Naaran
Naaran is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Tell el Jisr. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Naaran appears in 1 Chronicles 7:28 within the genealogical description of the tribe of Ephraim's territorial possessions. The verse states that Ephraim's settlements included "Bethel and its villages, Naaran to the east, Gezer and its villages to the west, and Shechem and its villages." This places Naaran on the eastern frontier of Ephraim's territory, in the Jordan Valley lowlands. Naaran is generally regarded as an alternate spelling of Naarah (or Naarath) from Joshua 16:7, which appears in the delineation of Ephraim's southern boundary descending toward Jericho and the Jordan. The slight variation in spelling between the two references likely reflects dialectical or scribal differences rather than separate locations, as both point to the same geographical area north of Jericho. As part of Ephraim's eastern boundary, Naaran occupied the transitional zone between the highland core of the tribal territory and the Jordan Rift Valley, an area valued for its water sources and agricultural potential.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Naaran, like its variant Naarah, is identified with Tell el-Jisr near the spring of Ain ed-Duk, approximately 5 kilometers north-northwest of Jericho. The identification is supported by Eusebius in his Onomasticon, who locates Naaratha five Roman miles from Jericho, matching the distance to Ain ed-Duk. The most significant archaeological discovery in the area is the Na'aran synagogue, excavated in 1918 and again in the 1920s. This sixth-century synagogue contained elaborate mosaic floors with a zodiac design and biblical scenes. The tell itself shows evidence of multi-period occupation, and the abundant springs in the vicinity explain the settlement's longevity. The site lies within the modern Palestinian territories near the Israeli settlement of Na'aran.
Verse Appearances (2)
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]