חָבוֹר

From the study of 2 Kings 17:6

Range of meaning

Ḥavor is the Khabur River. Nəhar ('river of') stands beside it as an explanation: 'the Habor, the river of Gozan'. Gozan is the city and province of Guzana (Tell Halaf) on the upper Khabur.

Against the English

KJV and YLT read 'in Habor [by] the river of Gozan'. Their supplied 'by' (in italics) makes Habor a place and Gozan a river, which reverses the geography. WEB 'on the Habor, the river of Gozan' and BSB 'in Gozan by the Habor River' get it right.

How it drifted

Before modern archaeology identified Guzana with Tell Halaf, translators (following the Latin, which reads 'by the river Gozan') had no way to know which name was the river and which was the city.

Used elsewhere in the period

Assyrian records name Guzana as a provincial capital. Documents from Gozan and other Assyrian sites from the late 8th and 7th centuries include personal names built on the divine name Yahweh (Assyrian 'Yau'), and some people are labelled 'Samarian'. Younger and others take these as traces of the deportees. 1 Chronicles 5:26 lists Halah, Habor, Hara and 'the river of Gozan' for the earlier deportation of the Transjordan tribes.

From the study of 2 Kings 18:11

Range of meaning

Habor is the Khabur River. Gozan is Assyrian Guzana (Tell Halaf), on the upper Khabur. Nehar means "river of." The phrase reads as "the Habor, the river of Gozan."

Against the English

KJV and YLT, with "in Habor [by] the river of Gozan," make Habor a place and Gozan a river. That was a reasonable guess before the geography was recovered, but it is back to front. ESV, WEB and NASB keep the Hebrew order correctly. BSB and NIV reorder the words to make the geography clear.

How it drifted

The KJV's wording reflects the limited knowledge of ancient geography in its day. The city was not excavated until the twentieth century.

Used elsewhere in the period

Guzana appears in Assyrian records, and 2 Kings 19:12 lists Gozan among the places Assyria had already destroyed. Cuneiform tablets from Tell Halaf, dated to the seventh century BC, include people with names built on the name of Israel's God, Yahweh. Scholars such as Oded, Becking and Younger take these as probable traces of Israelite deportees, though a name alone cannot prove someone's origin. This Habor is not Ezekiel's "Chebar" near Babylon, which is a different word and place.