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MEDAN.—One of the sons of Abraham and Keturah (Gen_25:2 = 1Ch_1:32). The existence of such a tribe, however, is very doubtful. In Gen_37:36 ‘Medanites’ is miswritten for Midianites (see RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ), and there is every likelihood that in the former passage ‘Medan’ is a doublet of ‘Midian,’ the next word in the verse. Medan is unknown elsewhere in the Bible, nor is it represented by the name of any people in any extra-Biblical document. To connect it with the name of an Arabian god Madân, or with the similar name of a wady in N.W. Arabia, is very hazardous, both because the associations are remote, and because the word-form is common in Semitic, and is liable to occur in various relations.
J. F. M‘Curdy.