On the one hand its vowelization resembles that of the term ʿarvati (Arbathite) which is understood as an adjective formed from ʿaravah ; thus it is plausibly a similarly formed adjective from ʿarav and thus a variant of ʿaravi . On the other hand, it is used in 2 Chronicles 21:16 for a seemingly different people located in Africa plausibly the same Africans referred to as an ʿerev (mix of people) in Ezekiel 30:5. Any of the other meanings of the root are also possible as the origin of the name.