HEVILA (Hebrew: Ḥāwīlāh probably from ḥōl «sand»; Septuagint: Εὐαία). - A region (v. EDEN) abounding in gold, aromatic gum and precious stones, where the river Phison flowed (Gen. 2:11). The name is recalled as that of a descendant of Chus the Hamite (Gen. 10:7; 1 Chron. 1:9) and of Joktan the Semite (Gen. 10:29; 1 Chron. 1:23), and in the formula "from H. as far as Sur" (Gen. 25:18; 1 Sam. 15:7).

It is uncertain whether an African H. and an Asiatic H. must be distinguished. Generally H. is considered to be a district inhabited by Chusites and Joktanites in southern Arabia, because of the association in the texts with Azarmaveth-Hadramawt. Others prefer the region of Hawlān in northern Yemen, on account of a certain assonance in the name. Moreover, Saul's war against the Amalekites suggests that the Arabian desert extended far to the north of el-Jamāmah and also bore the name of H.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: A. Musal, The northern Ḥeǧāz, New York 1926, pp. 261-67; J. A. Montgomery, Arabia and the Bible, Philadelphia 1934; F. X. Kortleitner, De antiquis Arabiae incolis eorumque cum religione mosaica ratione, Innsbruck 1939, pp. 15-19.

Donato Baldi

@incollection{ec6_hevila_ebr_hawilah_prob_da_hol, author = {Baldi, Donato}, title = {Hevila (Ebr. ḤĀWĪLĀH Prob. da ḤŌL «Sabbia»; Settanta ΕΥ̓ΑΙ͂Α)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VI}, pages = {1429--1430}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1951}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/hevila-ebr-hawilah-prob-da-hol-sabbia-settanta-euaia} }

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