Medan

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

MEDAN. One of the sons of Abraham and Keturah (  Genesis 25:2 =   1 Chronicles 1:32 ). The existence of such a tribe, however, is very doubtful. In   Genesis 37:36 ‘Medanites’ is miswritten for Midianites (see RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ), and there is every likelihood that in the former passage ‘Medan’ is a doublet of ‘Midian,’ the next word in the verse. Medan is unknown elsewhere in the Bible, nor is it represented by the name of any people in any extra-Biblical document. To connect it with the name of an Arabian god Madân , or with the similar name of a wady in N.W. Arabia, is very hazardous, both because the associations are remote, and because the word-form is common in Semitic, and is liable to occur in various relations.

J. F. M‘Curdy.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

The third son of Abraham by Keturah,  Genesis 25:2. There is a place also called by this name and some have thought, that it is the same as is called in our Lord's time Magdala. Some suppose that the name means judgment; and others render it, the waters of Dan

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("strife".)  Genesis 25:2. Son of Abraham and Keturah. Identified with Midian in  Genesis 37:28;  Genesis 37:36. The Keturahites early merged into the Ishmaelite tribes.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Me'dan. (Contention). A son of Abraham and Keturah.  Genesis 23:5;  1 Chronicles 1:42.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Son of Abraham and Keturah.  Genesis 25:2;  1 Chronicles 1:32 . His descendants have not been traced.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A son of Abraham and Keturah,  Genesis 25:2 . He is supposed to have settled in Arabia, near Midian his brother.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 25:2 1 Chronicles 1:32

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 25:2

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Hebrews Medan', מְדָן , Contention , as in  Proverbs 6:14;  Proverbs 6:19; Sept. Μαδάν v. r. in Chron. Μαδιάμ ; Vulg. Madan ), the third son of Abraham by Keturah ( Genesis 25:2). BC. post 2024. He and his brother Midian are believed to have peopled the country of Midian, east of the Dead Sea. "It has been supposed, from the similarity of the name, that the tribe descended from Medan was more closely allied to Midian than by mere blood-relation, and that it was the same as, or a portion of the latter. There is, however, no ground for this theory beyond its plausibility. The traditional city Medyen of the Arab geographers (the classical Modiana), situate in Arabia on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Eyleh, must be held to have been Midianitish, not Medanitish (but Bunsen, Bibelwerk, suggests the latter identification). It has been elsewhere remarked, (See Keturah), that many of the Keturahite tribes seem to have merged in early times into the Ishmaelite tribes. The mention of ‘ Ishmaelite' as a convertible term with ‘ Midianite,' in  Genesis 37:28;  Genesis 37:36, is. remarkable; but the Midianite of the AV. in  Genesis 37:28 is Medanite in the Hebrew (by the Sept. rendered Μαδιηναῖοι , and in the Vulg. Isimaelitae and: Madianitae ), and we may have here a trace of the subject of this article, though Midianite appears on the whole to be more likely the correct reading in the passages referred to. (See Midian). .

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

mē´dan ( מדן , medhān , "strife"): One of the sons of Abraham by Keturah (  Genesis 25:2;  1 Chronicles 1:32 ). The tribe and its place remain unidentified, and the conjecture that the name may be connected with the Midianites is unlikely from the fact that in the list of the sons of Abraham and Keturah Midian is mentioned alongside of Medan.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Me´dan or Madan, son of Abraham, by Keturah . He and his brother Midian are supposed to have peopled the country of Midian, east of the Dead Sea.