Habor

From BibleEncyclopedia.Net

hā´bor (חבור, ḥābhōr; Ἁβώρ, Habō̇r, Ἁβιώρ, Habiō̇r; Isidor of Charax, Aburas (Ἀβουράς), Zosias, Aboras):

The united stream, or, according to others, with beautiful banks, the name of a river in Assyria, and also of the district through which it flowed (1 Chronicles 5:26).

There is a river called Khabur which rises in the central highlands of Kurdistan, and flows south-west till it falls into the Tigris, about 70 miles above Mosul. This was not, however, the Habor of Scripture. There is another river of the same name (the Chaboras) which, after a course of about 200 miles, flows into the Euphrates at Karkesia, the ancient Circesium. This was, there can be little doubt, the ancient Habor.

1. Its Position and Course

Is described in 2 Kings 17:6; 2 Kings 18:11 (compare 1 Chronicles 5:26) as “the river of Gozan.” It is the Arabic Khabur, and flows in a southerly direction from several sources in the mountains of Karaj Dāgh (Mons Masius), which, in the 37th parallel, flanks the valley of the Tigris on the West. The river ultimately joins the Euphrates after receiving its chief tributary, the Jaghjagha Su (Mygdonius), at Circesium (Kirkisiyeh).

2. Etymologies of Habor

The meaning of its name is doubtful, but Delitzsch has suggested a Sumerian etymology, namely, h̬abur, “the fish-waterway,” or it may be connected with “mother H̬ubur,” a descriptive title of Tiāmat (see Merodach; Rahab).

3. Historical References

Layard found several interesting Assyrian remains in the district, including man-headed bulls bearing the name of Mušeš-Ninip, possibly an Assyrian governor. Tiglath-pileser I (circa 1120 BC) boasts of having killed 10 mighty elephants in Haran and on the banks of the Habor; and Aššur-naṣir-apli (circa 880 bc), after conquering H̬aršit (H̬arrit, H̬armis), subjugated the tract around piate ša nâr H̬abur, “the mouths of the Habor.” According to 2 Kings and 1 Chronicles, Shalmaneser IV and Sargon transported the exiled Israelites thither. Philological considerations exclude the identification of the Chebar of Ezekiel 13, etc., with the Habor.