Hebrew word · H2341

חֲוִילָה

chavilah

Havilah

A place or people name. Genesis 2:11 mentions a gold-bearing land of Havilah, and Genesis 10:7 and 10:29 list Havilah among peoples of the Arabian and African regions.

Appears 7 times in 7 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.10.7;

son of: Cush (H3568);

brother of: Seba (H5434), Sabtah (H5454), Raamah (H7484), Sabteca (H5455) and Nimrod (H5248)

§ Havilah = "circle"

1) a part of Eden through which flowed the river Pison (Araxes); was probably the Grecian Colchis, in the northeast corner of Asia Minor, near the Caspian Sea

2) a district in Arabia of the Ishmaelites named from the 2nd son of Cush; probably the district of Kualan, in the northwestern part of Yemen

3) a son of Cush

4) a son of Joktan

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 1 Samuel 15:7

Range of meaning

A place or people name. Genesis 2:11 mentions a gold-bearing land of Havilah, and Genesis 10:7 and 10:29 list Havilah among peoples of the Arabian and African regions. The name is usually associated with parts of Arabia, but the exact location is not known and it may not be a single place in every passage.

Against the English

All major English versions simply transliterate the name. Readers lose the fact that it sits in a phrase already known from Genesis.

Used elsewhere in the period

Genesis 25:18 uses almost the same wording for the territory of Ishmael's descendants: "from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt as you go toward Asshur." The Septuagint here reads it as Heuilat, so the ancient Greek supports the Hebrew name.

Where it appears

Genesis · 4

  1. Genesis 2:11 הַֽחֲוִילָ֔ה <the> Havilah

    The name of the first river is the Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.

  2. Genesis 10:7 וַֽחֲוִילָ֔ה and Havilah

    The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

  3. Genesis 10:29 חֲוִילָ֖ה Havilah

    Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.

  4. Genesis 25:18 מֵֽחֲוִילָ֜ה from Havilah

    Ishmael’s descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which is near the border of Egypt as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.

    Here: The starting point of their range. Havilah here is a region in Arabia (compare Gen 10:7, 29), probably in the north or west of the Arabian peninsula; its exact location is uncertain.

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 15:7 מֵֽחֲוִילָה֙ from Havilah

    Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt.

    Here: The starting point of the sweep, a far-off desert region usually placed somewhere in Arabia. It opens a stock phrase also used for the territory of Ishmael's descendants in Genesis 25:18.

1 Chronicles · 2

  1. 1 Chronicles 1:9 וַחֲוִילָ֔ה and Havilah

    The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

  2. 1 Chronicles 1:23 חֲוִילָ֖ה Havilah

    Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.

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