Aram, son of Shem
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Aram (Hebrew: אֲרָם Aram) is a son of Shem, according to the Table of Nations in Genesis 10 of the Hebrew Bible, and the father of Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash or Meshech.[1] The Book of Chronicles lists Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech as descendants of Shem, although without stating explicitly that Aram is the father of the other four.[2]
Aram in the Hebrew Bible has usually, as in Flavius Josephus' writings, been regarded as the eponymous ancestor of the Aramean people of ancient Syria.
The name Aram (אֲרָם, Aram) means etymologically "height, high region", according to Wilhelm Gesenius[3] and "the highland" according to Strong's Concordance, in which it is referred to as Hebrew word #758.[4]
Masoretic Text
The Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible uses the Hebrew word ארמי ărammì for Aramean (or Syriac, some translations). Bethuel the Aramean from Padan-aram is identified as the father-in-law of Isaac.[5][6] Laban the son of Bethuel is also referred to as an Aramean who lived in Haran in Padan-aram (map, bottom).[7] Deuteronomy 26:5 might refer to the fact that both Jacob and his grandfather Abraham had lived for a time in Syria, or to Jacob being the son of a Syrian mother: "Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: 'My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.' " (New International Version)[8][9] The Hebrew word רמי rammîy is found at 2 Chronicles 22:5, also translated Aramaean or Syrian.[10]
The land of Aram-Naharaim ("Aram of the Two Rivers") included Padan-Aram and the city of Haran (or Harran), Haran being mentioned ten times in the Bible.[11] This region is traditionally thought to be populated by descendants of Aram, as is the nearby land of Aram that included Aram-Damascus and Aram Rehob. David wrote of his striving with Aram-Naharaim and Aram-Zobah (Psalm 60, title). Aram-Naharaim is mentioned five times in Young's Literal Translation.[12]
Book of Division (Jubilees)
According to the Book of Jubilees (9:5,6), the portion of the earth to be inherited by the descendants of Aram included all of the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers "to the north of the Chaldees to the border of the mountains of Asshur and the land of 'Arara."[13]
"The mountains of Asshur in the north, and all the land of Elam, Asshur, and Babel, and Susan and Ma'edai" (Persia, Assyria, Babylonia, and Media, i.e. the Medes the sons of Madai) were apportioned to sons of Shem (Jubilees 8:21) and, consistent with the statement of the Book of Jubilees on Aram, the Aramaeans have historically been predominant in the north here, specifically central Syria, where Aramaic was the lingua franca, or common language, before the advent of Christianity.[13][14]
