5761. Avvim

Lexical Summary

Avvim: Avvim

Original Word: עַוִּים
Part of Speech: Proper Name Masculine
Transliteration: `Avviym
Pronunciation: ahv-VEEM
Phonetic Spelling: (av-veem')
KJV: Avim
NASB: Avvim, Avvite
Word Origin: [plural of H5757 (עַוִּי - Avvites)]

1. Avvim (as inhabited by Avvites), a place in Israel (with the article prefix)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance

Avim

Plural of Avviy; Avvim (as inhabited by Avvites), a place in Palestine (with the article prefix) -- Avim.

see HEBREW Avviy

NAS Exhaustive Concordance

Word Origin
of uncertain derivation
Definition
a city in Benjamin, also a people on the S.W. coast of the Mediterranean Sea
NASB Translation
Avvim (2), Avvite (1).

Topical Lexicon

Biblical Occurrence

“Avvim, Parah, Ophrah” (Joshua 18:23). The name appears only here, listed among the towns allotted to the tribe of Benjamin when the land was divided at Shiloh.

Geographical and Historical Background

• Sequence in the list suggests a location in the central highlands of Benjamin, east or northeast of Bethel and west of the Jordan Valley.
• Several ruins whose modern Arabic names preserve the root ʿ-w-y (such as Khirbet el-ʿAiya or Khirbet Ibziq) have been proposed, but no identification is universally accepted.
• The town lay within territory bordered by Judah to the south and Ephraim to the north, a strategic strip that controlled north-south travel routes. Its very inclusion underlines the completeness of Israel’s possession of the land promised to the patriarchs (Genesis 15:18-21).

Relation to the Tribe of Benjamin

• Benjamin received some of the most densely populated and hotly contested ground in Canaan, containing Jericho, Gibeah, Mizpah, and Bethel. Avvim, though small, contributed to Benjamin’s network of settlements guarding approaches to the central hill country.
• The tribe’s later history—Saul’s kingship (1 Samuel 9–15) and the return of the exiles to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:5)—rests on this original territorial grant. Avvim is part of the legal title‐deed that anchored Benjamin’s identity.

Distinction from the Avvites of Philistia

Another Hebrew word sometimes anglicized “Avvim/Avvites” refers to a people who once lived near Gaza (Deuteronomy 2:23). The two terms share a consonantal core but describe unrelated entities: one is a Benjaminite town (Strong’s 5761), the other a Philistine subgroup (Strong’s 5757). Scripture’s precision with identical-sounding names confirms its internal consistency.

Theological and Ministry Insights

• God’s faithfulness in allotting land down to the smallest village shows that every community and individual matters to Him (Numbers 26:55-56; Luke 12:6-7).
• The detailed survey in Joshua 18 anticipates the believer’s eternal inheritance, “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” (1 Peter 1:4).
• Small, unheralded places like Avvim remind present-day churches to value ministries in overlooked regions. The gospel advances not only in centers of power but also in quiet towns known chiefly to God.

Lessons for Today

1. Know and steward your God-given heritage. Just as Benjamin’s clans received specific towns, every believer is entrusted with spiritual gifts and spheres of service (1 Peter 4:10).
2. Record God’s works in detail. Joshua’s precise catalog encourages Christians to recount the Lord’s past faithfulness as motivation for future obedience (Psalm 78:4-7).
3. Embrace the “ordinary” assignment. Whether a Jerusalem or an Avvim, every post in God’s kingdom plan is significant (1 Corinthians 12:22).

Related References

Joshua 18:11-28; Numbers 26:55-56; Deuteronomy 2:23; 1 Peter 1:4; 1 Peter 4:10; Ephesians 1:11.

Forms and Transliterations

וְהָעַוִּ֥ים והעוים vehaavVim wə·hā·‘aw·wîm wəhā‘awwîm

Englishman's Concordance

Joshua 18:23
HEB: וְהָעַוִּ֥ים וְהַפָּרָ֖ה וְעָפְרָֽה׃
NAS: and Avvim and Parah and Ophrah,
KJV: And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,
INT: and Avvim and Parah and Ophrah

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 5761
1 Occurrence

wə·hā·‘aw·wîm — 1 Occ.