Hebrew word · H3936

לַעְדָּן

la'dan

Ladan

A personal name whose meaning is uncertain. The lexicons offer suggestions, but none is secure. Because it is written with the guttural letter ʿayin, older English spelled it "Laadan".

Appears 7 times in 5 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man of the tribe of Levi living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, first mentioned at Exo.6.17;

son of: Gershon (H1648);

brother of: Shimei (H8096);

father of: Jahath (H3189H), Libni (H3936H), Shimei (H8096G); also called Jahath at 1Ch.6.43; Ladan (KJV: Laadan) at 1Ch.23.7,9; 26.21;

Another name of liv.ni (לִבְנִי "Libni" H3845G)

§ Laadan = "put in order"

1) an Ephraimite ancestor of Joshua, son of Nun

2) a Levite son of Gershom; also 'Libni'

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 1 Chronicles 7:26

Range of meaning

A personal name whose meaning is uncertain. The lexicons offer suggestions, but none is secure. Because it is written with the guttural letter ʿayin, older English spelled it "Laadan".

Against the English

KJV and YLT spell it "Laadan", reflecting the ʿayin. BSB, WEB and most modern versions write "Ladan". It is the same name either way.

Used elsewhere in the period

Found only in Chronicles. Apart from this verse, it is the name of a Gershonite Levite who heads a clan of temple servants (1 Chr 23:7–9; 26:21). The Gershonite is called "Libni" in other lists, which suggests that name traditions varied.

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 7

  1. 1 Chronicles 7:26 לַעְדָּ֥ן Ladan

    Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son,

    Here: A man of the tribe of Ephraim, the next link in the line running down to Joshua. Nothing else is known about him. The same name belongs to a different man, a Levite of the Gershon clan (1 Chr 23:7–9; 26:21).

  2. 1 Chronicles 23:7 לַעְדָּ֥ן Ladan

    The Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.

  3. 1 Chronicles 23:8 לַעְדָּ֗ן Ladan

    The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the first, Zetham, and Joel—three in all.

  4. 1 Chronicles 23:9 לְלַעְדָּֽן׃ ס of Ladan

    The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran—three in all. These were the heads of the families of Ladan.

  5. 1 Chronicles 26:21 לַ֠עְדָּן לְלַעְדָּ֗ן לְלַעְדָּ֥ן Ladan, of Ladan

    From the descendants of Ladan, who were Gershonites through Ladan and heads of the families of Ladan the Gershonite, were Jehieli,

    Here: The ancestor who names this branch of Levites. In Chronicles he is a son of Gershon (1 Chr 23:7). He is usually identified with Libni, who holds that place in Exodus 6:17 and Numbers 3:18.

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