Arad

Arad designates both a Canaanite city and a personal name in the Old Testament. The city of Arad lay in the Negev, approximately twenty miles south of Hebron, and its king attacked the Israelites during the wilderness period, taking captives. Israel responded with a vow to destroy it, and the LORD delivered Arad's cities into their hand (Num. 21:1–3; 33:40). The Kenite clan of Hobab, Moses' father-in-law, settled in the vicinity of Arad following the conquest (Judg. 1:16). Archaeological excavations at Tell Arad have uncovered important evidence of Iron Age occupation, including a Judahite temple and a collection of Hebrew ostraca.

As a personal name, Arad appears in 1 Chronicles 8:15 as a Benjaminite, son of Beriah. The name likely means a wild ass or a dragon, reflecting the rugged terrain of the Negev with which the city was associated. The repeated mention of Arad in the wilderness and conquest narratives places it among the more significant points of conflict in Israel's southward approach to Canaan.