Meaning
Avaran av'-a-ran: A surname of Eleazar, the third son of Mattathias (Macc 2:5). It is doubtfully conjectured that Eleazar received this surname from the episode related in Macc 6:43-46; the word may mean "the piercer," referring to his stabbing of the elephant. Some connect it with chur, "to be white," and connect it with Eleazar's white complexion. The Syriac reads "Chavran" and the Vulgate's "Abaron"; the Septuagint in Macc 6:43 gives Sauaran which is an error for Eleazaros auran; Septuagint's Codex Venetus corrects to auran.
