Much of what follows here can also be found in my commentary on Chavah (Eve):-
Three extremely similar names, and very close to each other geographically, suggests that the first part, GIV or GEV, must have some significance, in the way that CASTRA always suggests a Roman fort, and HAM a Saxon settlement.
And indeed they do - the root means "a mound", specifically a burial mound, and usually a tumulus.
But it is also more complex than that, because Geb was the name of the Egyptian earth-god, and probably this was the source of the name, a consequence of the many occupations of Kena'an over the centuries, and the garrisons and the colonies that were left behind.
Geb was a member of the Enniad of Heliopolis, which was the later Greek name for the city of On, so the name Giv-On adds weight to the Egyptian connection, but also emphasises why I have taken the trouble to point out the problem that arises when Yehudit names are rendered incorrectly in translation. Geb was the spouse of Nut, the sky-goddess, which inverts the Beney Yisra-El pattern of Earth-goddess and sky-god; they parented Osher (Osiris), Eshet (Isis), Shet and Nephtys, which may help to explain how the story of Shet as the third son of Adam and Chavah found its way into the Beney Yisra-El traditions.
During the reigns of both David and Shelomoh (Solomon), the Ark of the Covenant was kept at Giv-On. If this Egyptian hypothesis is correct, the name Giv-On would either mean "the place of Geb" or it might be a hyphenation of his name with the Egyptian city of On.
However (or evolved from this) there is also GAVAH = "to be high", used for tall people (1 Samuel 10:23), the exaltation of the deity (Isaiah 52:13), and mountains (Genesis 7:19); which suggests that Giv-On could actually be Givon, and would simply mean "a hill". No question that this was what it came to mean, later on, when the Egyptian influence had been removed or forgotten.
However (or evolved from this) there is also GAVAH = "to be high", used for tall people (1 Samuel 10:23), the exaltation of the deity (Isaiah 52:13), and mountains (Genesis 7:19); which suggests that Giv-On could actually be Givon, and would simply mean "a hill". No question that this was what it came to mean, later on, when the Egyptian influence had been removed or forgotten.
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David Prashker
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