בֵּית הָרָן

𐤁𐤉𐤕 𐤄𐤓𐤍

Bêyth hâ-Rân

H1028 noun

SILEX Entry

Root בית, הרן house, dwelling, place; Haran (personal or topographic name)

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 Word

Root 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