Hara
Hara is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Syria in modern-day Syria. Known today as Tell Halaf. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Hara is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 5:26 as one of the places to which Tiglath-Pileser III, king of Assyria, deported the Transjordanian tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh: 'So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, to this day.' This deportation, which occurred around 732 BC, was part of the Assyrian policy of mass population transfer designed to eliminate national cohesion among conquered peoples. Hara likely refers to a region in the Assyrian empire's eastern territories, possibly in Media or the area of modern northwestern Iran. The exile of these northern tribes represented a devastating consequence of Israel's covenant unfaithfulness and the collapse of the northern kingdom's territorial integrity. Their fate illustrated the prophetic warnings that violation of God's covenant would result in expulsion from the promised land.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The identification of Hara in 1 Chronicles 5:26 remains uncertain among scholars. Some equate it with a mountainous region in Media (from the Old Persian 'haraiva,' meaning mountain), while others propose Tell Halaf in northeastern Syria as a related geographical feature. Tell Halaf, modern Ras al-Ayn on the Syrian-Turkish border, has been extensively excavated since the early 20th century, yielding remarkable Neo-Hittite and Aramean artifacts including polychrome sculptures and palace reliefs. However, whether this site corresponds to the biblical Hara is debated. The broader deportation geography described in Chronicles is consistent with known Assyrian exile destinations documented in cuneiform records.
Verse Appearances (1)
1Chr
Sources: ISBE Encyclopedia · OpenBible Geocoding (CC BY) · Pleiades Gazetteer View all →