Hul

Hul was the second son of Aram son of Shem, listed in the table of nations in Genesis 10:23. Through his father Aram, Hul belongs to the Semitic branch of humanity in the post-flood genealogy. His name, meaning circle or pain (alternatively, to turn), follows the pattern of eponymous ancestor names in Genesis 10 that identify the progenitors of peoples and regions rather than historically developed individuals.

No region or people is specifically identified with Hul by name in other biblical texts, though ancient traditions and some scholars have associated him with the Huleh basin (the marshy lake region north of the Sea of Galilee) or with a territory in northern Mesopotamia. As with many figures in the table of nations, Hul represents a point in the genealogical framework through which Genesis organizes the known world of nations into a family descended from Noah, without providing independent narrative material about the figure himself.