PARVAIM (par-vā'ĭm, Heb. parwāyim, meaning uncertain). A place mentioned in 2Chr.3.6 from which Solomon obtained gold for the temple.
PARVAIM pär vā’ əm (
פַּרְוָֽיִם, LXX
Φαρουάιμ, meaning unknown). The place from which Solomon obtained gold for the Temple.
It is recorded in 2 Chronicles 3:6 that Solomon “adorned the house with settings of precious stones. The gold was gold of Parvaim.” Both Rabbi Hisda and Rabbi Ashi said the gold of Parvaim was reddish, esp. on the Day of Atonement (Talmud Yoma 45a). The name is unknown elsewhere, but three suggestions have been made: (1) It may be Sak el-Farwein in Yemamah, (2) Farwa in Yemen, or (3) an alternate form for Sephar (Gen 10:30), which also is unknown.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)
The word occurs only in 2Ch 3:6, as the place from which Solomon obtained gold for the decoration of his Temple. A derivation is given from the Sanskrit purva, "eastern," so that the name might be a vague term for the East (Gesenius, Thesaurus, 1125). Whether there was such a place in arabia is doubtful. Farwa in Yemen has been suggested, and also Saq el Farwain in Yemamah. Some have considered the name a shortened form of Cepharvayim which occurs in the Syriac and Targum Jonathan for the "Sephar" of Ge 10:30.
