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דַּהֲוָא

𐤃𐤄𐤅𐤀

Dahava

H1723 noun

SILEX Entry

Root uncertain uncertain, proper noun designating a people

Definition

Proper name designating a group or people mentioned among those relocated to the region of Samaria during the Assyrian resettlement. Usually understood to refer to the Dehavites, an ethnic group whose precise identification remains uncertain. The term functions as an ethnonym rather than a descriptive word.

Semantic Range

a people group of uncertain origin settled in Samaria, proper ethnonym

Root / Etymology

etymology uncertain. The word appears to be a loan or transliteration of an external, possibly Persian or Median, ethnonym. No clear Hebrew or Aramaic root is identifiable. Some propose a connection to the Old Persian 'Dahae', a nomadic people of Central Asia, but this remains unconfirmed.

Historical & Contextual Notes

דַּהֲוָא (Dahăvâʼ) occurs only in Ezra 4:9 in the Aramaic section of the Hebrew Bible. The term identifies one of several peoples settled in Samaria by the Assyrian administration after the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE. The precise origin and identity of the Dahava are unclear; ancient sources and modern scholarship sometimes link the name to the Dahae, an Iranian steppe people, but this rests on uncertain philological grounds. English translations often render the name as 'Dehavites', sometimes conflating them with other groups. There is no connection to later Israelite or Judean identities. The term appears only in post-exilic, Aramaic narrative contexts and carries no further religious or cultural connotations within the Tanakh. The association with 'Jews' in some translations is anachronistic and should be avoided. The limited attestation prevents a more precise cultural or geographic localization.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

(Aramaic) of uncertain derivation; Dahava, a people colonized in Samaria; Dehavites.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

uncertain (uncertain) — proper noun designating a people, ethnonym of uncertain origin

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H1085 בִּלְדַּד Bildad
H1095 בֵּלְטְשַׁאצַּר Belteshatsar
H1114 בִּלְשָׁן Bilshan
H1150 בִּנְעָא Bin'a
H116 אֱדַיִן and then

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H1723-01 דֶּהָיֵ֖/א dehaye ANgmpd/Td the Dehaites the Dehavites 1

Occurrences in Scripture

1 total occurrence

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H1723-01 Ezra 4:9 דֶּהָיֵ֖/א dehaye ANgmpd/Td the Dehaites the Dehavites
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