Insight from Genesis 27:<\/p>\n
The ancient city of Haran (likely derived its name from the Akkadian word “harranu” meaning “highway”) is located in modern-day Turkey about 10 miles (16 km) north of the Syrian border. Strategically situated on the historic east-west trade route that linked the Tigris River with the Mediterranean Sea, Haran was one of northern Mesopotamia’s important commercial and religious centers, widely known for its dedicated worship of the moon god, Sin.<\/span><\/p>\n Occupied from the mid-third millennium B.C. until several centuries after the New Testament period, this city is best known for its links with the Biblical patriarchs, who lived during the Middle Bronze Age (first half of the second millennium B.C.). Mari texts attest that Haran was thriving during this time.<\/span><\/p>\n Abram and his family lived there for a time, perhaps to care for Terah, Abram’s ailing father who eventually died there (Genesis 11:31-32). Abram (now Abraham) later found a wife for his son Isaac from among relatives in Haran. Isaac’s son Jacob secured refuge in the region with his uncle Laban (Genesis 27:42\u201428:5), for whom he worked for 20 years. Before returning to Canaan, Jacob married both Leah and Rachel (Laban’s two daughters) and fathered 11 sons in Haran (chapters 29-31).<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_crdt_document":""},"class_list":["post-4486","reading-plan","type-reading-plan","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan\/4486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reading-plan"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/reading-plan"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/handstotheplow.org\/om\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}