Category:Havilah

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Havilah - The sand region. (1.) A land mentioned in Genesis 2:11 rich in gold and bdellium and onyx stone. The question as to the locality of this region has given rise to a great diversity of opinion. It may perhaps be identified with the sandy tract which skirts Babylonia along the whole of its western border, stretching from the lower Euphrates to the mountains of Edom. (2.) A district in Arabia-Felix. It is uncertain whether the tribe gave its name to this region or derived its name from it, and whether it was originally a Cushite (Genesis 10:7) or a Joktanite tribe (Genesis 10:29; compare Genesis 25:18), or whether there were both a Cushite and a Joktanite Havilah. It is the opinion of Kalisch, however, that Havilah "in both instances designates the same country, extending at least from the Persian to the Arabian Gulf, and on account of its vast extent easily divided into two distinct parts." This opinion may be well vindicated. (3.) One of the sons of Cush (Genesis 10:7). (4.) A son of Joktan (Genesis 10:29; 1 Chronicles 1:23).