חֲוִילָה

n.pr.terr. (√ dub. DlPa 12 suggests חוֹל sand-land, dunes, as Heb. popular etym., MV11 give it as actual etym.; StaThLZ Apr. 28, 1894, 235 compares this, as well as חוֹל sand, with Arabic وَحَلٌ soft mud, [damp sand])—אֶרֶץ הַחֲוִילָה Gn 2:11 (surrounded or bordered—סבב—by river Pishon; noted for excellent gold, bdellium and shoham-stone); elsewhere without art. חֲוִילָה 10:7 = 1 Ch 1:9 as a ‘son’ of Cush (between סְבָא and סַבְתָּה); but also as a ‘son’ of יָקְטָן, a descendant of Shem Gn 10:29 = 1 Ch 1:23 (between אוֹפִיר and יוֹבָב); מֵח׳ עַד־שׁוּר Gn 25:18 said of limits of Ishmaelitish territory; cf. same limits of Amalek 1 S 15:7 (but dub.; We reads טֵילָם, cf. v 4 and vid. Dr; GlaserSkizze ii, 326 reads חֲכִילָה as 23:19; 26:1, 3).—Most have supposed several regions named ח׳ to be indicated in these passages:—e.g. Thes 1. Arabian shore of Pers. Gulf Gn 10:29 etc. 2. Ethiopian coast Gn 10:7 etc. 3. India Gn 2:11 (regarded as indef. extension of 1). Di Gn 10:7 distinguishes 1 and 2 either as quite distinct, or as different settlements of one great people, and (on Gn 2:14) thinks that כל ארץ ח׳ Gn 2:11 implies vague extension eastward. DlPa 12 ff. 57 ff. identif. ח׳ in all passages with NE. part of Syrian desert, so E. MeyerGesch. Alterth. i. 224; GlaserSkizze ii. 323 ff. with central and NE. Arabia. The question is still undecided.