Difference between revisions of "Ahava"

<p> [[Ahava]] (''A-Hâ'Vah'' or ''A'Ha-Vah'' ), ''Water.'' A town or district and a river probably in Babylonia, near where Ezra collected the returning exiles. &nbsp;Ezra 8:21; &nbsp;Ezra 8:31. </p>

<p> (Hebrew Ahava', אהְֲוָא, prob. ''Water;'' Sept. Ἀουέ in &nbsp;Ezra 8:21; &nbsp;Ezra 8:31, but Ε᾿υεί v. r. Ε᾿υί in &nbsp;Ezra 8:15), the "river" (נָהָר ) by which the [[Jewish]] exiles assembled their second caravan under Ezra, in returning from Babylon to Jerusalem; or, rather, as appears from &nbsp;Ezra 8:15 ("the river that runneth to Ahava"), the name of some spot (according to Michaelis, a city; comp. De Wette, ''Einleit.'' 2, 1:289; but more probably the river [[Euphrates]] itself, which is still called "the river" by way of eminence, Gesenius, ''Heb. Lex.'' s.v.), in the direction of which the stream where they encamped ran. Some have inferred from the mention of [[Casiphia]] (q.v.), apparently in the same neighborhood (&nbsp;Ezra 8:17), that the place in question was situated near the Caspian Sea, or, at least, in Media; but this would be entirely out of the required direction, and no corresponding name has been found in that vicinity. Others have sought the Ahava in the [[Lycus]] or Little Zab, finding that this river was anciently called ''Adiaba'' or Diaba (i. c. ''Of Adiabene,'' Ammian. Marcel. 23, 6; comp. Mannert, 5, 429). But these names would, in Hebrew, have no resemblance to אהוא and it is exceedingly unlikely that the rendezvous for a [[Palestine]] caravan should have been in the north- eastern part of Assyria, with the [[Tigris]] and Euphrates between them and the plains they were to traverse (Le Clerc, in loc.). Rosenmuller, on the other hand, supposes (Bibl. Geogr. I, 2, 93) that it lay to the south-west of Babylonia, because that was in the direction of Palestine; but caravan routes seldom run straight between two places. In this case a straight line would have taken the caravan through the whole breadth of a desert seldom traversed but by the Arabs; and to avoid this the usual route for large caravans lay, and still lies, northwest through Mesopotamia, much above Babylonia; and then, the Euphrates being crossed, the direction is south-west to Palestine. The greater probability, therefore, is that the "river" in question (whether the Ahava itself or a branch running into it) was one of the streams or canals of [[Mesopotamia]] communicating with the Euphrates, somewhere in the north-west of Babylonia. The name, however, may be the designation of a place, and the latest researches are in favor of its being the modern Hit, on the Euphrates, due east of Damascus, the name of which is known to have been in the post-biblical times ohi, or Jehe de-kera (Talm. יְהֵיא דְּקֵירָא ), "the spring of bitumen" (Rawlinson's Herodotus, 1, 246, note). But this is rather the [[Ava]] (q.v.) or [[Ivah]] of &nbsp;2 Kings 17:24; &nbsp;2 Kings 17:30. In the parallel passage of the [[Apocrypha]] (&nbsp;1 [[Esdras]] 8:41; &nbsp;1 Esdras 8:60) the name is given [[Theras]] (Θεράς ). [[Josephus]] ''(Ant.'' 11, 5, 2) merely says "beyond the Euphrates" (εἰς τὸ πέραν τοῦ Εὐφράτου )''.'' </p>

<p> '''''a''''' -'''''hā´va''''' ( אהוא , <i> ''''''ahăwā'''''' </i> ): The river in Babylonia on the banks of which Ezra gathered together the Jews who accompanied him to Jerusalem. At this rendezvous the company encamped for three days to make preparation for the difficult and dangerous journey (&nbsp;Ezra 8:15 ). On reviewing the people and the priests Ezra found no [[Levites]] among them; he therefore sent to Iddo, "the chief at the place Casiphia," a request for ministers for the temple. A number of Levites with 220 [[Nethinim]] returned to the rendezvous with the deputation. Ezra had expressed to the king his faith in the protection of God; being, therefore, ashamed to ask for a military escort he proclaimed a fast to seek of God "a straight way." To 12 priests Ezra assigned the care of the offering for the temple in Jerusalem. When all was ready the company "departed from the river Ahava," and journeyed in safety to Jerusalem. </p> <p> This river, apparently called after a town or district toward which it flowed (&nbsp;Ezra 8:15 ), remains unidentified, though many conjectures have been made. Rawlinson thinks it is the "Is" of [[Herodotus]] (i.79), now called "Hit," which flowed past a town of the same name in the Euphrates basin, 8 days' journey from Babylon. Some identify the district with "Ivvah" (&nbsp;2 Kings 18:34 , etc.). Most probably, however, this was one of the numerous canals which intersected Babylonia, flowing from the Euphrates toward a town or district "Ahava." If so, identification is impossible. </p>