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Padan-aram

Aram-Naharaim (Upper Mesopotamia)

Region in Aram-Naharaim (Upper Mesopotamia) · today Upper Mesopotamia (Harran region)

Meaning: “Plain of Aram

The Mesopotamian homeland of Abraham’s kindred, where Isaac and Jacob found their wives.

Location

Overview

Padan-aram ("the plain of Aram") was the region of upper Mesopotamia around Haran — the ancestral homeland of Abraham's family, to which the patriarchs returned for wives so that the covenant line would not mix with the Canaanites.

A wife for Isaac and Jacob

It was from Padan-aram that Rebekah came, the sister of Laban the Syrian (Genesis 25:20). When Esau grieved his parents by marrying Canaanite women, Isaac sent Jacob to "Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel... and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban" (Genesis 28:2).

Jacob's years of service

In Padan-aram Jacob served Laban twenty years, married Leah and Rachel, and there all his children but Benjamin were born (Genesis 35:26).

The return

At God's command Jacob departed Padan-aram with his large household and flocks to return to Canaan, the land of promise (Genesis 31:18).

Events Here

1928 BC

Jacob is sent to Padan-aram to find a wife

Genesis 28:2
1908 BC

Jacob leaves Padan-aram to return to Canaan

Genesis 31:18

Scripture References

11 verses
Genesis11 verses

Genesis 25:20

And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the Syrian.

Genesis 28:2

Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother.

Genesis 28:5

And Isaac sent away Jacob: and he went to Padanaram unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Esau's mother.

Genesis 28:6

When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Padanaram, to take him a wife from thence; and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan;

Genesis 28:7

And that Jacob obeyed his father and his mother, and was gone to Padanaram;

Genesis 31:18

And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram, for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

Genesis 33:18

And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city. Shechem: Gr. Sychem

Genesis 35:9

And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.

Genesis 35:26

And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padanaram.

Genesis 46:15

These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.

Genesis 48:7

And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.

Archaeology & History

Padan-aram denotes the flat country of upper Mesopotamia in the vicinity of Haran, within Aram-Naharaim ("Aram of the two rivers"). It overlaps the Harran region on the modern Turkey-Syria border, long a homeland of Aramean peoples and a hub of caravan trade.

People who appear here

Jacob7×
Isaac4×
Laban3×
Bethuel3×
Rebekah2×
Esau2×
Leah2×
Zilpah1×
Gad1×
Asher1×
Dinah1×
Rachel1×

Frequently asked about Padan-aram

Where is Padan-aram today?

Today, Padan-aram corresponds to Upper Mesopotamia (Harran region).

What does the name Padan-aram mean?

The name Padan-aram means “Plain of Aram”.

What happened at Padan-aram in the Bible?

Key biblical events at Padan-aram include jacob is sent to padan-aram to find a wife; jacob leaves padan-aram to return to canaan.

Where is Padan-aram first mentioned in the Bible?

Padan-aram is first mentioned in Genesis 25:20.

How often is Padan-aram mentioned in the Bible?

Padan-aram is mentioned in 11 verses across 1 book: Genesis.

What does Padan-aram mean?

It means roughly "the plain (or field) of Aram" — the flat region of upper Mesopotamia around Haran where Abraham’s relatives lived.

Why did Jacob go to Padan-aram?

Isaac sent him there to find a wife from among his mother’s kindred rather than marry a Canaanite. Jacob served his uncle Laban there for twenty years and raised his family.