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HaughtinessAid to Bible Understanding
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him and against Judah and Jerusalem.” Happily, he recovered from this dangerous attitude. The account continues. “However, Hezekiah humbled himself for the haughtiness of his heart, he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and Jehovah’s indignation did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.”—2 Chron. 32:25, 26; compare Isaiah 3:16-24; Ezekiel 28:2, 5, 17.
GOD OPPOSES HAUGHTINESS
Not only are haughty ones distasteful to honest men, but, more seriously, they receive the opposition of Jehovah God. (Jas. 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5) Haughtiness is foolishness, and a sin (Prov. 14:3; 21:4), and Jehovah sets himself against the haughty to bring them low. (2 Sam. 22:28; Job 10:16; 40:11; Ps. 18:27; 31:18, 23; Isa. 2:11, 17) Haughtiness is sure to bring destruction if not forsaken. The ancient nation of Moab, which lifted itself up against God and his people, was brought to nothing. (Isa. 16:6; 25:10, 11; Jer. 48:29) Even the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel was not spared when it became haughty and insolent in heart.—Isa. 9:8-12.
GUARD AGAINST HAUGHTINESS
One should therefore watch carefully to keep haughtiness out of his heart. He should be especially on guard when he has achieved success in any endeavor, or is given a higher or more responsible position. He can be mindful that “pride is before a crash, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.” (Prov. 16:18) Furthermore, one can let haughtiness grow. It can come to control him to the extent that Jehovah will class him with those whom he gives up to a disapproved mental state, and who are deserving of death. (Rom. 1:28, 30, 32) Such caution is especially appropriate in the “last days,” when, as the apostle warned, haughtiness would be one of the distinguishing characteristics of those critical times.—2 Tim. 3:1, 2.
Additionally, the person desiring God’s favor should avoid flattery, which tends to cultivate haughtiness in others. The proverb says: “An able-bodied man that is flattering his companion is spreading out a mere net for his steps.” (Prov. 29:5) Not only does the flatterer bring ruin to his companion (“a flattering mouth causes an overthrow”—Prov. 26:28), but he also receives God’s disfavor. The apostle Paul was careful to avoid both flattery and haughtiness.—1 Thess. 2:5, 6.
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HauranAid to Bible Understanding
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HAURAN
(Ha·u·ranʹ).
A boundary site in Ezekiel’s vision of Israel’s inheritance. (Ezek. 47:13, 15, 16, 18) According to some scholars it embraced approximately the same area earlier covered by the term “Bashan.” (See BASHAN.) Hauran is apparently the district referred to in ancient Egyptian texts (Huruna), and Assyrian documents of Shalmaneser III (Hauranu). It also appears to correspond to the smaller region called “Auranitis” in Graeco-Roman times. The name el-Hauran is applied today to the rolling prairie of rich red soil between Damascus and the Yarmuk River.
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HavilahAid to Bible Understanding
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HAVILAH
(Havʹi·lah) [stretch of sand].
1. A land ‘encircled’ by the Pishon, one of the four rivers branching off from the river issuing out of Eden. It is further identified as a land of good gold, bdellium gum and the onyx stone. (Gen. 2:10-12) Inasmuch as the Pishon River is no longer identifiable, the location of the land of Havilah remains uncertain. (See PISHON.) The description of its resources is considered by some to be typically Arabian and it is often associated with a region in SW Arabia. However, as geographer J. Simons comments (The Geographical and Topographical Texts of the Old Testament, 1959, p. 41): “From ancient times gold has come from various parts of the Arabian peninsula.”
If, as seems reasonable, the land of Havilah of Genesis 2:11 is the same as that referred to in Genesis 25:18, then it appears that Havilah embraced a larger area than the region in SW Arabia suggested by some. According to Genesis 25:18, the Ishmaelites were “tabernacling from Havilah near Shur, which is in front of Egypt, as far as Assyria.” This would require that Havilah, or at least a portion thereof, extend to or near the Sinai Peninsula, in which the Wilderness of Shur likely is located. (See SHUR.) The text evidently shows that the nomadic Ishmaelites ranged from the Sinai Peninsula clear across northern Arabia and into Mesopotamia. Similarly, when King Saul struck down the Amalekites “from Havilah as far as Shur, which is in front of Egypt” (1 Sam. 15:7), it would appear that the expression “from Havilah” points to a portion, probably the NW corner, of the Arabian Peninsula as representing one limit of the territory in which the Amalekites were centered, while the Wilderness of Shur in the Sinai Peninsula represented the other limit, or as expressed in The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Vol. 1, p. 101): “from the desert interior of the N Arabian Nejd to the region N of modern Suez in Egypt.”
Thus, unless the “Havilah” of Genesis 2:11 is a distinct region from that mentioned in these other texts, it would appear that it embraced at least the NW portion of the Arabian Peninsula and perhaps a much larger area. On the basis of the Biblical reference to “the entire land of Havilah,” J. Simons, quoted above, suggests that the term “Havilah” may take in the entire Arabian Peninsula, though it is difficult to see how the Pishon River could have ‘encircled’ such an area.
2. A son of Cush the son of Ham. (Gen. 10:6, 7) Many scholars view the name “Havilah” in this text as also representing a region, and the name may well have come to be applied to the area settled by the descendants of this son of Cush. Since the majority of Cush’s descendants appear to have migrated into Africa and Arabia following the breakup at Babel (Gen. 11:9), it is generally suggested that the descendants of the Cushite Havilah are to be connected with the region called “Haulan” in ancient Sabean inscriptions. This region lay on the SW coast of Arabia to the N of modern Yemen. Additionally, some suggest that, in course of time, migrants of this tribe crossed the Red Sea to Somaliland in Africa, the ancient name possibly being preserved there in that of the Aualis. (Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. II, p. 311) It is equally possible that the migration took place in a reverse direction, that is, from Africa to Arabia. The strait of the Red Sea, called Bab el-Mandeb, that separates Arabia from Somaliland in Africa is only twenty miles (32 kilometers) wide.
3. A son of Joktan and descendant of Shem through Arpachshad. (Gen. 10:22-29) The names of certain others of Joktan’s sons, such as Hazarmaveth and Ophir, are evidently connected with regions in S Arabia. Thus it seems likely that the Shemitic Havilah and his descendants also settled in Arabia, though not necessarily in the S. Some would place him in the region identical with that of the Cushite Havilah; but the mere correspondency of the names is hardly basis for assuming that, in spite of their ethnological differences, they both gravitated to the same area. While the evidence connecting the Cushite Havilah with the region in SW Arabia known as Haulan (mentioned in No. 2 above) is not conclusive, hence possibly allowing for Haulan to be connected instead with the Shemitic Havilah, Haulan’s association with Africa and its proximity to Ethiopia (the land of Cush) would seem to favor its being linked with the Cushite Havilah. On this basis it would seem likely that the Havilah descended from Shem occupied territory more to the N of Arabia, perhaps providing the source for the name of the land referred to in the Genesis texts mentioned in No. 1 above.
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Havvoth-jairAid to Bible Understanding
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HAVVOTH-JAIR
(Hav·voth-jaʹir) [tent villages of Jair].
Villages located in Manasseh’s territory E of the Jordan. Since “Gilead” at times also denotes
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