According to the Bible, Medan ( he, מְדָן ''Məḏān'' "contention; to twist, conflict"); also spelt Madan was the third son of

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...

, the

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in c ...

of the

Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

, and

Keturah Keturah ( he, קְטוּרָה, ''Qəṭūrā'', possibly meaning "incense"; ar, قطورة) was a wife (1917 Jewish Publication Society of America translation). "And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah...." and a concubine (19 ...

whom he wed after the death of Sarah. Medan had five brothers, Zimran,

Jokshan Jokshan ( ar, يقشان, ''yoqšān''). According to the Bible he was a son of Abraham (Avraham) and his wife or concubine Keturah, whom he wed after the death of Sarah. Jokshan had five brothers: Zimran, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah; as well ...

, Midian,

Ishbak Ishbak ( he, יִשְׁבָּ֣ק ''Yīšbāq'', "he will leave; leaving"), also spelled Jisbak and Josabak, was, according to the Bible, the fifth son of Abraham and Keturah. Ishbak had five brothers, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian and Shuah. J ...

, and

Shuah Shuah is the name of one of four minor Biblical figures. It is sometimes used as the name of a fifth. Their names are different in Hebrew, but they were all transliterated as "Shuah" in the King James Version. Genesis 25 Shuah (Hebrew: שׁוּ ...

. Josephus tells us that "Abraham contrived to settle them in colonies; and they took possession of Troglodytis and the country of Arabia Felix (Arabia the Happy), as far as it reaches to the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

." Little else is known about him.''Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary'', ''Volume 1'', Review and Herald Publishing Association (Washington, D.C., USA), 1953, p.367 There is no known connection to the Madan people of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and Iraq.

References

Book of Genesis people Children of Abraham {{Tanakh-stub