Aram: The son of Shem
(Genesis 10:22) according to
(Genesis 22:21) a grandson of Nahor.
In
(Matthew 1:3,4; Luke 3:33) this word is the Greek form of Ram, the father of
Amminadab
(1 Chronicles 2:10) The word means high, or highlands, and as the name
of a country denotes that elevated region extending from the northeast
of Palestine to the Euphrates. It corresponded generally with the Syria
and Mesopotamia of the Greeks and Romans. In
(Genesis 25:20; 31:20,24; Deuteronomy 26:5)
the word "Syrian" is properly "Aramean" (R.V., marg.). Damascus became
at length the capital of the several smaller kingdoms comprehended
under the designation "Aram" or "Syria."
