Aner appears as both a person and a place. In Genesis 14, Aner is one of three Amorite allies of Abraham who joined his campaign to rescue Lot from the eastern kings. Along with Eshcol and Mamre, Aner represents the covenant relationships Abraham maintained with local Canaanite leaders. As a place name, Aner was a Levitical city in Manasseh, assigned to the Kohathite Levites according to 1 Chronicles 6:70. The dual usage—personal and geographic—is common in biblical onomastics, where individuals and settlements share names. The etymological meaning of Aner is uncertain, though various Semitic connections have been proposed.