Aram

the fifth son of Shem, Gen 10:22. He was the father of the Syrians, who from him were called Aramaeans, or Aramites.

A´ram, the name given by the Hebrews to the tract of country lying between Phoenicia on the west, Palestine on the south, Arabia Deserta and the river Tigris on the east, and the mountain range of Taurus on the north. Many parts of this extensive territory have a much lower level than Palestine, but it might receive the designation of the highlands because it does rise to a greater elevation than that country at most points of immediate contact, and especially on the side of Lebanon. Aram, or Aramaea, seems to have corresponded generally to the Syria and Mesopotamia of the Greeks and Romans (see those articles). We find the following divisions expressly noticed in Scripture:—1. Aram-Dammesek, the ’Syria of Damascus’ conquered by David, 2Sa 8:5-6, where it denotes only the territory around Damascus; but elsewhere ’Aram,’ in connection with its capital ’Damascus,’ appears to be used in a wider sense for Syria Proper (Isa 7:1; Isa 7:8; Isa 17:3; Amo 1:5). To this part of Aram the ’land of Hadrach’ seems to have belonged (Zec 9:1). 2. Aram-Maachah (1Ch 19:6), or simply Maachah (2Sa 10:6; 2Sa 10:8), was not far from the northern border of the Israelites on the east of the Jordan (comp. Deu 3:14, with Jos 13:11; Jos 13:13). 3. Aram-beth-Rechob, the precise locality of which cannot with certainty be determined. 4. Aram-Zobah (2Sa 10:6). Jewish tradition has placed Zobah at Aleppo, whereas Syrian tradition identifies it with Nisibis, a city in the north-east of Mesopotamia. The former seems a much nearer approximation to the truth. We may gather from 2Sa 3:3; 2Sa 10:16, that the eastern boundary of Aram-Zobah was the Euphrates, but Nisibis was far beyond that river. The people of Zobah are uniformly spoken of as near neighbors of the Israelites, the Damascenes, and other Syrians; and in one place (2Ch 8:3) Hamath is called Hamath-Zobah, as pertaining to that district. We, therefore, conclude that Aram-Zobah extended from the Euphrates westward, perhaps as far north as to Aleppo. It was long the most powerful of the petty kingdoms of Aramaea, its princes commonly bearing the name of Hadadezer or Hadarezer. 5. Aram-Naharaim, i.e. Aramsof the Two Rivers, or Mesopotamia. The rivers which enclose Mesopotamia are the Euphrates on the west and the Tigris on the east; but it is doubtful whether the Aram-Naharaim of Scripture embraces the whole of that tract or only the northern portion of it (comp. Gen 24:10; Deu 23:4; Jdg 3:8). A part of this region of Aram is also called Padan-Aram, the plain of Aram (Gen 25:20; Gen 28:2; Gen 28:6-7; Gen 31:18; Gen 33:18), and once simply Padan (Gen 48:7), also Sedeh-Aram, the field of Aram (Hos 12:12).

But though the districts now enumerated be the only ones expressly named in the Bible as belonging to Aram, there is no doubt that many more territories were included in that extensive region, e.g.Geshur, Hul, Arpad, Riblah. Tad-mor, Hauran, Abilene, etc. though some of them may have formed part of the divisions already specified. It appears from the ethnographic table in Gen 10:22-23 that Aram was a son of Shem, and that his own sons were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Another Aram is mentioned (Gen 22:20-21) as the grandson of Nahor and son of Kemuel, but he is not to be thought of here. The descent of the Aramaeans from a son of Shem is confirmed by their language, which was one of the branches of the Semitic family, and nearly allied to the Hebrew.

The Aramaic language—that whole, of which the Chaldee and Syriac dialects form the parts—constitutes the northern and least developed branch of the Syro-Arabian family of tongues. Its cradle was probably on the banks of the Cyrus, according to the best interpretation of Amo 9:7; but Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and Syria form what may be considered its home and proper domain. Political events, however, subsequently caused it to supplant Hebrew in Palestine; and then it became the prevailing form of speech from the Tigris to the shore of the Mediterranean, and, in a contrary direction, from Armenia down to the confines of Arabia. After obtaining such a wide dominion, it was forced, from the ninth century onwards, to give way before the encroaching ascendency of Arabic; and it now only survives, as a living tongue, among the Syrian Christians in the neighborhood of Mosul. According to historical records, and also according to the comparatively ruder form of the Aramaic language itself, we might suppose that it represents, even in the state in which we have it, some image of that aboriginal type which the Hebrews and Arabians, under more favorable social and climatical influences, subsequently developed into fullness of sound and structure. But it is difficult for us now to discern the particular vestiges of this archaic form; for, not only did the Aramaic not work out its own development of the original elements common to the whole Syro-Arabian sisterhood of languages, but it was preeminently exposed, both by neighborhood and by conquest, to harsh collision with languages of an utterly different family. Moreover, it is the only one of the three great Syro-Arabian branches which has no fruits of a purely national literature to boast of. We possess no monument whatever of its own genius; not any work which may be considered the product of the political and religious culture of the nation, and characteristic of it—as is so emphatically the case both with the Hebrews and the Arabs. The first time we see the language, it is used by Jews as the vehicle of Jewish thought; and although, when we next meet it, it is employed by native authors, yet they write under the literary impulses of Christianity, and under the Greek influence on thought and language which necessarily accompanied that religion. These two modifications, which constitute and define the so-called Chaldee and Syriac dialects, are the only forms in which the normal and standard Aramaic has been preserved to us.

e1. The name of three men in the Bible: a son of Shem, Gen 10:22, a grandson of Nahor, Gen 22:21, and an ancestor of our Lord, Rth 4:19 1Ch 2:10 Mat 1:3 Luk 3:33 2. Nearly synonymous with Syria; the Hebrew name of the whole region northeast of Palestine, extending from the Tigris on the east nearly to the Mediterranean on the west, and to the Taurus range on the north. It was named after Aram the son of Shem. Thus defined, it includes also Mesopotamia, which the Hebrews named Aram-naharaim, Aram of the two rivers, Gen 25:20 48:7. Various cities in the western part of Aram gave their own names to the regions around them: as Damascus, (Aram-Dammesek,) 2Sa 8:6 ; Maachah, near Bashan, 1Ch 19:6 ; Geshur, Jos 12:5 2Sa 15:8 ; Zobah, and Beth-rehob, 2Sa 10:6,8 . Several of these were powerful states, and often waged war against Israel. David subdued them and made them tributaries, and Solomon preserved this supremacy. After him it was lost, except perhaps under Jeroboam II. See SYRIA, PADAN-ARAM. The Aramaean language, nearly resembling the Hebrew, gradually supplanted the latter as a spoken language, and was in use in Judea at the time of Christ. It is still used by Syrian Christians around Mosul.\par

A’ram. (high).

1. The name by which the Hebrews designated, generally, the country lying to the northeast of Palestine; the great mass of that high tableland which, rising with sudden abruptness from the Jordan and the very margin of the Lake of Gennesaret, stretched at an elevation of no less than 2000 feet above the level of the sea, to the banks of the Euphrates itself.

Throughout the Authorized Version, the word is, with only a very few exceptions, rendered, as in the Vulgate and LXX, Syria. Its earliest occurrence in the book of Genesis is in the form of Aram-naharaim, that is, the "highland of or between the two rivers." Gen 24:10. Authorized Version, "Mesopotamia".

In the later history, we meet with a number of small nations or kingdoms forming parts of the general land of Aram; but as Damascus increased in importance, it gradually absorbed the smaller powers, 1Ki 20:1, and the name of Aram was at last applied to it alone. Isa 7:8, also 1Ki 11:24-25; 1Ki 15:18, etc.

2. Another Aram is named in Gen 22:21 as a son of Kemuel and descendant of Nahor.

3. An Asherite, one of the sons of Shamer. 1Ch 7:34.

4. Son of Esrom or Hezron, and the Greek form of the Hebrew, Ram. Mat 1:3-4; Luk 3:33.

("high table land".)

1. The elevated region from the N. E. of Palestine to the Euphrates and Tigris. Balaam’s home (Num 23:7; Deu 23:4). 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 Gen 24:10 (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 (Gen 31:18). 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 2Ki 18:26; Jer 35:11.

2. Another Aram (Gen 22:21), son of Kemuel, descended from Nahor; probably head of the tribe Ram, to which belonged Elihu, Job’s friend (Job 32:2).

(Heb. Aram’, אֲרָם, prob. from רָם, high, q. d. highlands; Sept. and N.,T. Α᾿ράμ see Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 151; Forbiger, Alte Geogr. 2, 641, Anm.), the name of a nation or country, with that of its founder and two or three other men. SEE BETHARAM. Comp. SEE CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS.

1. ARAMAEA (Sept. and later versions SYRIA) was the name given by the Hebrews to the tract of country lying between Phoenicia on the west, Palestine on the south, Arabia Deserta and the River Tigris on the east, and the mountain range of Taurus on the north. Many parts of this extensive territory have a much lower level than Palestine; but it might receive the designation of “highlands,” because it does rise to a greater elevation than that country at most points of immediate contact, and especially on the side of Lebanon. Aram, or Aramaea, seems to have corresponded generally to the Syria (q.v.) and Mesopotamia (q.v.) of the Greeks and Romans. We find the following divisions expressly noticed in Scripture. SEE CANAAN.

1. ARAM’-DAMME’SEK; אֲרִם דִּמֶּשֶׂק, the “Syria of Damascus” conquered by David. 2Sa 8:5-6, where it denotes only the territory around Damascus; but elsewhere “Aram,” in connection with its capital “Damascus,” appears to be used in a wider sense for Syria Proper (Isa 7:1; Isa 7:8; Isa 17:3; Amo 1:5). At a later period Damascus gave name to a district, the Syria Damascena of Pliny (v. 13). To this part of Aram the “land of Hadrach” seems to have belonged (Zec 9:1). SEE DAMASCUS.

2. ARAM’I-MAAKAH’, אֲרִם מִעֲכָה(1Ch 19:6), or simply Maakah (2Sa 10:6; 2Sa 10:8), which, if formed from מָעִךְ, to "press together," would describe a country enclosed and hemmed in by mountains, in contradistinction to the next division, Aram-beth-Rehob, i.e. Syria the wide or broad, בֵּיתbeing used in Syria for a “district of country.” Aram-Maachah was not far from the northern border of the Israelites on the east of the Jordan (comp. Deu 3:14, with Jos 13:11; Jos 13:13). In 2Sa 10:6, the text has “King Maachah,” but it is to be corrected from the parallel passage in 1Ch 19:7, “king of Maachah.” SEE MAACHAH.

3. ARAM’-BEYTH-RECHOB’, אֲרִם בֵּית רְחוֹב, the meaning of which may be that given above, but the precise locality cannot with certainty be determined (2Sa 10:6). Some connect it with the Beth-rehob of Jdg 18:28, which Rosenmüller identifies with the Rehob of Num 13:21, situated “as men come to Hamath,” and supposes the district to be that now known as the Ardh el-Hhule at the foot of Anti- Libanus, near the sources of the Jordan. A place called Rehob is also mentioned in Jdg 1:31; Jos 19:28; Jos 19:30; Jos 21:31; but it is doubtful if it be the same. Michaelis thinks of the Rechoboth-han-Nahar (lit. streets, i.e. the village or town on the River Euphrates) of Gen 36:37 i but still more improbable is the idea of Bellermann and Jahn that Aram-beth-

Rehob was beyond the Tigris in Assyria. SEE REHOB. 4. ARAM’-TSOBAH’, אֲרִם צוֹבָהor, in the Syriac form, צוֹבָא, Tsoba (2Sa 10:6). Jewish tradition has placed Zobah at Aleppo (see the Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela), whereas Syrian tradition identifies it with Nisibis, a city in the north-east of Mesopotamia. Though the latter opinion long obtained currency under the authority of Michaelis (in his Dissert. de Syria Sobaea, to be found in the Comment. Soc. Gotting. 1769), yet the former seems a much nearer approximation to the truth. We may gather from 2Sa 8:3; 2Sa 10:16, that the eastern boundary of Aram-Zobah was the Euphrates, but Nisibis was far beyond that river; besides that in the title of the sixtieth (supposing it genuine) Aram-Zobah is clearly distinguished from Aram-Naharaim, or Mesopotamia. It is true, indeed, that in 2Sa 10:16, it is said that Hadarezer, king of Zobah, brought against David “Aramites from beyond the river,” but these were auxiliaries, and not his own subjects. The people of Zobah are uniformly spoken of as near neighbors of the Israelites, the Damascenes, and other Syrians; and in one place (2Ch 8:3) Hamath is called Hamath-Zobah, as pertaining to that district. We therefore conclude that Aram-Zobah extended from the Euphrates westward, perhaps as far north as to Aleppo. It was long the most powerful of the petty kingdoms of Arammea, its princes commonly bearing the name of Hadadezer or Hadarezer. SEE ZOBAH.

5. ARAM’-NAHARA’YIM; אֲרִם נִהֲרִיִם, i.e. Aram of the Two Rivers, called in Syriac “Beth-Nahrin,’ i.e. “the land of the rivers,” following the analogy by which the Greeks formed the name Μεσοποταμία, “the country between the rivers.” For that Mesopotamia is here designated is admitted universally. The rivers which enclose Mesopotamia are the Euphrates on the west and the Tigris on the east; but it is doubtful whether the Aram- Naharaim of Scripture embraces the whole of that tract or only the northern portion of it (Gen 24:10; Deu 23:4; Jdg 3:8; 1Ch 19:6; Psalms 60, title). A part of this region of Aram is also called Paddan’-Aram’, פִּדִּן אֲרָם, the plain of Aram (Gen 25:20; Gen 28:2; Gen 28:6-7; Gen 31:18; Gen 33:18), and once simply Paddan (Gen 48:7), also Sedeh’-Aram’, שְׂדֵה אֲרָם, the field of Aram (Hos 12:13), whence the “Campi Mesopotamiae” of Quintus Curtius (3:2, 3; 3:8, 1; 4:9, 6). SEE PADAN; SEE SADEH. But that the whole of Aram-Naharaim did not belong to the flat country of Mesopotamia appears from the circumstance that Balaam, who (Deu 23:4) is called a native of Aram-Naharaim, says (Num 23:7) that he was brought “from Aram, out of the mountains of the east.” The Septuagint, in some of these places, has Μεσοποταμία Συρίας, and in others Συρία Ποταμῶν, which the Latins rendered by Syria Interamna. SEE MESOPOTAMIA.

6. But though the districts now enumerated be the only ones expressly named in the Bible as belonging to Aram, there is no doubt that many more territories were included in that extensive region, e.g. Geshur, Hul, Arpad, Riblah, Hamath, Helbon, Betheden, Berothai, Tadmor, Hauran, Abilene, etc., though some of them may have formed part of the divisions already specified. SEE ISH-TOB.

A native of Aram was called אֲרִמִּי, Arammi’, an Aramaean, used of a Syrian (2Ki 5:20), and of a Mesopotamian (Gen 25:20). The feminine was אֲרִמִּיָּה, Arammiyah’, an Aramitess (1Ch 7:14), and the plural אֲרִמִּים, Aramminm (2Ki 8:29), once (2Ch 22:5) in a shortened form רִמִּים, Rammim’. SEE ARAMAEAN LANGUAGE. Traces of the name of the Aramaeans are to be found in the ῎Αριμοι and Α᾿ραμαῖοι of the Greeks (Strabo, 13:4, 6; 16:4, 27; comp. Homer’s Iliad, 2, 783; Hesiod, Theogn. 804). SEE ASSYRIA. The religion of the Syrians was a worship of the powers of nature (Jud 1:6; 2Ch 28:23; see Creuzer, Symbol. 2, 55 sq.). They were so noted for idolatry, that in the language of the later Jews ארמיותאwas used as synonymous with heathenism (see the Mischna of Surenhusius, 2:401; Onkelos on Lev 25:47). Castell, in his Lexic. Heptaglott. col. 229, says the same form of speech prevails in Syriac and Ethiopic. The Hebrew letters ר, resh, and ד, daleth, are so alike, that they were often mistaken by transcribers; and hence, in the Old Testament, ארם, Aram, is sometimes found instead of אדם, Edom, and vice versa. Thus in 2Ki 16:6, according to the text, the Aramaeans are spoken of as possessing Elath on the Red Sea; but the Masoretic marginal reading has “the Edomites,”

which is also found in many manuscripts, in the Septuagint and Vulgate, and it is obviously the correct reading (Gesenius, Thes. Heb. s. vv.).

It appears from the ethnographic table in the tenth chapter of Genesis (Gen 10:22-23) that Aram was a son of Sham, and that his own sons were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. If these gave names to districts, Uz was in the north of Arabia Deserta, unless its name was derived rather from Huz, son of Nahor, Abraham’s brother (Gen 22:21). Hul was probably Coele- Syria; Mash, the Mons Masius north of Nisibis in Mesopotamia; Gether is unknown. Another Aram is mentioned (Gen 22:21) as the grandson of Nahor and son of Kemuel, but he is not to be thought of here. The descent of the Aramaeans from a son of Shem is confirmed by their language, which was one of the branches of the Semitic family, and nearly allied to the Hebrew. Many writers, who have copied without acknowledgment the words of Calmet, maintain that the Aramaeans came from Kir, appealing to Amo 9:7; but while that passage is not free from obscurity, it seems evidently to point, not to the aboriginal abode of the people, but to the country whence God would recover them when banished. The prophet had said (Amo 1:5) that the people of Aram should go into captivity to Kir (probably the country on the River Kur or Cyrus), a prediction of which we read the accomplishment in 2Ki 16:9; and the allusion here is to their subsequent restoration. Hartmann thinks Armenia obtained its name from Aram. (See generally Michaelis, Spicileg. 2:121 sq.; Wahl, Alt. u. N. Asien, 1, 299 sq.; Gatterer, Handb. 1, 248; Rosenmüller, Alterth. I, 1:232 sq.; Ritter, Erdkunde, 10:16; Lengerke, Kenaan, 1:218 sq.). SEE SYRIA.

2. The first named son of Kemuel and grandson of Nahor (Gen 22:21), B.C. cir. 2000. He is incorrectly thought by many to have given name to Syria, hence the Sept. translates Σύροι. By some he is regarded as same with RAM SEE RAM of Job 32:2.

3. The last named of the four sons of Shamer or Shomer of the tribe of Asher (1Ch 7:34), B.C. cir. 1618.

4. The Greek form among the ancestors of Christ (Mat 1:3-4; Luk 3:33) of the Heb. RAM SEE RAM (q.v.), the son of Hezron and father of Amminadab (1Ch 2:9-10).

Aram (â’ram), high region 1. A son of Shem. Gen 10:22-23; 1Ch 1:17. 2. A descendant of Nahor, Abraham’s brother. Gen 22:21. 3. An Asherite. 1Ch 7:34. 4. The son of Esrom, elsewhere called Ram. Mat 1:3-4; Luk 3:33, A. V., but the R. V. reads Ami.

Aram, highlands. The elevated region northeast of Palestine, toward the Euphrates river. Num 23:7; 1Ch 1:17; 1Ch 2:23. It was nearly identical with Syria. Aram-naharaim of Gen 24:10 is translated Mesopotamia in the English Version, and refers to the region between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. There were probably several petty kingdoms included under Aram, as Aram-zobah, Aram Beth-rehob, Aram Damascus, Padan-aram; all these were gradually absorbed by that of Damascus, which became the capital of all "Aram," or Syria.

[A’ram]

1. Son of Shem. Gen 10:22-23; 1Ch 1:17.

2. Son of Kemuel, Abraham’s nephew. Gen 22:21.

3. Son of Shamer, of the tribe of Asher. 1Ch 7:34.

4. Son of Esrom, and father of Aminadab. Mat 1:3-4; Luk 3:33: called RAM, Rth 4:19; 1Ch 2:9-10.

5. Place in the land of Gilead, east of the Jordan, which Jair captured. 1Ch 2:23.

[A’ram]

This is the name of a large district lying north of Arabia, north-east of Palestine, east of Phoenicia, south of the Taurus range, and west of the Tigris. It is generally supposed that the name points to the district as the ’Highlands,’ though it may be from Aram the son of Shem, as above. The word occurs once untranslated in Num 23:7, as ’Aram’ simply, from whence Balaam was brought, ’out of the mountains of the east;’ but it is mostly translated Syria or Syrian. Thus we have -

1. ARAM-DAMMESEK, 2Sa 8:5, translated ’Syrians of Damascus,’ embracing the highlands of Damascus including the city.

2. ARAM-MAACHAH, 1Ch 19:6, translated ’Syria-maachah,’ a district on the east of Argob and Bashan.

3. ARAM-BETH-REHOB, 2Sa 10:6, translated ’Syrians of Beth-rehob: cf. Jdg 18:28, a district in the north, near Dan.

4. ARAM-ZOBAH, 2Sa 10:6; 2Sa 10:8, translated ’Syrians of Zoba,’ a district between and Damascus, but not definitely recognised.

5. ARAM-NAHARAIM signifying ’Aram of two rivers,’ Gen 24:10; Deu 23:4; Jdg 3:8; 1Ch 19:6, translated ’Mesopotamia.’ The two rivers are the Euphrates and the Tigris. The district would be the highlands from whence the rivers issue to the plain, and the district between the two rivers without extending to the far south.

By: Morris Jastrow, Jr., George A. Barton, Marcus Jastrow, Louis Ginzberg

Location.

—Biblical Data:

The name of a group of kindred tribes scattered over portions of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Arabia. It is not the name of a country or of a politically independent people; for the Aramaic peoples were never all independent at the same period; neither did they form a large independent state. They are mentioned by Tiglath-pileser I., about 1110 B.C. (Schrader "K. B." i. 33), as dwelling east of the Euphrates; also by Shalmaneser II.(ib. i. 165). Tiglath-pileser III. describes them as extending from the Tigris, the Euphrates, and the Surappi to the River Ukni at the shore of the Persian Gulf (ib. ii. 11). Sargon and Sennacherib attest this in part by stating that on their return from Babylon to Assyria they conquered various Aramaic tribes (compare Schrader, "K. G. F." pp. 109 et seq.); and the presence of Aramaic inscriptions in Assyria and Babylonia from the eighth to the third century B.C. confirms these statements (compare "C. I. S." ii.). The inscriptions found at Zenjirli and Nerab prove that Aramaic was spoken in the northern part of Syria as early as the seventh century B.C., though this region was largely occupied by Hittites. Aramaic tribes appear to have extended as far as the Taurus valleys, including Armenia and Cilicia (compare Dillmann, on Gen. x. 22). Aramaic inscriptions have been found in Arabia as far south as Teima, which date from about 500 B.C. These tribes had therefore penetrated Arabia at that date.

The part of this territory known in the Old Testament as Aram is the portion west of the Euphrates, to various parts of which were given different names, as described below (Aram-Zobah, Aram-Maachah, etc.). Greek writers applied to the people of this region the term "Syrians"—perhaps a corruption of Assyrians; hence the name "Syria."

Aramaic and Hebrew.

In Gen. x. 22 Aram is described as a son of Shem. Gen. xxii. 21 makes him a grandson of Nahor, Abraham's brother. The Aramaic dialects form a well-defined group of the languages classed as Semitic, and thus attest the fact, for which these traditions stand, that the Arameans were akin to the Hebrews. From II Kings xviii. 26 and Isa. xxxvi. 11 it would seem that by the end of the eighth century B.C. Aramaic had become the language of international communication between the nations of western Asia. Its influence on Hebrew diction may be detected in some of the books composed before the Exile, while in Esther, Ecclesiastes, and some of the Psalms the form of expression is largely Aramaic. Parts of Daniel and Ezra are extant only in this tongue, which before the beginning of the common era had quite displaced Hebrew in popular usage. The Aramaic peoples of northern Arabia introduced writing into that country some centuries before the Arabs of the region had their own system of writing; and the Aramaic inscriptions found by Euting in the Sinaitic peninsula, and shown to have been the work of Arabs, prove that for a time it was the language used for written communication in north Arabia. The Nabatæans, who were in reality Arabians, have also left in the neighborhood of Palmyra many Aramaic inscriptions dating back to about the beginning of the common era.

Aram in the Pentateuch.

Josephus calls Aram the grandson of Nahor, Abraham's brother (Gen. xxii. 21), and afterward defines his locality as Aram Naharaim (Gen. xxiv. 10). Gen. xxviii. 10 says that Jacob fled to Haran, where he went to his mother's kindred, thus making Aram Naharaim a region beyond the Euphrates. In the Pentateuch the country about Haran is no doubt the region designated. That Abraham resided in Haran is definitely stated in the Pentateuch (Gen. xii. 4, 5). The place to which Jacob fled is called Padan-Aram (Gen. xxviii. 6, R. V.). "Padana" in Aramaic signifies "yoke," or "plow," and may also have meant, as in some other tongues, "cultivated land." Some find in this meaning the origin of the name "Padan" in Genesis, and have supposed that "the field of Aram" (Hosea xii. 13 [A.V. 12]) is a Hebrew translation. It is tempting to identify it with the Aramaic "Paddānā" (Wright, "Catalogue Syriac Manuscripts," 1127a), called in Greek ψαδανᾶ (Sozomen, vi. 33), and in Arabic "Faddain" (Yaḳut); but this town was situated in the Hauran, and can not have been the Padan of the Bible, unless it was there intended to say that Laban, like Abraham, had migrated far from Haran. It may be, as Nöldeke suggests, that this name arose from a localization of the patriarchal tradition by the early Christians. That a place in the neighborhood of Haran, or in that region, was intended, there can be little doubt. All the sources place the Aram of the patriarchs in the direction of Haran. Deuteronomy mentions Aram only when Jaeob is called an Aramean (Deut. xxvi. 5).

Damascus.

By far the most important part of Aram, so far as the Hebrews were concerned, was Damascus. Amos (i. 5) and Isaiah (vii. 8) indicate this; the one by equating Aram with Damascus, the other by declaring that Damascus is the head of Aram. The name occurs in a list of cities conquered by Thothmes III. (W. Max Müller, "Asien und Europa," p. 227), and in two of the El-Amarna letters (139, 63 and 142, 21) of the fifteenth century B.C. David, some centuries later, made it tributary to himself (II Sam. viii. 6), and its kings, Rezin, Ben-hadad I., Ben-hadad II., Hazael, and Ben-hadad III., were at various times in conflict with the kings of Israel and Judah. Compare Damascus, David, Ben-hadad, Hazael, and Rezin. See also Aram-Geshur, Aram-Maachah, Aram-Naharaim, Aram-Rehob, and Aram-Zobah.

Bibliography:

Nöldeke, Die Namen der Aramäischen Nation und Sprache, in Z. D. M. G. 1871, xxv. 113 et seq.;

Schrader, K. G. F. 1878, pp. 109 et seq.;

C. I. O. T. pp. 110 et seq.;

Friedrich Delitzsch, Wo Lag das Paradies? 1881, pp. 257-259;

Dillmann, Commentary to Genesis, x. 22, 23.

—In Rabbinical Literature:

"Aramean" was from the earliest times the equivalent of "heathen" in the Jewish vernacular, because the heathen neighbors of the Jews used the Aramean tongue. An old Targum, mentioned by the Mishnah (Meg. iv. 9), employs the word "Aramiyu-uta" in the sense of heathendom; as does also R. Ishmael in the first half of the second century (Yer. Meg. iv. 75c). In Palestine the word "Aramean" was so tabooed that the Jews preferred to use the Greek word "Syriac" to designate their mother-tongue, rather than call it "Aramean." This usage also passed over to the Arabian-Jewish authors, as, for instance, Judah b. Koraish, who calls the Arameans of the Bible and of the Targum "Syrians." But to avoid misconception, in translating the Bible into Aramean, the word Aramaa (after the Hebrew "Arami") was employed for the national sense and Armaa for the religious sense of the word.

It is of historical interest to note that after the conversion of the Arameans to Christianity, the former Jewish significance attached to the word"Aramean" was also given to it by Christians. With the Syrians, even in the Peshiṭta, "Armaia" means "heathen," while "Aramaia" means "one of the people of Aram." In Palestinian sources the terms "Aram" and "Arameans" are used to designate Rome and the Romans; the Palestinian pronunciation of the word "Aromi" may have served to screen what they dared not say against the Romans. In most cases, however, , for Rome, is a mistake of the copyist; it should read , Edom.

Bibliography:

Nöldeke, Z. D. M. G. xxv. 115-120;

Dictionaries of Levy, Kohut, and Jastrow.

ARAM.—1. A grandson of Nahor (Gen 22:21). 2. An Asherite (1Ch 7:34). 3. AV [Note: Authorized Version.] of Mat 1:3, Luk 3:33. See Arni, Ram.

ā´ram (ארם, ’ărām): (1) A son of Shem (Gen 10:22; 1Ch 1:17). See ARAMEANS; SYRIA. (2) A grandson of Nahor (Gen 22:21). (3) A descendant of Asher (1Ch 7:34). (4) Ἀράμ, Arám, King James Version: Greek form of Ram (thus the Revised Version (British and American) Mat 13:4; Arnı́ Luk 3:33), grandson of Perez.

The Arameans, or people of Aram, were one of the many groups of Semitic peoples who lived in the region of the Bible story. The ancestor from whom they took their name was Aram, the son of Shem, the son of Noah (Gen 10:22).

Arameans

By the time the Arameans first appear in the Bible story, they were living in the north-western part of Mesopotamia. This was the territory to which the father of Abraham came when he migrated with his family from Babylonia. They settled around the town of Haran (Gen 11:31).

Abraham later moved to Canaan, but the rest of his relatives remained in Aram (Gen 12:1; Gen 12:4-5). Consequently, they became known as Arameans, though actually they were descended not through Aram but through Arpachshad, another of Shem’s sons (Gen 10:22-25; Gen 11:10-32). When Abraham wanted to obtain a wife for his son Isaac from among his relatives, he had to send his servant back to Aram to fetch Rebekah (Gen 24:10; Gen 25:20). (Some versions of the Bible call the Arameans Syrians, though the region was not known as Syria till centuries later.)

Jacob, son of Isaac and Rebekah, also went to Aram, where he obtained for himself two wives. Both of them were daughters of Laban, Rebekah’s brother (Gen 28:2-5). Because Jacob had lived twenty years in Aram, and because his wives were from that region, he and his children became known as Arameans (Gen 31:20; Gen 31:38; Deu 26:5).

This explains how the practice developed of sometimes using the name Aramean’ when referring to the forefathers of the nation Israel. The name was related to the place where the forefathers lived, not to their racial descent. The true Arameans do not become prominent in the Bible story till the time of the Israelite monarchy. By that time Aram was known as Syria (see SYRIA).

Aramaic

One of the greatest influences the Arameans had was through their language, Aramaic. The Aramaic language spread far and wide, and from the time of Israel’s monarchy onwards was the language most commonly used throughout south-west Asia (2Ki 18:26).

Written Aramaic used letters that were similar to Hebrew letters, and isolated sections of the Old Testament are written in Aramaic instead of the usual Hebrew (Ezr 4:8-24; Ezra 5; Ezr 6:1-18; Ezr 7:12-26; Jer 10:11; Dan 2:4-49; Daniel 3; Daniel 4; Daniel 5; Daniel 6; Daniel 7). In the Persian Empire (539-333 BC) Aramaic was the official language (Ezr 4:7). With the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Greek language spread throughout his empire and became the official language. But in south-western Asia, Aramaic was still the most commonly used language, in spite of the increasing use of Greek. Aramaic was the language that Jesus and his disciples usually spoke (Mar 5:41; Mar 7:34; Mar 15:34), though they also spoke and wrote Greek, the language in which the New Testament is written.

A country north of Israel that

included much of modern-day Syria. See

Isa. 7:1; 17:3.