Aven
Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) · International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)
THE DICTIONARY — Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)
nothingness; vanity. (1.) Hosea speaks of the “high places of Aven” (10:8), by which he means Bethel. He also calls it Beth-aven, i.e., “the house of vanity” (4:15), on account of the golden calves Jeroboam had set up there (1 Kings 12:28). (2.) Translated by the LXX. “On” in Ezekiel 30:17. The Egyptian Heliopolis or city of On (q.v.). (3.) In Amos 1:5 it denotes the Syrian Heliopolis, the modern Baalbec.
THE FULL ARTICLE — from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), general editor James Orr — public domain, printed whole.
a'-ven 'awen "emptiness," "vanity": Used in Eze 30:17 for On or Heliopolis, in Egypt. See ON. As a term of contempt Hosea calls Beth-el "Beth-aven" (4:15; 10:5). So Amos speaks of some valley near Damascus as "the valley of Aven" (that is, of the idol, 1:5), in which Baalbek (Heliopolis) was situated. The word is rendered "idol" in Isa 66:3.