Hebrew word · H5761

עַוִּים

veha'avim

Avvim

This is a gentilic, meaning a people-name formed from a place or ancestor. Its origin is unknown. In the Bible it appears only here and in Joshua 13:3, where 'the Avvites' are listed in the south next to the five Philistine rulers as land still to be taken.

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

What it means

People who lived in modern Gaza, first mentioned at Deu.2.23

§ Avim = "ruins"

1) a people among the early inhabitants of Palestine located in the southwest corner of the seacoast

2) a city in Benjamin

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 2:23

Range of meaning

This is a gentilic, meaning a people-name formed from a place or ancestor. Its origin is unknown. In the Bible it appears only here and in Joshua 13:3, where 'the Avvites' are listed in the south next to the five Philistine rulers as land still to be taken. The Avvim of Avva in 2 Kings 17:31 are a different group: Mesopotamian deportees. So is Avvim, the town in Benjamin (Joshua 18:23).

Against the English

BSB, ESV and WEB use 'Avvim'. NIV and NLT use 'Avvites'. KJV's 'Avims' adds an English plural to a Hebrew plural.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint translates it as Euaioi, 'Hivites'. That may be a guess, or it may reflect a tradition linking the two groups. No inscription outside the Bible certainly names the Avvim.

From the study of Joshua 13:3

Range of meaning

An ethnic name, 'Avvim/Avvites'. Deuteronomy 2:23 says they 'lived in villages as far as Gaza' until the Caphtorim (Philistine forebears from Caphtor, usually identified with Crete or the Aegean) destroyed them and settled in their place. Not to be confused with the town Avvim in Benjamin (Joshua 18:23) or the Avva of 2 Kings 17:24, 31.

Against the English

KJV 'Avites', WEB/YLT 'Avvim/Avim', BSB 'Avvites'. Versions differ mainly on whether they attach 'in the south' to this group.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deuteronomy 2:23. The Septuagint seems to confuse them with the Hivites, using the same Greek name in both places.

Similar words

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 2:23 וְהָֽעַוִּ֛ים and the Avvites

    And the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, were destroyed by the Caphtorites, who came out of Caphtor and settled in their place.)

    Here: An obscure early people of the southern coastal plain. The name is put first, ahead of the verb, to announce the topic: 'As for the Avvim…'. The pronoun 'them' later in the verse points back to it.

Joshua · 2

  1. Joshua 13:3 וְהָעַוִּֽים׃ and the Avvite[s]

    from the Shihor east of Egypt to the territory of Ekron on the north (considered to be Canaanite territory)—that of the five Philistine rulers of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as that of the Avvites;

    Here: An older population of the Gaza region. Deuteronomy 2:23 says they lived in villages there until the Caphtorim (the Philistines' ancestors) displaced them. They are added as a further group in the remaining land.

  2. Joshua 18:23 וְהָעַוִּ֥ים and <the> Avvites

    Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 17:31 וְהָעַוִּ֛ים and the Avvites

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

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