Hebrew word · H2362

חַוְרָן

chavran

Hauran

A region: the fertile basalt plateau (with the Jebel ed-Druze mountains) south of Damascus and east of the Golan and the Sea of Galilee.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Hauran = "caverns"

a province of Palestine east of the Sea of Galilee; exact region uncertain but probably on the borders of the desert in the tetrarchy of Philip

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Ezekiel 47:16

Range of meaning

A region: the fertile basalt plateau (with the Jebel ed-Druze mountains) south of Damascus and east of the Golan and the Sea of Galilee.

Against the English

The KJV, BSB and WEB have 'Hauran'. The YLT has 'Havran', copying the Hebrew consonant w/v more strictly.

Used elsewhere in the period

Shalmaneser III's annals (841 BC) record a march 'to the mountains of Hauran' against Hazael of Damascus. In Greek and Roman times it was Auranitis (Josephus, Antiquities 15.343; 17.319), part of the lands of Herod and later Philip the tetrarch. The Bible names it only here and in 47:18.

From the study of Ezekiel 47:18

Range of meaning

A region name: the basalt plateau east of the upper Jordan and south of Damascus (the Hauran of modern Syria, close to biblical Bashan).

Against the English

English versions simply transliterate it as 'Hauran' or 'Havran' (YLT). Most readers will not know where it is.

Used elsewhere in the period

Assyrian records name the 'mountain of Hauran' (Haurānu) in Shalmaneser III's campaign of 841 BC. In Greek and Roman times the area was called Auranitis (Josephus) and formed part of Herod's realm. In the Hebrew Bible it occurs only in Ezekiel 47:16, 18.

Where it appears

Ezekiel · 2

  1. Ezekiel 47:16 חַוְרָֽן׃ Hauran

    Berothah, and Sibraim (which is on the border between Damascus and Hamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran.

    Here: The volcanic plateau east of the Sea of Galilee and south of Damascus. The Bible names it only here and in 47:18. It marks the corner where the northern border meets the eastern one.

  2. Ezekiel 47:18 חַוְרָ֣ן Hauran

    On the east side the border will run between Hauran and Damascus, along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel, to the Eastern Sea and as far as Tamar. This will be the eastern boundary.

    Here: The volcanic plateau east and south-east of the Sea of Galilee and south of Damascus, roughly ancient Bashan. In the Hebrew Bible it is named only here and in v.16.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.