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Nun/ˈnʊn/ (Hebrew:נוּן,romanized: Nūn, 'Perpetuity'),[1] in theHebrew Bible, was a man from theTribe of Ephraim, grandson of Ammihud, son of Elishama, and father ofJoshua (1 Chronicles 7:26–27).
Nun grew up in and may have lived his entire life in theIsraelites'Egyptian captivity, where theEgyptians "made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field" (Exodus 1:14). InAramaic, "nun" means "fish". Thus theMidrash tells: "[T]he son of him whose name was as the name of a fish would lead them [the Israelites] into the land" (Genesis Rabba 97:3).
A Jewish tradition places Nun's tomb near that of his son Joshua who, according toJoshua 24:30, is buried inTimnat Serah whereas inJudges 2:9 it is mentioned asTimnath-heres. The similarly namedIsraeli village of Kifl Hares, located northwest ofAriel inSamaria (NorthernWest Bank), is now home to both tombs.