Pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable, so "O-val" rather than a mis-shapen circle or an English cricket ground.
Genesis 10:28 names him as a son of Yoktan in the family of Shem.
1 Chronicles 1:22 gives him as Eyval, identifying him thereby with Mount Eyval (Ebal), the curser twin with Mount Gerizim in the cursings and blessings stipulated in Deuteronomy 11:29; the Samaritan texts also say Eyval (עיבל).
1 Chronicles 1:22 gives him as Eyval, identifying him thereby with Mount Eyval (Ebal), the curser twin with Mount Gerizim in the cursings and blessings stipulated in Deuteronomy 11:29; the Samaritan texts also say Eyval (עיבל).
Some scholars, following Josephus, think Oval may be the town in Edom known by the Romans as Goboltis, in which case it should be Geval or even Jebal; the Ayin (ע) in the Semitic languages is often extremely guttural, pronounced almost as if there were a soft G at the beginning - the sound of someone swallowing!
The name means "stripped of leaves".
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