Havilah (of Arabia)

Havilah was a region inhabited by the descendants of Ishmael (Gen 25:18), which was later raided by King Saul during his campaign against the Amalekites (1Sa 15:7).

Havilah was a region located in the northwestern Arabian Peninsula, inhabited by the descendants of Ishmael, Abraham's son (Gen.25.18). The Ishmaelites settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, which bordered Egypt to the east. During King Saul's reign, he launched a military campaign against the Amalekites, a nomadic people who lived in the region. Saul's army attacked the Amalekites from Havilah to Shur (1Sa.15.7), indicating that Havilah marked the eastern extent of the Amalekite territory. This Havilah is distinct from the one mentioned in the Garden of Eden account and is likely located in what is now northwestern Saudi Arabia.

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 (Gen. 10:7) or a Joktanite tribe (10:29; comp. 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.