Paddan Aram orPadan-aram (Hebrew:פַדַּן אֲרָם,romanized: Paddan ʾĂrām) was a biblical region referring to the northern plain ofAram-Naharaim.[1] Paddan Aram inAramaic meansthe field of Aram,[2] a name that distinguishes the flatland from the mountainous regions to the north and east.[3] In theBook of Genesis,Abraham, the patriarch of theAbrahamic religions, describes Aram as "my land" (Genesis 24:4).
Paddan Aram designates the area ofHarran inupper Mesopotamia. "Paddan Aram" and "Haran" may be dialectical variations regarding the same locality aspaddanū andharranū are synonyms for "road" or "caravan route" inAkkadian.[4]
Padan-aram or Padan appears in 11 verses in theHebrew Bible, all in Genesis. Adherents of thedocumentary hypothesis often attribute most of these verses to thepriestly source[5][6][7] and the remainder to a laterredactor.[8]
The city ofHarran, whereAbraham and his fatherTerah settled after leavingUr of the Chaldees, whileen route toCanaan, according to theGenesis 11:31, was located in Paddan Aram, that part ofAram-Naharaim "Aram between the Rivers" that lay along theEuphrates. Abraham's brotherNahor settled in the area. Abraham's nephewBethuel, son of Nahor andMilcah, and father ofLaban andRebecca, lived in Padan-aram. Abraham sent his steward back there to find a wife among his kinfolk for his son, Isaac. The steward found Rebecca.[4]
Isaac and Rebecca's sonJacob was sent there to avoid the wrath of his brotherEsau.[4] There Jacob worked for Laban, fathered eleven sons and daughter,Dinah, (Gen. 35:22–26;46:15), and amassed livestock and wealth. (Gen. 31:18.) From there, Jacob went toShechem and theLand of Israel, where his twelfth son was born to him. (Gen. 33:18.)
In theMidrash,Isaac bar Judah taught that the people of Padan-aram were rogues and Rebekah was like a lily among the thorns. (Genesis Rabbah 63:4 see alsoLeviticus Rabbah 23:1 (deceivers); Song of Songs Rabbah 2:4 (tricksters);Zohar, Bereshit 1:136b (wicked); Rashi toGen. 25:20 (wicked).) Rabbi Isaac thus considered Rebecca's sojourn in Padan-aram as emblematic ofIsrael's among the nations. (Zohar, Bereshit 1:137a.)[citation needed]