בֵּית הָרָן
𐤁𐤉𐤕 𐤄𐤓𐤍
Bêyth hâ-Rân
H1028 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
A proper noun referring to an ancient settlement east of the Jordan River, specifically mentioned as a town allotted to the tribe of Gad. The primary lexical meaning is 'house (or settlement) of Haran,' with the specific referent being a township or fortified city in the region of Gilead. The term is consistently used as a place-name without figurative or extended senses.
Semantic Range
house of Haran, settlement of Haran, Beth-haran (as a proper name for a specific town east of the Jordan)
Root / Etymology
Compound formed from בֵּית ('house, place, settlement') and הָרָן ('Haran,' possibly a personal name, the precise meaning of which is uncertain but may denote 'mountaineer' or derive from a root meaning 'to be parched or dry'). This construction is typical of place-names in ancient Israelite geography.
Historical & Contextual Notes
בֵּית הָרָן appears in Joshua 13:27 as a town east of the Jordan within the inheritance of Gad, likely located in the Jordan Valley near the plains of Moab. The name's form aligns with other Israelite toponyms beginning with בֵּית ('house'). In later periods, a town called Betharam or Betharamphtha is mentioned in Greco-Roman sources, correlating geographically and traditionally with this biblical site, though the spelling and pronunciation shift over time. Beth-ha-Ran is distinct from בֵּית הָרָם (Beth-haram), though some manuscripts or traditions conflate the two owing to similar spellings and confusion over the final consonant in ancient scripts. Standard English versions typically transliterate the name (e.g., 'Beth-haran'), but this can obscure the compound Hebrew structure and its implications for meaning or historical associations. There is no evidence of the name referring to a group/people or institution; its use is limited to a geographic locality in the biblical text.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
probably for בֵּית הָרָם; Beth-ha-Ram, a place East of the Jordan; Beth-haran.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
בנה (b-n-h) — to build, construct, establish (family)
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H1004 | בַּיִת | in the houses |
| H1005 | בַּיִת | the built-house |
| H1006 | בַּיִת | the house |
| H1007 | בֵּית אָוֶן | house-of |
| H1008 | בֵּית־אֵל | in house of |
Word Forms
2 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1028-01 |
בֵּ֣ית | beyt | HNp |
Beth | house of | 1 |
H1028-02 |
הָרָ֑ן | haran | HNp |
haran | Haran | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
2 total occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H1028-01 |
Numbers 32:36 | בֵּ֣ית | beyt-2 | HNp |
Beth | house of |
H1028-02 |
Numbers 32:36 | הָרָ֑ן | haran | HNp |
haran | Haran |