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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comFausset Bible Dictionary: Aram
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("high table land".)
1. The elevated region from the N. E. of Palestine to the Euphrates and Tigris. Balaam's home (; ). Syria, stretching from the Jordan and lake Gennesareth to the Euphrates, rising 2000 feet above the level of the sea. In contrast to Canaan, the lowland bordering on the Mediterranean. In (Heb.) Aram Naharaim means "the highland between the two rivers," i.e. Mesopotamia. Padan Aram (from paddah, a plow), "the cultivated highland," is the same as Aram (). In Shalmaneser's inscriptions, 900-860 B.C. the Hittites (Khatte), under the name Palena, occur as occupying the valley of the Orontes and eastward.
Some identify this name with Padan Aram and Batanaea or Bashan. Many petty kingdoms in David's time formed parts of the whole Aram, Aram Rehob, Aram Zobah, etc. (See ARAM REHOB, ARAM ZOBAH.) Damascus subsequently absorbed these. In Genesis 10 Aram is described as son of Shem; Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, and Aram (arranged in the geographical order from E. to W.) being the four brethren. Aram (Syrian) stands for Assyrian in ; .
2. Another Aram (), son of Kemuel, descended from Nahor; probably head of the tribe Ram, to which belonged Elihu, Job's friend ().