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H761 · Hebrew · Old Testament
אֲרַמִּי
Arammi
Adjective, gentilic
Aramean; Syrian

Definition

The adjective Arammi designates someone as Aramean — from the region of Aram (modern Syria). This word appears in some of the most theologically loaded passages in the Old Testament, most notably in the ancient creed of Deuteronomy 26: 'A wandering Aramean was my father.'

Usage & Theological Significance

Deuteronomy 26:5's confession — 'A wandering Aramean was my father' — is one of Scripture's most compressed creedal statements, recounting Israel's story from Jacob (who lived as an Aramean) through Egypt to the Exodus. It grounds worship in historical memory. The Aramean identity of Israel's patriarchs (Rebekah, Laban, and by extension Jacob's children) reminds Israel that their election was pure grace — not ethnic superiority, but divine choice of the unlikely.

Key Bible Verses

Deuteronomy 26:5 Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: 'My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.'
Genesis 25:20 And Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram and sister of Laban the Aramean.
Genesis 31:20 Moreover, Jacob deceived Laban the Aramean by not telling him he was running away.
2 Kings 5:20 Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, 'My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought.'
Luke 4:27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed — only Naaman the Syrian.

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