Bible Encyclopedias
Aran

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ā´ran ( ארן , 'ărān , "wild goat"): A son of Dishan, the Horite (Genesis 36:28; 1 Chronicles 1:42 ). It may possibly be connected with the Yerahmelite Oren (רן ), ' -ren' (1 Chronicles 2:25; compare Curtis, Chron . at the place; Dillmann, Gen at the place; ZDMG , L, 168); Robertson Smith claims that this name is equivalent to the Samaritan , ארן ('-r-n), "wild goat" ( Jour. Phil ., IX, 90). J. Jacobs translates it by "ass" (Stud. Biblical Arch. , 71). This is one of the many totem names in the Bible. More than one-third of the Horites, the descendants of Seir, bear animal names, and those clans of the Edomites connected with the Horites also have animal names. The very name "Self" means a "he-goat," and Dishan, "a gazelle" (Stud. Biblical Arch. , 70-72). Gray, however, remarks that "the instance (Aran) is most uncertain" (HPN , 108).