Hur (Bible)

Hur (Hebrew: חוּר, romanized: Ḥūr, also Chur) was a companion of Moses and Aaron in the Hebrew Bible. He was a member of the Tribe of Judah. His identity remains unclear in the Torah itself, but it is elaborated in rabbinical commentary.

Other individuals named Hur are also mentioned in the Bible.

In the Book of Exodus, Hur is first mentioned as a companion of Moses and Aaron watching the Battle of Rephidim against the Amalekites. He aided Aaron to hold up the hands of Moses when Moses realised that the Israelites prevailed in battle while his hands were raised: "Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side". He is mentioned once more as Moses' staunch ally when he is left in co-charge with Aaron of the Israelites when Moses was away on Mount Sinai. Moses told the people "Aaron and Hur are with you; whosoever hath a cause, let him come near unto them." However, only Aaron is mentioned in the later account of events during Moses' absence and the creation of the Golden Calf.

Hur is also mentioned as the grandfather of Bezalel, designated by God to be the principal creator of the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant. Though it is not entirely certain that this Hur is the same individual, he has been treated as such in Jewish tradition.

In the Books of Chronicles Hur is either the son or the father of Caleb. The language is sufficiently ambiguous that different interpretations are possible. The King James Version of the Bible states, "These were the sons of Caleb the son of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah; Shobal the father of Kirjathjearim". The New International Version has "These were the sons of Caleb. The sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah, were Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim". The first version is consistent with I Chronicles 4:4, indicating that "Caleb" is another son or another name for one of the other sons of Hur, and that Hur is another name of Hezron the son of Pharez (and thus the grandson of Judah). The second version places a different Hur as the first child of Caleb by his second wife Ephrath.

A notable son of Hur was Uri the father of Bezalel. Hur's three notable grandsons, Shobal, Salma and Hareph, were said to have been the fathers of the men that founded the towns of Kirjath-jearim, Bethlehem, and Bethgader respectively. Additionally, I Chronicles 4:4 calls Hur (the son of Ephratah) the father of Bethlehem, apparently as a teknonym from the prominence of his descendant Salma's son Bethlehem.

The Bible in Exodus 38:22 states explicitly Hur's descendants: "And Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur...", but not directly his parental lineage, except that he was from the tribe of Judah.

According to Rabbinic tradition, Hur was the son of Miriam, thus Moses and Aaron's nephew. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 69b & Sotah 11b) states that Caleb, a descendant from Judah, married Miriam and fathered Hur. This is based on the Targum to I Chron. 2:19: "...and Caleb took for himself Ephrath and she bore him Hur". Ephrath was another name for Miriam. Rashi's Bible commentary justifies this position on the two other locations in Exodus where Hur is mentioned: 17:10 & 24:14. However, Josephus in Antiquities of the Jews states that Hur was the husband of Moses' sister Miriam.