AVEN

(Aʹven) [trouble; wickedness; idolatry].

1. Aven appears in the Hebrew Masoretic text at Ezekiel 30:17 and is so rendered in AV. Many modern translations here read “On,” the city in Egypt called Helioplis by the Greeks. The Hebrew consonants for Aven are the same as for On but the vowel pointing differs. Some commentaries suggest that the change in the vowel pointing was a deliberate play on words in order to express contempt for the idolatrous city of On, the center of Egyptian sun worship.—See ON.

2. At Hosea 10:8 Aven appears in the Hebrew text evidently as an abbreviation for Beth-aven.—Compare Hosea 4:15; 5:8; 10:5; see BETH-AVEN No. 2.

3. Amos 1:5 refers to the “valley plain of Aven,” and this expression from the Hebrew is rendered “Bikath-aven” in NW, JP and JB.—See BIKATH-AVEN.