Aner

Aner, 1

A´ner, Esh´col, and Mam´re, three Canaanitish chiefs in the neighborhood of Hebron who joined their forces with those of Abraham in pursuit of Chedorlaomer and his allies, who had pillaged Sodom and carried Lot away captive (Gen 14:24). These chiefs did not, however, imitate the disinterested conduct of the patriarch, but retained their portion of the spoil [ABRAHAM].

Aner, 2

Aner, a city of Manasseh, given to the Levites of Kohath’s family (1Ch 6:70).

1. One of Abraham’s allies in the pursuit of Chedorlaomer and the rescue Lot, Gen 14:13 .\par 2. A Levitical city, in Manasseh, 1Ch 6:70 .\par

A’ner. (boy).

1. A city of Manasseh, west of Jordan, with "suburbs," given to the Kohathites. 1Ch 6:70.

2. One of the three Amorite chiefs of Hebron who aided Abraham in the pursuit after the four invading kings. Gen 14:13; Gen 14:24.

1. City of Manasseh, W. of Jordan; of the Kohathites (1Ch 6:70); Jos 21:25, "Tanach," of which "Aner" may be the corruption.

2. One of the three Hebronite chiefs who helped Abraham against the four invading kings (Gen 14:13; Gen 14:24).

(Heb., Aner’, עָנֵר, perhaps a boy), the name of a man and of a place.

1. (Sept. Αὐνάν.) A Canaanitish chief in the neighborhood of Hebron, who, with two others, Eshcol and Mamre, joined his forces with those of Abraham in pursuit of Chedorlaomer and his allies, who had pillaged Sodom and carried Lot away captive (Gen 14:13; Gen 14:24), B.C. cir. 2080. These chiefs did not, however, imitate the disinterested conduct of the patriarch, but retained their portion of the spoil. SEE ABRAHAM.

2. (Sept. Ε᾿νήρ v. r. Α᾿νάρ.) A city of Manasseh, given to the Levites of Kohath’s family (1Ch 6:70). Gesenius supposes this to be the same with the TAANACH SEE TAANACH (q.v.) of Jdg 1:27, or TANACH SEE TANACH (Jos 21:25).

Aner

Tristram suggests (Bible Places, p. 205) that “this may, perhaps, be recognised in the modern village of Anim, near Taanuk, where are the remains of an ancient site;” meaning, doubtless, the Ann marked on the Ordnance Map as three and a half miles southwest of Taanuk. Lieut. Conder, on the other hand, regards this place as the representation of Anem, and suggests the modern Ellar as the site of Aner (Tent Work, 2, 334). Neither suggestion seems to be called for.

[A’ner]

1. Amorite confederate with Abraham against Chedorlaomer. Gen 14:13; Gen 14:24.

2. A town of Manasseh, west of the Jordan assigned to the Levites. 1Ch 6:70. Identified with Ellar, about 35° 6’ N, 32° 22’ E.

By: Ira Maurice Price, Louis Ginzberg

—Biblical Data:

One of the three Amorite lords of the hill-country of western Palestine confederate with Abram (Gen. xiv. 13). When a fugitive announced the plunder of Sodom and Gomorrah by the kings of the east, Abram with the confederatelords, Mamre, Eshcol, and Aner, pursued and overtook the victorious army, and brought back the booty and the captives, among whom were Lot and his family (Gen. xiv. 16). It is noteworthy that Mamre is an early name for Hebron (Gen. xxiii. 19), that Eshcol was at a later time the name of a valley near Hebron (Num. xiii. 23, 24; Deut. i. 24), and that the original reading for Aner (Septuagint 'Aυνάν) may have been, as Cheyne suggests, Enau, a name which may refer to one of the six springs near Hebron.

I. M. P.—In Rabbinical Literature:

The Midrash, when treating of Aner (Gen. xviii. 1), states that, although an ally of Abraham and therefore a worthy man, yet he advised the latter against undergoing circumcision, saying: "Wilt thou, an old man of a hundred years, expose thyself to such pain?" Therefore, the angels, when visiting Abraham, avoided the domain of Aner, and sought Abraham while he was dwelling in the territory of Mamre, because the latter, unlike his elder brother, Aner, had said to Abraham: "It would be wrong to disobey the God who hath saved thee from the furnace [into which Nimrod had thrown him (see Abraham, in midrashic literature)], from the kings, and from famine" (Gen. R. xlii. 8).

ANER.—1. One of the three Amorite chieftains, the other two being Mamre and Eshcol, who were in covenant with Abraham (Gen 14:13; Gen 14:24). As Mamre is an old name for Hebron (Gen 23:2), and Eshcol is the name of a valley not far from Hebron (Num 13:23), it is natural to suppose that Aner also was the name of a locality which gave its name to a clan. 2. (1Ch 6:70 only).—A town of Manasseh, west of Jordan. The site is doubtful.

ā´nēr (ענר, ‛ānēr; Septuagint Αὐνάν, Aunán; Samaritan Pentateuch, ענרם, ‛anrām, “sprout,” “waterfall”): One of the three “confederates” of Abraham in his pursuit after the four kings (Gen 14:13, Gen 14:14). Judging from the meanings of the two other names, Mamre being the name of the sacred grove or tree (Jahwist) and synonymous with Hebron (Priestly Code); and Eschol - a name of a valley (lit. “grape cluster”) from which the personal names are derived - it may be expected to explain the name Aner in a similar way. Dillmann suggested the name of a range of mountains in that vicinity (Comm. at the place and Rosen in ZDMG, XII, 479; Skinner, Genesis, 365).