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Akan

Edomite living at the time of the Patriarchs

Akan was the son of Ezer, a Horite chief who lived in the land of Seir.

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Also known as Jakan

Akan is mentioned in the genealogies of the Horites, the inhabitants of Seir, before the Edomites conquered the region. He was the son of Ezer, who was one of the Horite chiefs. (Gen.36.27; 1Ch.1.42)

The Horites were the original inhabitants of the mountainous region of Seir, located south of the Dead Sea. They were eventually displaced by the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who intermarried with the Horites and became the dominant population in the area. (Deut 2.12)

Akan is listed among the sons of Ezer, along with his brothers Bilhan and Zaavan. (Gen.36.27; 1Ch.1.42) These chiefs and their clans likely held significant influence in the region before the Edomite conquest.

Apart from being mentioned in the genealogies, no further information is provided about Akan's life, his role as a member of a chiefly family, or any specific events associated with him.

The inclusion of Akan in the genealogies serves to document the Horite lineage and to provide a historical context for the Edomite occupation of Seir. It also demonstrates the importance of family records and the preservation of ancestral heritage in the ancient Near East.

Family

Father
Ezer
Siblings
BilhanZaavan

Bible dictionary

Akan Smith Smith’s Bible Dictionary (1863)

(sharp sighted), son of Ezer, one of the “dukes” or chieftains of the Horites, and descendant of Seir. (Genesis 36:27) He is called Jakan in (1 Chronicles 1:42)

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Akan Hastings Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (1898)

A'KAN (sharp-sighted ?), a descendant of Esau, Gen 36:27 ; called Jakan in 1 Chr 1:42.

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Akan Schaff Schaff’s Dictionary of the Bible

A'KAN (sharp-sighted ?), a descendant of Esau, Gen 36:27 ; called Jakan in 1 Chr 1:42.

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Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.

Where Akan appears

2 verses in 2 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H3292

Genesis1
1 Chronicles1

Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.