HAVILAH
Region surrounded by the Pisón, one of the branches of the river of Eden (see EDEN). In it were found metals and precious stones, and bdellium, a type of aromatic gum (Gen. 2:11, 12). Later, this name designated a region north of central Arabia.
A distinction is made between the Havilah of the Joktanites, a Semitic people (Gen. 10:29; 25:18; 1 Sam. 15:7) and that of the Cushites (Gen. 10:7; 1 Chron. 1:9).
There are geographers who prefer to identify Havila with the Haulan (Khawlãn), in the western region of Arabia, north of Yemen; It is not known exactly how far north Havila extended. The account of Saul’s wars allows us to assume that the Arabian desert had the name of Havila in an area of several hundred kilometers, north of al-Yanãmah (1 Sam. 15:7; cp. Gen. 25:18) .