Hebrew word · H5617

סְפַרְוַ֫יִם

sefarvayim

Sepharvaim

A place name with a dual-looking ending (-ayim, which normally marks a pair, as in "two"). Its location is uncertain. It is linked with Hena and Ivvah (2 Kgs 18:34; 19:13; Isa 37:13) and with settlers brought to Samaria who burned children to Adrammelech and Anammelech (2 Kgs 17:24, 31).

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Sepharvaim = "the two Sipparas"

a city in Syria conquered by the king of Assyria

1a) perhaps near the modern 'Mosaib' and on the Euphrates above Babylon

Also named: se.phar.vi (סְפַרְוִי "Sepharvaim" H5616)

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 Isaiah 36:19

Range of meaning

A place name with a dual-looking ending (-ayim, which normally marks a pair, as in "two"). Its location is uncertain. It is linked with Hena and Ivvah (2 Kgs 18:34; 19:13; Isa 37:13) and with settlers brought to Samaria who burned children to Adrammelech and Anammelech (2 Kgs 17:24, 31).

Against the English

All English versions simply transliterate it, which is right given the uncertainty.

Used elsewhere in the period

Suggested identifications: (1) Sippar in Babylonia, sometimes called by a dual form ("the two Sippars"); (2) Sibraim in Syria between Damascus and Hamath (Ezek 47:16); (3) Šabara'in, which the Babylonian Chronicle says Shalmaneser V destroyed. Many scholars favour a Syrian location because of the company it keeps in this list.

Where it appears

2 Kings · 4

  1. 2 Kings 17:24 וּסְפַרְוַ֔יִם and Sepharvaim

    Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in its towns.

    Here: Another place whose location is disputed (see debates). The name has a dual-looking ending ('-ayim'). Its people burned children to their gods Adrammelech and Anammelech (v. 31).

  2. 2 Kings 17:31 סְפַרְוָֽיִם׃ Sepharvaim

    the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.

  3. 2 Kings 18:34 סְפַרְוַ֖יִם Sepharvaim

    Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?

  4. 2 Kings 19:13 סְפַרְוָ֑יִם Sepharvaim

    Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 36:19 סְפַרְוָ֑יִם Sepharvaim

    Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?

    Here: A conquered town whose location is debated (see debates). According to 2 Kings 17:24, 31, people from there were resettled in Samaria's territory and kept worshipping their own gods there.

  2. Isaiah 37:13 סְפַרְוָ֑יִם Sepharvaim

    Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”

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