran, whereas Acts 7:2 says the call came in Mesopotamia, before Haran. Many interpreters, citing Genesis 15:7 and Nehemiah 9:7, hold that Abraham was first called in Ur and that the call was confirmed in Haran. Others hold that Stephen was following the Jewish tradition of his day.
• Location of Ur of the Chaldees: The identification with Tell el-Muqayyar in southern Mesopotamia is widely known. Another view places it farther north, near Haran, so the question remains difficult to settle.
• The Garden of Eden: On the basis of the Hiddekel (Tigris) and the Euphrates in Genesis 2:14, one tradition locates the Garden of Eden in this region. The text, however, does not specify the exact location, and the Pison and Gihon, mentioned alongside them, have not been identified.
• Comparison with Mesopotamian literature: Texts such as the Epic of Gilgamesh contain flood stories resembling the account of Noah's flood. Evangelical scholars commonly regard these as shared memories of an actual event or hold that the biblical account corrects pagan myth. Some critical scholars argue for literary dependence between the texts.

In the Korean Church

General textbooks and maps in Korea spell the name "Mesopotamia" (메소포타미아), but the New Korean Revised Version spells it "Mesobodamia" (메소보다미아), so both spellings are used within the church. The region is frequently mentioned, together with Ur of the Chaldees and Haran, in sermons on the call of Abraham.