Smith's Bible Dictionary

Hul — Hyssop

Hul

Hul (circle), the second son of Aram, and grandson of Shem. Genesis 10:23. The strongest evidence is in favor of the district about the roots of Lebanon.

Hul’dah (weasel), a prophetess, whose husband, Shallum, was keeper of the wardrobe in the time of King Josiah. It was to her that Josiah had recourse, when Hilkiah found a book of the law, to procure an authoritative opinion on it. 2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:22. (b.c. 623.)

Humtah

Hum’tah (place of lizards), a city of Judah, one of those in the mountain district, the next to Hebron. Joshua 15:54.

Hunting

Hunting. Hunting, as a matter of necessity, whether for the extermination of dangerous beasts or for procuring sustenance, betokens a rude and semi-civilized state; as an amusement, it betokens an advanced state. The Hebrews, as a pastoral and agricultural people, were not given to the sports of the field; the density of the population, the earnestness of their character, and the tendency of their ritual regulations, particularly those affecting food, all combined to discourage the practice of hunting. The manner of catching animals was, first, either by digging a pitfall, or, secondly, by a trap which was set under ground, Job 18:10, in the run of the animal, Proverbs 22:5, and caught it by the leg, Job 18:9; or lastly by the use of the net, of which there were various kinds, as for the gazelle, Isaiah 51:20, Authorized Version, “wild bull,” and other animals of that class.

Hupham

Hu’pham (coast-man), a son of Benjamin, founder of the family of the Huphamites. Numbers 26:39. (b.c. 1688.)

Huphamites The

Hu’phamites, The, descendants of Hupham, of the tribe of Benjamin. Numbers 26:39.

Huppah

Hup’pah (protected), a priest in the time of David. 1 Chronicles 24:13.

Huppim

Hup’pim (protected), head of a Benjamite family. Genesis 46:21; 1 Chronicles 7:12.

Hur

Hur (hole).

1. A man who is mentioned with Moses and Aaron on the occasion of the battle with Amalek at Rephidim, Exodus 17:10, when with Aaron he stayed up the hands of Moses. ver. Exodus 17:12. (b.c. 1491.) He is mentioned again in ch. Exodus 24:14 as being, with Aaron, left in charge of the people by Moses during his ascent of Sinai. The Jewish tradition is that he was the husband of Miriam, and that he was identical with

2. The grandfather of Bezaleel, the chief artificer of the tabernacle. Exodus 31:2; Exodus 35:30; Exodus 38:22.

3. The fourth of the five kings of Midian who were slain with Balaam after the “matter of Peor.” Numbers 31:8. (b.c. 1451.) In a later mention of them, Joshua 13:21, they are called princes of Midian and dukes.

4. Father of Rephaiah, who was ruler of half of the environs of Jerusalem, and assisted Nehemiah in the repair of the wall. Nehemiah 3:9. (b.c. before 446.)

5. The “son of Hur”—Ben-Hur—was commissariat officer for Solomon in Mount Ephraim. 1 Kings 4:8. (b.c. 995.)

Hura-i

Hu’ra-i, or Hura’i (linen-weaver), one of David’s guard—Hurai of the torrents of Gaash, according to the list of 1 Chronicles 11:32. [HIDDAI.]

Huram

Hu’ram (noble born).

1. A Benjamite; son of Bela, the first-born of the patriarch. 1 Chronicles 8:5.

2. The form in which the name of the king of Tyre in alliance with David and Solomon—and elsewhere given as Hiram—appears in Chronicles. 1 Chronicles 14:1; 2 Chronicles 2:3, 2 Chronicles 2:11, 2 Chronicles 2:12; 2 Chronicles 8:2, 2 Chronicles 8:18; 2 Chronicles 9:10, 2 Chronicles 9:21.

3. The same change occurs in Chronicles in the name of Hiram the artificer, which is given as Huram in 2 Chronicles 2:13; 2 Chronicles 4:11, 2 Chronicles 4:16. [HIRAM.]

Huri

Hu’ri (linen-weaver), a Gadite; father of Abihail. 1 Chronicles 5:14.

Husband

Husband. [MARRIAGE.]

Hushah

Hu’shah (haste), a name which occurs in the genealogies of the tribe of Judah. 1 Chronicles 4:4.

Husha-i

Hu’sha-i, or Husha’i (hasting), an Archite, i.e., possibly an inhabitant of a place called Erec. 2 Samuel 15:32-34.; 2 Samuel 16:16ff. He is called the “friend” of David. 2 Samuel 15:37; comp. 1 Chronicles 27:33. To him David confided the delicate and dangerous part of a pretended adherence to the cause of Absalom. (b.c. about 1023.) He was probably the father of Baana. 1 Kings 4:16.

Husham

Hu’sham (haste), one of the early kings of Edom. Genesis 36:34, Genesis 36:35; 1 Chronicles 1:45, 1 Chronicles 1:46.

Hushathite

Hu’shathite (inhabitant of Hushah), The, the designation of two of the heroes of David’s guard.

1. Sibbechai. 2 Samuel 21:18; 1 Chronicles 11:29; 1 Chronicles 20:4; 1 Chronicles 27:11. Josephus, however, calls him a Hittite.

2. Mebunnai, 2 Samuel 23:27, a mere corruption of Sibbechai.

Hushim

Hu’shim (who makes haste).

1. In Genesis 46:23 “the children of Dan” are said to have been Hushim. The name is plural, as if of a tribe rather than an individual. In Numbers 26:42 the name is changed to Shuham.

2. A Benjamite, 1 Chronicles 7:12; and here again apparently the plural nature of the name is recognized, and Hushim are stated to be “the sons of Aher.”

3. One of the two wives of Shaharaim. 1 Chronicles 8:8. (b.c. 1450.)

Husks

Husks. This word in Luke 15:16 describes really the fruit of a particular kind of tree, viz., the carob or Ceratonia siliqua of botanists. It belongs to the locust family. This tree is very commonly met with in Syria and Egypt; it produces pods, shaped like a horn, varying in length from six to ten inches, and about a finger’s breadth, or rather more; it is dark-brown, glossy, filled with seeds, and has a sweetish taste. It is used much for food by the poor, and for the feeding of swine.

Husks of Swine—Carob Beans.

Huz

Huz (light, sandy soil), the eldest son of Nahor and Milcah. Genesis 22:21. (b.c. about 1900.)

Huzzab

Huz’zab (fixed), according to the general opinion of the Jews, was the queen of Nineveh at the time when Nahum delivered his prophecy. Nahum 2:7. (b.c. about 700.) The moderns follow the rendering in the margin of our English Bible—“that which was established.” Still it is not improbable that after all Huzzab may really be a proper name. It may mean “the Zab country,” or the fertile tract east of the Tigris, watered by the upper and lower Zab rivers.

Hyacinth

Hyacinth, used in the Revised Version for jacinth in Revelation 9:17. It is simply another English spelling of the same Greek word.

Hyæna

Hyæna (Hyaena) — Authorities differ as to whether the term tzabua in (Jeremiah 12:9) means a "hyaena" or a "speckled bird." The only other instance in which it occurs is as a proper name, Zeboim, (1 Samuel 13:18) "the valley of hyaenas, "Aquila; (Nehemiah 11:34) The striped hyaena (Hyaena striata) is found in Africa, Asia Minor, Arabia and Persia, and is more common in Palestine than any other carnivorous animals except perhaps the jackal. The hyaena is among the mammals what the vulture is among birds, -- the scavenger of the wilderness, the woods and the shore. -- It often attacks animals, and Sometimes digs up the dead bodies of men and beasts. From this last habit the hyaena has been regarded as a horrible and mysterious creature. Its teeth are so powerful that they can crack the bones of an ox with ease. -- Appeltons Encyc. The hyaena was common in ancient as in modern Egypt, and is constantly depicted upon monuments; it must therefore have been well known to the Jews.

Hymenæus

Hymenæus (Hymenaeus) — (belonging to marriage), the name of a person occurring twice in the correspondence between St. Paul and Timothy; the first time classed with Alexander, (1 Timothy 1:20) and the second time classed with Philetus. (2 Timothy 2:17; 2 Timothy 2:18) (A.D. 66-7.) He denied the true doctrine of the resurrection.

Hymn

Hymn, a religious song or psalm. Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16. Our Lord and his apostles sung a hymn after the last supper. In the jail at Philippi, Paul and Silas “sang hymns” (Authorized Version “praises”) unto God, and so loud was their song that their fellow prisoners heard them.

Hyssop

Hyssop. (Heb. êzôb.) The êzôb was used for sprinkling in some of the sacrifices and purifications of the Jews. In consequence of its detergent qualities, or from its being associated with the purificatory services, the Psalmist makes use of the expression, “Purge me with êzôb.” Psalm 51:7. It is described in 1 Kings 4:33 as growing on or near walls. (Besides being thus fit for sprinkling, having cleansing properties, and growing on walls, the true hyssop should be a plant common to Egypt, Sinai, and Palestine, and capable of producing a stick three or four feet long, since on a stalk of hyssop the sponge of vinegar was held up to Christ on the cross. John 19:29. It is impossible to precisely identify the plant, probably because the name was given not to a particular plant but to a family of plants associated together by qualities easily noticed rather than by close botanical affinities. Different species of the family may have been used at different times. The hyssop of the Bible is probably one (or all) of three plants:—

1. The common hyssop is “a shrub with low, bushy stalks 1½ feet high, small pear-shaped, close-setting opposite leaves, all the stalks and branches terminated by erect whorled spikes of flowers of different colors in the varieties. It is a hardy plant, with an aromatic smell and a warm, pungent taste; a native of the south of Europe and the East.”—Ed.)

Hyssop.

2. Bochart decides in favor of marjoram, or some plant like it, and to this conclusion, it must be admitted, all ancient tradition points. (This is the Origanum maru, the z’atar of the Arabs. The French consul at Sidon exhibited to Dr. Thomson (“The Land and the Book,” i. 161) a specimen of this “having the fragrance of thyme, with a hot, pungent taste, and long slender stems.” Dr. Post of Beirut, in the American edition of Smith’s large Dictionary, favors this view.—Ed.)

3. But Dr. Royle, after a careful investigation of the subject, arrives at the conclusion that the hyssop is no other than the caper-plant, or Capparis spinosa of Linnæus. The Arabic name of this plant, asuf, by which it is sometimes, though not commonly, described, bears considerable resemblance to the Hebrew. “It is a bright-green creeper, which climbs from the fissures of the rocks, is supposed to possess cleansing properties, and is capable of yielding a stick to which a sponge might be attached.”—Stanley, “Sinai and Palestine,” 23. It produces a fruit the size of a walnut, called the mountain pepper.