Aran

ARAN a'-ran ('aran, "wild goat"):

A son of Dishan, the Horite (Genesis 36:28; 1 Chronicles 1:42). It may possibly be connected with the Yerahmelite Oren ('-ren) (1 Chronicles 2:25; compare Curtis, Chron. at the place; Dillmann, Ge at the place; ZDMG, L,168); Robertson Smith claims that this name is equivalent to the Samaritan ('-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).

Samuel Cohon

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Bibliography Information

Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'ARAN'".  "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia".  1915.