Avites
“Perverters”
Summary
An early people group inhabiting villages in the southwestern coastal region of Canaan, destroyed and displaced by the Caphtorim who came from Caphtor.
☩Pre-Philistine Inhabitants
The Avites (also called Avvim) were early inhabitants of villages in the southwestern coastal plain of Canaan, in territory later occupied by the Philistines. They were destroyed and displaced by the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor and settled in their land. Their name may derive from a Hebrew root meaning 'perverters.'
☩Colonists of Samaria
A separate group also called Avites were among the peoples transplanted by the Assyrian king from the city of Ava to colonize Samaria after the deportation of the northern kingdom of Israel. These colonists brought their own religious practices, making gods called Nibhaz and Tartak.
