The word ain signifies an 'eye,' or 'a fountain;' it is often used as a prefix, and signifies a fountain of living water in distinction from a well, cistern or tank. It is mostly represented by the prefix EN.
1. Ain, a fountain in the extreme north. There is a fountain still called Ain el-Asy, ten miles S.W. of the ancient Riblah. Numbers 34:11 .
2. One of the Levitical cities in the south. It was originally given to Judah but afterwards allotted to Simeon. Joshua 15:32; Joshua 19:7; Joshua 21:16; 1 Chronicles 4:32 . In 1 Chronicles 6:59 the margin intimates that ASHAN is the same as Ain as a Levitical city, although in 1 Chronicles 4:32 Ain and Ashan are both mentioned.