Aran

Aran, whose name means wild goat or has been connected with the idea of an ark, was a Horite chieftain, son of Dishan and grandson of Seir, listed in the genealogy of the original inhabitants of the land of Edom (Gen. 36:28; 1 Chr. 1:42). The Horites were the pre-Edomite population of the region later known as Edom or Seir, and their chiefs are enumerated in Genesis 36:20–30 as part of the comprehensive account of Esau's descendants and the political history of the region south of the Dead Sea.

Aran is not mentioned again beyond these two genealogical notices, and no narrative events are associated with him. His inclusion in the Horite chief list reflects the biblical interest in the peoples displaced by Esau's descendants, whom God is said to have given the land of Seir as their possession, paralleling Israel's own dispossession of Canaan (Deut. 2:12, 22).