Ahava, a location near Babylon where Ezra gathered the exiles before their return to Jerusalem.
Ahava was a place near Babylon where Ezra assembled the Jewish exiles who were preparing to return to Jerusalem (Ezra 8:15). It was located by a river, also called Ahava, which is believed to be a canal or tributary of the Euphrates River. Ezra had sent for Levites and temple servants to join the group of returning exiles, and they gathered at Ahava before setting out on their journey.
At Ahava, Ezra proclaimed a fast for the people to humble themselves before God and seek His protection for their journey (Ezra 8:21). After the fast, the exiles set out from Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month and arrived safely in Jerusalem, thanks to the hand of God upon them (Ezra 8:31). The mention of Ahava in the book of Ezra highlights the importance of spiritual preparation and reliance on God's guidance and protection during the Jews' return from exile in Babylon.
Approximate location: 33.625, 42.787 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
Water, the river (Ezra 8:21) by the banks of which the Jewish exiles assembled under Ezra when about to return to Jerusalem from Babylon. In all probability this was one of the streams of Mesopotamia which flowed into the Euphrates somewhere in the north-west of Babylonia. It has, however, been supposed to be the name of a place (Ezra 8:15) now called Hit, on the Euphrates, east of Damascus.
essence; being; generation
AHA'VA (water), a place or river where Ezra collected the returning exiles and proclaimed a fast. Ezr 8:15, Ezr 8:21, 1 Chr 24:31. Rawlinson suggests that Ahava was identical with Ava and Ivah, the modern Hit, on the Euphrates, east of Damascus.
AHA'VA (water), a place or river where Ezra collected the returning exiles and proclaimed a fast. Ezr 8:15, Ezr 8:21, 1 Chr 24:31. Rawlinson suggests that Ahava was identical with Ava and Ivah, the modern Hit, on the Euphrates, east of Damascus.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
3 verses in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H0163
Now I assembled these exiles at the canal that flows to Ahava, and we camped there three days. And when I searched among the people and priests, I found no Levites there.
And there by the Ahava Canal I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask Him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.
On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was upon us to protect us from the hands of the enemies and bandits along the way.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.