Paddan, Paddan-Aram
1:
PADDAN-ARAM (PLACE) [Heb paddan-˒ărām (פַּדַּן־אֲרָם)]. Var. PADDAN. A name for the area around Haran, the homeland of Abraham’s family in upper Mesopotamia. This designation occurs only in Genesis and only in passages generally ascribed to the Priestly source. It appears particularly in reference to Jacob’s sojourn with Laban at Haran in Genesis 28–31. It is to Paddan-aram that Isaac sends Jacob in Gen 28:1–7, and it is there that most of Jacob’s sons are born (Gen 29:31–30:24; cf. Gen 35:26; 46:15). Scholars have generally seen it as an alternate name for ARAM-NAHARAIM, a substantial region of upper Mesopotamia located around the great bend of the Euphrates River (Skinner Genesis ICC, 358; de Vaux EHI, 195). On the other hand, some have argued that Paddan-aram was an Aramaic rendering of the city name HARAN (PLACE) (O’Callaghan 1948: 96).
These two distinct identifications depend upon the meaning of the word paddān. Those who argue that the name designates a large geographical area generally translate it as “field,” thus making Paddan-aram mean “Field of Aram.” This has been based largely on two arguments (already referred to in Rashi’s commentary on Gen 25:20): (1) the noun paddān has a cognate in Arabic which means “field,” and thus Aramaic may also have had a similar meaning for the word; and (2) Hosea 12:13 (—Eng 12:12) refers to this area as śĕdēh ˒ărām, “Field of Aram,” in a reference to Jacob’s sojourn there, and this is deemed to be a Hebrew translation of paddan-˒ărām (de Vaux 1948: 323; Albright FSAC, 237; Skinner Genesis ICC, 358). However, neither of these arguments is conclusive. There appears to be no clear Aramaic or Syriac occurrence of paddān as “field.” Its regular meanings in Aramaic and Syriac are “plough, yoke (of oxen),” and in Arabic the primary meaning is “yoke” as well. The derivative meaning, “field,” may be an inner-Arabic development. As for the second argument, one must admit that the use of śĕdēh ˒ărām in Hosea need not be understood as the translation of a place name at all.
The other proposal, that Paddan-aram is an Aramaic rendering of the city name Haran, relates paddān to the Akkadian padānu/paddānu, which means “road, highway.” This is a synonym for Akkadian ḫarrānu, “road, highway, caravan,” the probable source of the name, Har(r)an (O’Callaghan 1948: 96). But the argument depends on the Aramaic word also having the meaning “road” or “caravan,” and there is no such evidence currently available. Thus the exact extent of the area designated by this name remains uncertain.
Bibliography
O’Callaghan, R. T. 1948. Aram Naharaim. AnOr 26. Rome.
Vaux, R. de. 1948. Les patriarches hébreux et les découvertes modernes. RB 55: 321–47.
Wayne T. Pitard
Freedman, D. N. (1996, c1992). The Anchor Bible Dictionary (5:53). New York: Doubleday.
2:
Padan — a plain, occurring only in Gen. 48:7, where it designates Padan-aram.
Padan-aram — the plain of Aram, or the plain of the highlands, (Gen. 25:20; 28:2, 5–7; 31:18, etc.), commonly regarded as the district of Mesopotamia (q.v.) lying around Haran.
Easton, M. (1996, c1897). Easton's Bible dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
3:
PADDAN, PADDAN-ARAM Northwestern Mesopotamian district whose name means “Field of Aram,” distinguishing this flatland from the mountainous regions to the north and east. Paddan-aram is alternately called Paddan in Genesis 48:7, the “land of Aram” in Hosea 12:12, and Aram-naharaim in Genesis 24:10 meaning “Aram of the two rivers” (see nlt mg). The two rivers probably referred to the Euphrates and Balih rivers, between which this tract of land was situated.
See also Aram-naharaim.
Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (983). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
4:
PAD´DAN (paʹdan; Heb. paddān, “plain, field”). Mentioned in Gen. 48:7. See Paddan-aram.
PAD´DAN-A´RAM (padʹan-aʹram; “plain or field of Aram,” i.e., Syria). The name given to the country of Rebekah (Gen. 25:20) and the home of Laban (28:2–7); called “the land of Aram” by Hosea (Hos. 12:12). It was a district of Mesopotamia (which see), the large plain surrounded by mountains, in which the town of Haran was situated. Paddan-aram was intimately associated with the history of the Hebrews. Abraham’s family had settled there, and there he sent his servant to secure a wife for Isaac (Gen. 24:10, see marg.; 25:20); and later Jacob went there and married (28:2; 41:18).
bibliography: D. J. Wiseman, ed., Peoples of Old Testament Times (1973), pp. 134–35. See also Haran.
Unger, M. F., Harrison, R. K., Vos, H. F., Barber, C. J., & Unger, M. F. (1988). The new Unger's Bible dictionary. Revision of: Unger's Bible dictionary. 3rd ed. c1966. (Rev. and updated ed.). Chicago: Moody Press.
5:
PADDAN, PADDAN-ARAM. The ‘field’ or ‘plain’ of Aram (rsv *’Mesopotamia’) is the name given in the area around Harran in Upper Mesopotamia, N of the junction of the rivers Habur and Euphrates in Gn. 25:20; 28:2; 31:18, etc., and is identical with Aram-naharaim, ‘Aram of the rivers’, of Gn. 24:10; Dt. 23:4; Jdg. 3:8. Abraham dwelt in this area before emigrating to Canaan. He sent his servant there to obtain a bride for Isaac, and thither Jacob fled from Esau. For a suggested identification of Paddan-aram, near Harran, see AS 2, 1952, p. 40; POTT, pp. 134f., 140. r.a.h.g.
Wood, D. R. W., Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1996, c1982, c1962). New Bible Dictionary. Includes index. (electronic ed. of 3rd ed.) (854). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.
6:
Paddan-aram (padʹen-airʹem; kjv: ‘Padan-aram’), the name used by Priestly tradition for the northwest region of Mesopotamia, between the Khabur and Euphrates rivers. It is called Aram-naharaim (Heb., ‘Aram between two rivers’) by the early J source (Gen. 24:10, rsv: ‘Mesopotamia’). In Assyrian padana was a road or garden; Aram refers to the people or land of the Arameans. Haran and perhaps Ur were located in Paddan-aram. Isaac’s wife Rebekah was from there (Gen. 25:20), and Isaac sent Jacob back there to Rebekah’s brother, Laban, to obtain a wife (Gen. 28:2-7).
Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row, P., & Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). Harper's Bible dictionary. Includes index. (1st ed.) (740). San Francisco: Harper & Row.
7:
Paddan-Aram (Heb. paddan-˒ărām) (also PADDAN)
An area around Haran in upper Mesopotamia. Usually translated “Field of Aram” (cf. Hos. 12:12 [MT 13]), Paddan-aram is generally regarded as an alternate designation for Aram-naharaim, the territory encompassed by the great bend of the Euphrates River. A few scholars have argued that the term was an Aramaic rendering of the city name Haran. The exact location of Paddan-aram is not known.
All biblical occurrences refer to the homeland of Abraham’s family. Rebekah was from Paddan-aram (Gen. 25:20); Isaac sent Jacob there to procure a wife (28:2–7); Jacob sojourned with Laban at Paddan-aram, and most of his sons were born there (35:26; 46:15; cf. 48:7, Paddan).
Stephen J. Andrews
Freedman, D. N., Myers, A. C., & Beck, A. B. (2000). Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible (997). Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans.
