Hebrew word · H2334

חַוּוֹת יָעִיר

chavot

Havvoth-jair

Plural of chavvah, found only in the place-name Havvoth-jair (Numbers 32:41; Deuteronomy 3:14; Joshua 13:30; Judges 10:4; 1 Kings 4:13; 1 Chronicles 2:23).

Appears 8 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Havoth-jair = "villages of Jair"

certain villages on the east of Jordan, in Gilead or Bashan, which were taken by Jair, the son of Manasseh, and called after his name; 60 or 23 or 30 cities in total

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Deuteronomy 3:14

Range of meaning

Plural of chavvah, found only in the place-name Havvoth-jair (Numbers 32:41; Deuteronomy 3:14; Joshua 13:30; Judges 10:4; 1 Kings 4:13; 1 Chronicles 2:23). BDB and HALOT connect it with Arabic ḥiwāʾ, 'a circle of tents, a nomad encampment', which gives the sense 'tent-villages' or 'unwalled settlements'.

Against the English

KJV and YLT do not translate it ('havoth'). BSB, WEB and NASB transliterate 'Havvoth-jair'. Some versions translate it as 'villages' or 'towns'. 'Towns' can suggest more permanent places than the word may first have meant.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 32:41 says Jair 'captured their chavvot and called them Havvoth-jair'. Judges 10:4 puns on the name: the judge Jair had thirty sons on thirty donkeys ('ayarim) who had thirty towns ('ayarim). Joshua 13:30 and 1 Kings 4:13 count sixty settlements. 1 Chronicles 2:23 says Geshur and Aram later took Havvoth-jair from Israel.

From the study of Judges 10:4

Range of meaning

Ḥavvot is plural of ḥavvah, a rare word probably meaning 'tent-encampment' or 'village of tents' (HALOT, BDB; compare the Arabic word for a circle of tents). With Jair's name it means 'Jair's tent-villages', a district name east of the Jordan.

Against the English

English versions transliterate it as 'Havvoth-jair' or 'Havoth-jair', which is accurate but hides the meaning 'Jair's Villages'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 32:41 (Jair son of Manasseh captures their ḥavvot and names them Havvoth-jair); Deuteronomy 3:14 (the same, placed in Argob/Bashan); 1 Kings 4:13 (Havvoth-jair 'in Gilead' under one of Solomon's district governors); 1 Chronicles 2:22–23 (Jair holds 23 towns in Gilead; later Geshur and Aram take Havvoth-jair, with Kenath and its villages, 60 towns).

Similar words

Where it appears

Numbers · 2

  1. Numbers 32:41 חַוֹּ֥ת יָאִֽיר׃ Havvoth, Jair

    Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured their villages and called them Havvoth-jair.

    Here: The first half of the new place name, meaning "Tent-villages of…" The same common noun used a moment earlier now becomes part of a proper name.

Deuteronomy · 2

  1. Deuteronomy 3:14 חַוֹּ֣ת יָאִ֔יר [the] villages of, Jair

    Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. He renamed Bashan after himself, Havvoth-jair, by which it is called to this day.

    Here: Plural of a rare noun usually taken to mean tent-camps or unwalled settlements. It is the first part of the place-name 'Havvoth-jair'.

Judges · 2

  1. Judges 10:4 חַוֹּ֣ת יָאִ֗יר Havvoth, Jair

    He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. And they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth-jair.

    Here: Probably 'encampments' or 'tent-villages', unwalled settlements of a semi-pastoral people (compare the Arabic word for a ring of tents). It forms the first half of the place name.

1 Chronicles · 2

  1. 1 Chronicles 2:23 חַוֹּ֨ת יָאִ֧יר Havvoth, Jair

    But Geshur and Aram captured Havvoth-jair, along with Kenath and its sixty surrounding villages. All these were descendants of Machir the father of Gilead.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.