Aviv

Aviv (Hebrew: אביב‎‎) is a word that has several similar meanings in Hebrew. It is also used as a given name and surname.

Meanings

• The basic meaning of the word aviv is the stage in the growth of grain when the seeds have reached full size and are filling with starch, but have not dried yet. During the plague of hail (Exodus 9:31), the barley was said to be aviv and the flax giv`ol.
• The month in the Hebrew calendar when the barley has reached or passed this stage (Exodus 13:4; 23:15) is called Aviv, or the "month of the aviv": the seventh of the Jewish civil year, and the first of the Biblical ecclesiastical year. It begins about the time of the Northern spring equinox (March 21). Since the Babylonian captivity, this month has mainly been called Nisan (Nehemiah 2:1, Esther 3:7). On the sixteenth day of the month, harvest was begun by gathering a sheaf of barley,^[1] which was offered as a sacrifice to God (Lev 23:4-11), when the Temple in Jerusalem existed.
• "Aviv" accordingly also means spring, one of the four seasons. Thus the major modern Israeli city of Tel Aviv means "Spring Hill".^[2]
• Since Passover is always celebrated on 15–21 (or 22 outside Israel) Nisan, near the beginning of spring, "Holiday of Aviv". Pesach or Passover is always on the 14th of Nisan. The first day of Chag ha Matzoh or the Feast of Unleavened Bread is always the day after that, the 15th of Nisan.^[3] Hebrew: Chag Ha'Aviv חג האביב‎‎ is an additional name for Passover.

As a name

Aviv is also a Hebrew male name. The old and rare^[4] Russian Christian male given name "Ави́в" (Aviv) was possibly also borrowed from Biblical Hebrew, where it derived from the word abīb, meaning an ear or a time of year where grains come into ear,^[5] also known as "Aviv" (or Nisan—the first month of the Hebrew calendar).^[6] The feminine version of the name is Aviva.^[4] The diminutives of "Aviv" are Aviva (Ави́ва) and Viva (Ви́ва).^[4] The patronymics derived from "Aviv" are "Ави́вович" (Avivovich; masculine) and "Ави́вовна" (Avivovna; feminine).^[4]

Given name

• Aviv Avraham (born 1996), Israeli footballer
• Aviv Azaria (born 1991), Israeli footballer
• Aviv Geffen (born 1973), Israeli rock musician, singer, and songwriter

Surname

• Haim Aviv (born 1940), Israeli molecular biologist
• Jonathan E. Aviv (born 1960), American surgeon and professor
• Juval Aviv (born 1947), Israeli-American security consultant and writer

References

1. Ruth 1:22;2:2
2. "From Spring Hill to Independence".
3. Leviticus 23:5,6
4. Н. А. Петровский (N. A. Petrovsky). "Словарь русских личных имён" (Dictionary of Russian First Names). ООО Издательство "АСТ". Москва, 2005. ISBN 5-17-002940-3, p. 34
5. А. В. Суперанская (A. V. Superanskaya). "Современный словарь личных имён: Сравнение. Происхождение. Написание" (Modern Dictionary of First Names: Comparison. Origins. Spelling). Айрис-пресс. Москва, 2005. ISBN 5-8112-1399-9, p. 22
6. А. В. Суперанская (A. V. Superanskaya). "Словарь русских имён" (Dictionary of Russian Names). Издательство Эксмо. Москва, 2005. ISBN 5-699-14090-5, p. 32

External links

• Abib of God
• Abib (Barley) in the Hebrew Bible: a description of the importance of aviv in the Karaite calendar by the World Karaite Movement
• 2011 Aviv Report (Update to that entry, showing pictures of aviv barley and how to distinguish wheat from barley): Aviv Reports added Annually
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Easton, Matthew George (1897). "^{article name needed}". Easton's Bible Dictionary (New and revised ed.). T. Nelson and Sons.