MESOPOTAMIA mĕs’ o po tā’ mĭ a’ (אֲרַ֥ם נַֽהֲרַ֖יִם, LXX Μεσοποταμία, G3544, meaning in Heb. high place of two rivers, in Gr. between rivers. Cf. superscription of Psalm 60). The land around and between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

The Eng. name “Mesopotamia” is obviously a direct carry-over from the Gr. tr. of the Heb. words Aram-Naharaim. These two words together appear five times in the OT and are always rendered “Mesopotamia” (Gen 24:10; Deut 23:4; Judg 3:8; 1 Chron 19:6; Ps 60 [title]). “Mesopotamia” occurs also in Judges 3:10 but in the MT only the word Aram is used. The context makes it clear, however, that this is the same place mentioned in v. 8. All other times when Aram occurs alone it is tr. either as “Syria” or transliterated. From this word comes the patronymic Aramean (e.g., Deut 26:5) and the name of the language, Aramaic (Ezra 4:7). The name “Aram” belongs not only to the hill country of Syria but also to a man mentioned in Genesis 10:22f., and elsewhere.

Mesopotamia basically refers to the land divided by the two rivers, which could mean anything from modern Eastern Turkey to the Persian Gulf. When it is used in the Bible usually the northern parts are understood.

According to Genesis 24:10, Abraham’s servant went to Mesopotamia to find a wife for Isaac. The town of Nahor, mentioned in the Mari texts, is located near the Balikh tributary of the Euphrates. Balaam’s home town of Pethor of Mesopotamia, mentioned in Deuteronomy 23:4, is in the same vicinity.

The judgeship of Othniel was occasioned by the aggression and oppression of Cushan-rishathaim, a king of Mesopotamia (Judg 3:8). The king’s name has not yet been attested nor is any definition of his realm certain.

Mesopotamia was the Ammonites’ source of chariots and horsemen when they battled with David in 1 Chronicles 19:6ff. Aram-naharaim in the title of Psalm 60 can be connected only with 2 Samuel 8:5, in that historical passage, but the country indicated is simply “Aram” and hence is tr. “Syria.”

Mesopotamia has gone under various names throughout its long history. In the beginning it was mostly “Sumer” in the extreme S, “Accad” in the middle, and “Subartu” in the NW. In the second millennium b.c., Babylon was the power in the lower half and Mitanni in the N. With the turn of the millennium, Assyria in the N gained control of the whole but lost it again to Neo-Babylonia in 587 b.c. This was followed by the Pers., Hel., and Rom. rules. Today most of Mesopotamia is in Iraq with small parts in Syria and Turkey.

Bibliography M. A. Beek, Atlas of Mesopotamia (1962).