And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.
The servant took ten camels, ... So great an equipage was to give the embassy an appearance worthy of the rank and wealth of Abraham; to carry provisions; to bear the marriage presents, which, as usual, would be distributed over several beasts; besides one or two spare camels in case of emergency.
Went to Mesopotamia, ..., [Hebrew, 'Aram-Nahªrayim (H7630)] (a Semitic word in a plural form; the Naharaina of the Egyptian monuments, the Mesopotamia of the classics, the Jezirah, or island of the Arabs) - the highlands of the two rivers, the designation of the mountainous country whence the Euphrates and Tigris issue into the plain (see the term in the Hebrew text, Deuteronomy 23:5; Judges 3:8; 1 Chronicles 19:6). Aram (Syria) being a very extensive region, this descriptive word [nahªrayim] is added to define what district was referred to; and with a view to still greater precision "the city of Nahor," i:e., Haran, is annexed to indicate the specific locality to which the servant was to direct his course.
Dr. Beke ('Notes of an Excursion to Harsh'), followed by Cyril Graham ('Cambridge Essays,' 1858), places Haran not in Mesopotamia, but in the neighbourhood of Damascus, his opinion being that 'the country of the two rivers' is that which was watered by the Pharphar and Abana-the fertile region known in later times as the Ager Damascenus-the Padan-Aram of Scripture-and that Haran, or Charran, is identical with the modern village, Harran-el-awamid, or 'Haran of the Columns,' situated about fourteen miles east of Damascus, on the western border of the lake into which the Barada and Awaj pour their waters (see the note at Genesis 11:13). A well also was discovered in a farm court-yard at Haran of the Columns (Mrs. Beke's 'Narrative of a Second Journey'). But this hypothesis of a Syrian Haran is supported neither by legend nor tradition, whereas both are in favour of the Mesopotamian Haran.