PADAN-ARAM (Assyrian, "Padanu"):
The first element in the word is variously explained as meaning "road" or "field," "yoke," and "plow." It may indicate in this connection that portion of Aram which could be cultivated—the lowland between the Euphrates and the Tigris, generally mentioned in contrast with the high plateau of Palestine. The district is referred to by this name only in Genesis, while Hosea xii. 13 (R. V. xii. 12), in describing the life of Jacob, terms the same region "sedeh Aram" (= "field of Aram"). Bethuel, the father of Isaac's wife Rebecca, came from Padan-aram (Gen. xxv. 20), whither Jacob had gone to escape from Esau, and where he married two wives (Gen. xxviii. 2, 5-7).
