Smith's Bible Dictionary
Hepher — Hukok
Hepher
He’pher, a place in ancient Canaan, which occurs in the list of conquered kings. Joshua 12:17. It was on the west of Jordan. Comp. Joshua 12:7 and 1 Kings 4:10.
Hepherites The
He’pherites, The, the family of Hepher the son of Gilead. Numbers 26:32.
Hephzi-bah
Heph’zi-bah.
1. A name signifying “my delight in her,” which is to be borne by the restored Jerusalem. Isaiah 62:4.
2. The queen of King Hezekiah and the mother of Manasseh. 2 Kings 21:1. (b.c. 709–696.)
Herald
Herald, one who makes public proclamation. The only notice of this officer in the Old Testament occurs in Daniel 3:4. The term “herald” might be substituted for “preacher” in 1 Timothy 2:7; 2 Timothy 1:11; 2 Peter 2:5.
Herd
Herd (a collection of cattle), Herdsman. The herd was greatly regarded in both the patriarchal and the Mosaic period. The ox was the most precious stock next to horse and mule. The herd yielded the most esteemed sacrifice, Numbers 7:3; Psalm 69:31; Isaiah 66:3; also flesh meat, and milk, chiefly converted, probably, into butter and cheese. Deuteronomy 32:14; 2 Samuel 17:29. The agricultural and general usefulness of the ox in ploughing, threshing, and as a beast of burden, 1 Chronicles 12:40; Isaiah 46:1, made a slaughtering of him seem wasteful. Herdsmen, etc., in Egypt were a low, perhaps the lowest, caste; but of the abundance of cattle in Egypt, and of the care there bestowed on them, there is no doubt. Genesis 47:6, Genesis 47:17; Exodus 9:4, Exodus 9:20. So the plague of hail was sent to smite especially the cattle, Psalm 78:48, the first-born of which also were smitten. Exodus 12:29. The Israelites departing stipulated for, Exodus 10:26, and took “much cattle” with them. ch. Exodus 12:38. Cattle formed thus one of the traditions of the Israelitish nation in its greatest period, and became almost a part of that greatness. The occupation of herdsman was honorable in early times. Genesis 47:6; 1 Samuel 11:5; 1 Chronicles 27:29; 1 Chronicles 28:1. Saul himself resumed it in the interval of his cares as king; also Doeg was certainly high in his confidence. 1 Samuel 21:7. Pharaoh made some of Joseph’s brethren “rulers over his cattle.” David’s herdmasters were among his chief officers of state. The prophet Amos at first followed this occupation.
Heres
He’res (the sun), Judges 1:35, a city of Dan, in Mount Ephraim, near Ajalon; possibly identical with Mount Jearim (Ir-shemesh, city of the sun).
Heresh
He’resh (artificer), a Levite attached to the tabernacle. 1 Chronicles 9:15. (b.c. 536.)
Hermas
Her’mas (Mercury), the name of a Christian resident at Rome to whom St. Paul sends greetings in his Epistle to the Romans. Romans 16:14. (a.d. 55.) Irenæus, Tertullian, and Origen agree in attributing to him the work called The Shepherd. It was never received into the canon, but yet was generally cited with respect only second to that which was paid to the authoritative books of the New Testament.
Hermes
Her’mes (Mercury), a Christian mentioned in Romans 16:14. According to tradition he was one of the seventy disciples, and afterward bishop of Dalmatia. (a.d. 55.)
Hermogenes
Hermog’enes, a person mentioned by St. Paul in the latest of all his epistles, 2 Timothy 1:15, when all in Asia had turned away from him. (a.d. 64.)
Hermon
Her’mon (a peak, summit). a mountain on the northeastern border of Palestine, Deuteronomy 3:8; Joshua 12:1, over against Lebanon, Joshua 11:17, adjoining the plateau of Bashan. 1 Chronicles 5:23. It stands at the southern end, and is the culminating point of the anti-Libanus range; it towers high above the ancient border city of Dan and the fountains of the Jordan, and is the most conspicuous and beautiful mountain in Palestine or Syria. At the present day it is called Jebel esh-Sheikh, “the chief mountain,” and Jebel eth-Thelj, “snowy mountain.” When the whole country is parched with the summer sun, white lines of snow streak the head of Hermon. This mountain was the great landmark of the Israelites. It was associated with their northern border almost as intimately as the sea was with the western. Hermon has three summits, situated like the angles of a triangle, and about a quarter of a mile from each other. In two passages of Scripture this mountain is called Baal-hermon, Judges 3:3; 1 Chronicles 5:23, possibly because Baal was there worshipped. (It is more than probable that some part of Hermon was the scene of the transfiguration, as it stands near Cæsarea Philippi, where we know Christ was just before that event.—Ed.) The height of Hermon has never been measured, though it has often been estimated. It may safely be reckoned at 10,000 feet.
Mount Hermon.
Hermonites The
Her’monites. The. Properly “the Hermons,” with reference to the three summits of Mount Hermon. Psalm 42:6(Psalm 42:7).
Herod
Her’od (hero-like). This family, though of Idumean origin and thus alien by race, was Jewish in faith.
1. Herod the Great was the second son of Antipater, an Idumean, who was appointed procurator of Judea by Julius Cæsar, b.c. 47. Immediately after his father’s elevation, when only fifteen years old, he received the government of Galilee, and shortly afterward that of Cœle-Syria. (Though Josephus says he was 15 years old at this time, it is generally conceded that there must be some mistake, as he lived to be 69 or 70 years old, and died b.c. 4; hence he must have been 25 years old at this time.—Ed.) In b.c. 41 he was appointed by Antony tetrarch of Judea. Forced to abandon Judea the following year, he fled to Rome, and received the appointment of king of Judea. In the course of a few years, by the help of the Romans he took Jerusalem (b.c. 37), and completely established his authority throughout his dominions. The terrible acts of bloodshed which Herod perpetrated in his own family were accompanied by others among his subjects equally terrible, from the number who fell victims to them. According to the well-known story, he ordered the nobles whom he had called to him in his last moments to be executed immediately after his decease, that so at least his death might be attended by universal mourning. It was at the time of his fatal illness that he must have caused the slaughter of the infants at Bethlehem. Matthew 2:16-18. He adorned Jerusalem with many splendid monuments of his taste and magnificence. The temple, which he built with scrupulous care, was the greatest of these works. The restoration was begun b.c. 20, and the temple itself was completed in a year and a half. But fresh additions were constantly made in succeeding years, so that it was said that the temple was “built in forty and six years,” John 2:20, the work continuing long after Herod’s death. (Herod died of a terrible disease, at Jericho, in April, b.c. 4, at the age of 69, after a long reign of 37 years.—Ed.)
Coin of Herod Antipas.
II. Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great by Malthaké, a Samaritan. He first married a daughter of Aretas, “king of Arabia Petræa,” but afterward Herodias, the wife of his half-brother, Herod Philip. Aretas, indignant at the insult offered to his daughter, found a pretext for invading the territory of Herod, and defeated him with great loss. This defeat, according to the famous passage in Josephus, was attributed by many to the murder of John the Baptist, which had been committed by Antipas shortly before, under the influence of Herodias. Matthew 14:4-6.; Mark 6:17-19.; Luke 3:19. At a later time the ambition of Herodias proved the cause of her husband’s ruin. She urged him to go to Rome to gain the title of king, cf. Mark 6:14; but he was opposed at the court of Caligula by the emissaries of Agrippa, and condemned to perpetual banishment at Lugdunum, a.d. 39. Herodias voluntarily shared his punishment, and he died in exile. Pilate took occasion from our Lord’s residence in Galilee to send him for examination, Luke 23:6-8., to Herod Antipas, who came up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. The city of Tiberias, which Antipas founded and named in honor of the emperor, was the most conspicuous monument of his long reign.
III. Herod Philip I (Philip, Mark 6:17) was the son of Herod the Great and Mariamne. He married Herodias, the sister of Agrippa I, by whom he had a daughter, Salome. He was excluded from all share in his father’s possessions in consequence of his mother’s treachery, and lived afterward in a private station.
IV. Herod Philip II was the son of Herod the Great and Cleopatra. He received as his own government Batanea, Trachonitis, Auranitis (Gaulanitis), and some parts about Jamnia, with the title of tetrarch. Luke 3:1. He built a new city on the site of Paneas, near the sources of the Jordan, which he called Cæsarea Philippi, Matthew 16:13; Mark 8:27, and raised Bethsaida to the rank of a city under the title of Julias, and died there a.d. 34. He married Salome, the daughter of Herod Philip I and Herodias.
Coin of Philip the Tetrarch.
V. Herod Agrippa I was the son of Aristobulus and Berenice, and grandson of Herod the Great. He was brought up at Rome, and was thrown into prison by Tiberius, where he remained till the accession of Caligula, who made him king, first of the tetrarchy of Philip and Lysanias; afterward the dominions of Antipas were added, and finally Judea and Samaria. Unlike his predecessors, Agrippa was a strict observer of the law, and he sought with success the favor of the Jews. It is probable that it was with this view he put to death James the son of Zebedee, and further imprisoned Peter. Acts 12:1-3. But his sudden death interrupted his ambitious projects. Acts 12:21, Acts 12:23.
Coin of Herod Agrippa I.
VI. Herod Agrippa II was the son of Herod Agrippa I. In a.d. 52 the emperor gave him the tetrarchies formerly held by Philip and Lysanias, with the title of king. Acts 25:13. The relation in which he stood to his sister Berenice, Acts 25:13, was the cause of grave suspicion. It was before him that Paul was tried. Acts 26:28.
Coin of Titus and Herod Agrippa II.
Herodians
Hero’dians (from Herod). Matthew 22:15-17.; Mark 12:13-15. Canon Cook describes these persons as “that party among the Jews who were supporters of the Herodian family as the last hope of retaining for the Jews a fragment of national government, as distinguished from absolute dependence upon Rome as a province of the empire. Supporters of the family of Herod, who held their dominions by the grant of the Roman emperor, would be in favor of paying tribute to the supreme power.” Matthew 22:16.
Herodias
Hero’dias, daughter of Aristobulus, one of the sons of Mariamne and Herod the Great, and consequently sister of Agrippa I. She first married Herod Philip I; then she eloped from him to marry Herod Antipas, her step-uncle. The head of John the Baptist was granted at the request of Herodias. Matthew 14:8-11; Mark 6:24-28. (a.d. 29.) She accompanied Antipas into exile to Lugdunum.
Herodion
Hero’dion, a relative of St. Paul, to whom he sends his salutation amongst the Christians of the Roman church. Romans 16:11. (a.d. 55.)
Heron
Heron, Leviticus 11:19; Deuteronomy 14:18, a common large, wading, unclean bird. Nearly all of the species known in English ornithology are found in the vicinity of Palestine. Canon Cook and others think the bird intended is the plover (Charadrius ™dicnemus), a greedy, thick-kneed, high-flying migratory bird, very common in the East, on the banks of rivers and shores of lakes.—Ed.
Hesed
He’sed (kindness), the son of Hesed or Ben-Chesed, was commissary for Solomon. 1 Kings 4:10. (b.c. about 995.)
Heshbon
Hesh’bon (stronghold), the capital city of Sihon king of the Amorites. Numbers 21:26. It stood on the western border of the high plain—Mishor, Joshua 13:17—and on the boundary line between the tribes of Reuben and Gad. The ruins of Hesbân, 20 miles east of the Jordan, on the parallel of the northern end of the Dead Sea, mark the site, as they bear the name, of the ancient Heshbon. There are many cisterns among the ruins. Comp. Song of Solomon 7:4.
Heshmon
Hesh’mon (rich soil), a place named, with others, as lying in the extreme south of Judah. Joshua 15:27.
Hesron Hezron
Hes’ron, Hez’ron (enclosed), the son of Reuben, Numbers 26:6, and ancestor of the Hezronites. (b.c. about 1700.)
Heth
Heth (terror), the forefather of the nation of the Hittites. In the genealogical tables of Genesis 10:15 and 1 Chronicles 1:13 Heth is a son of Canaan. Genesis 24:3, Genesis 24:4; Genesis 28:1, Genesis 28:2.
Hethlon
Heth’lon (hiding-place), the name of a place on the northern border of Palestine. Ezekiel 47:15; Ezekiel 48:1. In all probability the “way of Hethlon” is the pass at the northern end of Lebanon, and is thus identical with “the entrance of Hamath” in Numbers 34:8, etc.
Hezeki
Hez’eki (strong), a Benjamite, one of the Bene-Elpaal, a descendant of Shaaraim. 1 Chronicles 8:17. (b.c. 598.)
Hezekiah
Hezeki’ah (the might of Jehovah).
1. Twelfth king of Judah, son of the apostate Ahaz and Abi or Abijah, ascended the throne at the age of 25, b.c. 726. Hezekiah was one of the three most perfect kings of Judah. 2 Kings 18:5; Sirach 49:4. His first act was to purge and repair and reopen with splendid sacrifices and perfect ceremonial the temple. He also destroyed a brazen serpent, said to have been the one used by Moses in the miraculous healing of the Israelites, Numbers 21:9, which had become an object of adoration. When the kingdom of Israel had fallen, Hezekiah invited the scattered inhabitants to a peculiar passover, which was continued for the unprecedented period of fourteen days. 2 Chronicles 29:30, 2 Chronicles 29:31. At the head of a repentant and united people, Hezekiah ventured to assume the aggressive against the Philistines; and in a series of victories not only rewon the cities which his father had lost, 2 Chronicles 28:18, but even dispossessed them of their own cities, except Gaza, 2 Kings 18:8, and Gath. He refused to acknowledge the supremacy of Assyria. 2 Kings 18:7. Instant war was imminent, and Hezekiah used every available means to strengthen himself. 2 Kings 20:20. It was probably at this dangerous crisis in his kingdom that we find him sick and sending for Isaiah, who prophesies death as the result. 2 Kings 20:1. Hezekiah’s prayer for longer life is heard. The prophet had hardly left the palace when he was ordered to return and promise the king immediate recovery and fifteen years more of life. 2 Kings 20:4-6. An embassy coming from Babylon ostensibly to compliment Hezekiah on his convalescence, but really to form an alliance between the two powers, is favorably received by the king, who shows them the treasures which he had accumulated. For this Isaiah foretells the punishment that shall befall his house. 2 Kings 20:17. The two invasions of Sennacherib occupy the greater part of the Scripture records concerning the reign of Hezekiah. The first of these took place in the third year of Sennacherib, b.c. 702, and occupies only three verses. 2 Kings 18:13-16. Respecting the commencement of the second invasion we have full details in 2 Kings 18:17, seq.; 2 Chronicles 32:9, seq.; Isaiah 36. Sennacherib sent against Jerusalem an army under two officers and his cupbearer, the orator Rabshakeh, with a blasphemous and insulting summons to surrender; but Isaiah assures the king he need not fear, promising to disperse the enemy. 2 Kings 19:6, 2 Kings 19:7. Accordingly that night “the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand.” Hezekiah only lived to enjoy for about one year more his well-earned peace and glory. He slept with his fathers after a reign of twenty-nine years, in the 56th year of his age, b.c. 697.
2. Son of Neariah, one of the descendants of the royal family of Judah. 1 Chronicles 3:23.
3. The same name, though rendered in the Authorized Version Hizkiah, is found in Zephaniah 1:1.
4. Ater of Hezekiah. [ATER.]
Hezion
He’zion (vision), a king of Aram (Syria), father of Tabrimon and grandfather of Ben-hadad I. 1 Kings 15:18. He is probably identical with Rezon, the contemporary of Solomon, in 1 Kings 11:23. (b.c. before 928.)
Hezir
He’zir (swine).
1. A priest in the time of David, leader of the seventeenth monthly course in the service. 1 Chronicles 24:15. (b.c. 1014.)
2. One of the heads of the people (laymen) who sealed the solemn covenant with Nehemiah. Nehemiah 10:20. (b.c. 410.)
Hezra-i
Hez’ra-i (enclosed), one of the thirty heroes of David’s guard. 2 Samuel 23:35. (b.c. 1046.) In the parallel list, 1 Chronicles 11:37, the name appears as Hezro.
Hezron
Hez’ron (surrounded by a wall).
1. A son of Reuben. Genesis 46:9; Exodus 6:14.
2. A son of Pharez. Genesis 46:12; Ruth 4:18.
Hezronites
Hez’ronites (descendants of Hezron), The.
1. Descendants of Hezron the son of Reuben. Numbers 26:6.
2. A branch of the tribe of Judah, descendants of Hezron the son of Pharez. Numbers 26:21.
Hidda-i
Hid’da-i (for the rejoicing of Jehovah), one of the thirty-seven heroes of David’s guard. 2 Samuel 23:30. (b.c. 1046.)
Hiddekel
Hid’dekel (rapid), one of the rivers of Eden, the river which “goeth eastward to Assyria,” Genesis 2:14, and which Daniel calls “the great river,” Daniel 10:4, seems to have been rightly identified by the LXX with the Tigris. Dekel is clearly an equivalent of Digla or Diglath, a name borne by the Tigris in all ages. The name now in use among the inhabitants of Mesopotamia is Dijleh.
Hiel
Hi’el (God liveth), a native of Bethel, who rebuilt Jericho in the reign of Ahab, 1 Kings 16:34 (b.c. after 915), and in whom was fulfilled the curse pronounced by Joshua, Joshua 6:26, five hundred years before.
Hi-erapolis
Hi-erap’olis (holy city), a city of Phrygia, situated above the junction of the rivers Lycus and Mæander, near Colossæ and Laodicea. Mentioned only in Colossians 4:13 as the seat of a church probably founded by Epaphras.
Higgaion
Higga’ion (meditation), a word which occurs three times in the book of Psalms—Psalm 9:16; Psalm 19:14; Psalm 92:3 (margin). The word has two meanings, one of a general character, implying thought, reflection, and another, in Psalm 9:16 and Psalm 92:3, of a technical nature, the precise meaning of which cannot at this distance of time be determined. (Canon Cook says that it probably means an interlude, giving musical expression to the feelings suggested by the preceding words.—Ed.)
High places
High places. From the earliest times it was the custom among all nations to erect altars and places of worship on lofty and conspicuous spots. To this general custom we find constant allusion in the Bible, Isaiah 65:7; Ezekiel 6:13, and it is especially attributed to the Moabites. Isaiah 15:2; Isaiah 16:12. Even Abraham built an altar to the Lord on a mountain near Bethel. Genesis 12:7, Genesis 12:8; cf. Genesis 22:2-4; Genesis 31:54. Notwithstanding this we find that it was implicitly forbidden by the law of Moses, Deuteronomy 12:11-14, which also gave the strictest injunction to destroy these monuments of Canaanitish idolatry. Leviticus 26. The command was a prospective one, and was not to come into force until such time as the tribes were settled in the promised land. Thus we find that both Gideon and Manoah built altars on high places by divine command. Judges 6:25, Judges 6:26; Judges 13:16-23. It is more surprising to find this law absolutely ignored at a much later period, when there was no intelligible reason for its violation—as by Samuel at Mizpeh, 1 Samuel 7:10, and at Bethlehem, ch. 1 Samuel 16:5; by Saul at Gilgal, ch. 1 Samuel 13:9, and at Ajalon,(?) ch. 1 Samuel 14:35; by David, 1 Chronicles 21:26; by Elijah on Mount Carmel, 1 Kings 18:30, and by other prophets. 1 Samuel 10:5. The explanations which are given are sufficiently unsatisfactory; but it is at any rate certain that the worship in high places was organized and all but universal throughout Judea, not only during, 1 Kings 3:2-4, but even after the time of Solomon. At last Hezekiah set himself in good earnest to the suppression of this prevalent corruption, 2 Kings 18:4, 2 Kings 18:22, both in Judah and Israel, 2 Chronicles 31:1; although so rapid was the growth of the evil that even his sweeping reformation required to be finally consummated by Josiah, 2 Kings 23, and that too in Jerusalem and its immediate neighborhood. 2 Chronicles 24:3. After the time of Josiah we find no further mention of these Jehovistic high places.
High priest
High priest. The first distinct separation of Aaron to the office of the priesthood, which previously belonged to the first-born, was that recorded Exodus 28. We find from the very first the following characteristic attributes of Aaron and the high priests his successors, as distinguished from the other priests: Aaron alone was anointed, Leviticus 8:12, whence one of the distinctive epithets of the high priest was “the anointed priest.” Leviticus 4:3, Leviticus 4:5, Leviticus 4:16; Leviticus 21:10; see Numbers 35:25. The anointing of the sons of Aaron, i.e., the common priests, seems to have been confined to sprinkling their garments with the anointing oil. Exodus 29:21; Exodus 28:41, etc. The high priest had a peculiar dress, which passed to his successor at his death. This dress consisted of eight parts: (a) The breastplate, or, as it is further named, vs. Exodus 28:30, the breastplate of judgment. The breastplate was originally two spans long and one span broad, but when doubled it was square, the shape in which it was worn. On it were the twelve precious stones, set in four rows, three in a row, thus corresponding to the twelve tribes—each stone having the name of one of the children of Israel engraved upon it. (b) The ephod. This consisted of two parts, of which one covered the back and the other the front, i.e., the breast and upper part of the body. These parts were clasped together on the shoulder with two large onyx stones, each having engraved on it six of the names of the tribes of Israel. They were further united by a “curious girdle” of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen round the waist.[EPHOD; GIRDLE.] (c) The robe of the ephod. This was of inferior material to the ephod itself, being all of blue, ver. Exodus 28:31, which implied its being only of “woven work.” ch. Exodus 39:22. It was worn immediately under the ephod, and was longer than it. The skirt of this robe had a remarkable trimming of pomegranates in blue, red, and crimson, with a bell of gold between each pomegranate alternately. The bells were to give a sound when the high priest went in and came out of the holy place. (d) The mitre or upper turban, with its gold plate, engraved with “Holiness to the Lord,” fastened to it by a ribbon of blue. (e) The broidered coat was a tunic or long skirt of linen with a tessellated or diaper pattern, like the setting of a stone. (f) The girdle, also of linen, was wound round the body several times from the breast downward, and the ends hung down to the ankles. (g) The breeches or drawers, of linen, covered the loins and thighs; and (h) The bonnet was a turban of linen, partially covering the head, but not in the form of a cone like that of the high priest when the mitre was added to it. These last four were common to all priests. The high priest alone was permitted to enter the holy of holies, which he did once a year, on the great day of atonement, when he sprinkled the blood of the sin offering on the mercy seat, and burnt incense within the veil. Leviticus 16. The manslayer might not leave the city of refuge during the lifetime of the existing high priest. It was also forbidden to the high priest to follow a funeral, or rend his clothes for the dead. It does not appear by whose authority the high priests were appointed to their office before there were kings of Israel. After this the office seems to have been used for political rather than religious purposes. Though at first chosen for life, we find that Solomon deposed Abiathar, 1 Kings 2:35, and that Herod appointed a number of high priests, which may account for there being at least two living in Christ’s time, Annas and Caiaphas. Luke 3:2. The usual age for entering upon the functions of the priesthood, according to 2 Chronicles 31:17, is considered to have been 20 years, though a priest or high priest was not actually incapacitated if he had attained to puberty. Again, according to Leviticus 21:17-21, no one that had a blemish could officiate at the altar.
High Priest. Priest.
A Breastplate.
The theological view of the high priesthood does not fall within the scope of this work. It must suffice therefore to indicate that such a view would embrace the consideration of the office, dress, functions and ministrations of the high priest, considered as typical of the priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and as setting forth under shadows the truths which are openly taught under the gospel. This has been done to a great extent in the Epistle to the Hebrews. It would also embrace all the moral and spiritual teaching supposed to be intended by such symbols.
Highways
Highways. Though during the sway of the Romans over Palestine they made a few substantial roads for their carts and chariots, yet for the most of the time, as today, the Jews had nothing such as we call roads, but only footpaths through which animals walk in single file. These are never cared for; no repairs are made or obstacles removed. This fact brings into striking prominence the figure of preparing a highway for the return of the captives, or the coming of the great King. On special occasions kings had roads prepared for the progress of their armies, or their own going from place to place.—Ed.
Hilen
Hi’len (place of caves), the name of a city of Judah allotted with its suburbs to the priests. 1 Chronicles 6:58.
Hilkiah
Hilki’ah (God is my portion).
1. Father of Eliakim. 2 Kings 18:37; Isaiah 22:20; Isaiah 36:22. [ELIAKIM.]
2. High priest in the reign of Josiah. 2 Kings 22:4, seq.; 2 Chronicles 34:9, seq.; 1 Esdras 1:8. (b.c. 623.) His high priesthood was rendered particularly illustrious by the great reformation effected under it by King Josiah, by the solemn Passover kept at Jerusalem in the 18th year of that king’s reign, and above all by the discovery which he made of the book of the law of Moses in the temple.
3. A Merarite Levite, son of Amzi. 1 Chronicles 6:45; hebr. 1 Chronicles 6:30.
4. Another Merarite Levite, second son of Hosah. 1 Chronicles 26:11.
5. One of those who stood on the right hand of Ezra when he read the law to the people; doubtless a Levite, and probably a priest. Nehemiah 8:4. (b.c. 410.)
6. A priest of Anathoth, father of the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 1:1. (b.c. before 628.)
7. Father of Gemariah, who was one of Zedekiah’s envoys to Babylon. Jeremiah 29:3. (b.c. long before 587.)
Hillel
Hil’lel (praise), a native of Pirathon in Mount Ephraim, father of Abdon, one of the judges of Israel. Judges 12:13, Judges 12:15.
Hills
Hills. From the Hebrew gibeah, meaning a curved round hill. But our translators have also employed the same English word for the very different term har, which has a much more extended sense than gibeah, meaning a whole district. For instance, in Exodus 24:4 the “hill” is the same which is elsewhere in the same chapter, vs. Exodus 24:18, etc., and book consistently and accurately rendered “mount” and “mountain.” The “country of the hills,” in Deuteronomy 1:7; Joshua 9:1; Joshua 10:40; Joshua 11:16, is the elevated district of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim, which is correctly called “the mountain” in the earliest descriptions of Palestine, Numbers 13:29, and in many subsequent passages.
Hin
Hin. [WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.]
Hind
Hind, the female of the common stag or Cervus elaphus. It is frequently noticed in the poetical parts of Scripture as emblematic of activity, Genesis 49:21; Psalm 18:33, gentleness, Proverbs 5:19, feminine modesty, Song of Solomon 2:7; Song of Solomon 3:5, earnest longing, Psalm 42:1, and maternal affection. Jeremiah 14:5. Its shyness and remoteness from the haunts of men are also alluded to, Job 39:1, and its timidity, causing it to cast its young at the sound of thunder. Psalm 29:9.
Hinge
Hinge. Both ancient Egyptian and modern Oriental doors were and are hung by means of pivots turning in sockets on both the upper and lower sides. 1 Kings 7:50. In Syria, and especially the Haurân, there are many ancient doors consisting of stone slabs with pivots carved out of the same piece, inserted in sockets above and below, and fixed during the building of the house. The allusion in Proverbs 26:14 is thus clearly explained.
Hinnom
Hin’nom (lamentation), Valley of, otherwise called “the valley of the son” or “children of Hinnom,” a deep and narrow ravine, with steep, rocky sides, to the south and west of Jerusalem, separating Mount Zion to the north from the “hill of evil counsel,” and the sloping rocky plateau of the “plain of Rephaim” to the south. The earliest mention of the valley of Hinnom is in Joshua 15:8; Joshua 18:16, where the boundary line between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin is described as passing along the bed of the ravine. On the southern brow, overlooking the valley at its eastern extremity, Solomon erected high places for Molech, 1 Kings 11:7, whose horrid rites were revived from time to time in the same vicinity by the later idolatrous kings. Ahaz and Manasseh made their children “pass through the fire” in this valley, 2 Kings 16:3; 2 Chronicles 28:3; 2 Chronicles 33:6, and the fiendish custom of infant sacrifice to the fire-gods seems to have been kept up in Tophet, which was another name for this place. To put an end to these abominations the place was polluted by Josiah, who rendered it ceremonially unclean by spreading over it human bones and other corruptions, 2 Kings 23:10, 2 Kings 23:13, 2 Kings 23:14; 2 Chronicles 34:4, 2 Chronicles 34:5, from which time it appears to have become the common cesspool of the city, into which its sewage was conducted, to be carried off by the waters of the Kidron. From its ceremonial defilement, and from the detested and abominable fire of Molech, if not from the supposed ever-burning funeral piles, the later Jews applied the name of this valley—Ge Hinnom, Gehenna (land of Hinnom)—to denote the place of eternal torment. In this sense the word is used by our Lord. Matthew 5:29; Matthew 10:28; Matthew 23:15; Mark 9:43; Luke 12:5.
Hippopotamus
Hippopotamus. [BEHEMOTH.]
Hirah
Hi’rah (a noble race), an Adullamite, the friend of Judah. Genesis 38:1, Genesis 38:12; and see Genesis 38:20.
Hiram
Hi’ram, or Hu’ram (noble).
1. The king of Tyre who sent workmen and materials to Jerusalem, first, 2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Chronicles 14:1, to build a palace for David (b.c. 1064), whom he ever loved, 1 Kings 5:1, and again, 1 Kings 5:10; 1 Kings 7:13; 2 Chronicles 2, 2 Chronicles 16, to build the temple for Solomon, with whom he had a treaty of peace and commerce. 1 Kings 5:11, 1 Kings 5:12. He admitted Solomon’s ships, issuing from Joppa, to a share in the profitable trade of the Mediterranean, 1 Kings 10:22; and the Jewish sailors, under the guidance of Tyrians, were taught to bring the gold of India, 1 Kings 9:26, to Solomon’s two harbors on the Red Sea.
2. Hiram was the name of a man of mixed race, 1 Kings 7:13, 1 Kings 7:40, the principal architect and engineer sent by King Hiram to Solomon.
Hittites
Hit’tites (descendants of Heth), The, the nation descended from Cheth (Authorized Version Heth), the second son of Canaan. Abraham bought from the “children of Heth” the field and the cave of Machpelah, belonging to Ephron the Hittite. They were then settled at the town which was afterwards, under its new name of Hebron, to become one of the famous cities of Palestine, and which then bore the name of Kirjath-arba. Genesis 23:19; Genesis 25:9. When the Israelites entered the promised land, we find the Hittites taking part against the invader, in equal alliance with the other Canaanite tribes. Joshua 9:1; Joshua 11:3, etc. Henceforward the notices of the Hittites are very few and faint. We meet with two individuals, both attached to the person of David—
1. “Ahimelech the Hittite,” 1 Samuel 26:6; 1 Samuel 2. “Uriah the Hittite,” one of “the thirty” of David’s body-guard. 2 Samuel 23:39; 1 Chronicles 11:41.
Hivites
Hi’vites (villagers), The, descendants—the sixth in order—of Canaan the son of Ham. Genesis 10:17; 1 Chronicles 1:15. We first encounter the actual people of the Hivites at the time of Jacob’s return to Canaan. Genesis 34:2. We next meet with the Hivites during the conquest of Canaan. Joshua 9:7; Joshua 11:19. The main body of the Hivites were at this time living on the northern confines of western Palestine—“under Hermon, in the land of Mizpeh,” Joshua 11:3—“in Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entering in of Hamath.” Judges 3:3; comp. 2 Samuel 24:7.
Hizkiah
Hizki’ah (might of Jehovah), an ancestor of Zephaniah the prophet. Zephaniah 1:1. (b.c. before 635.)
Hizkijah
Hizki’jah (might of Jehovah), one of those who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. Nehemiah 10:17. (b.c. 410.)
Hobab
Ho’bab (beloved). This name is found in two places only—Numbers 10:29; Judges 4:11. Hobab was brother-in-law to Moses. (b.c. 1530.)
Hobah
Ho’bah (hiding-place), the place to which Abraham pursued the kings who had pillaged Sodom. Genesis 14:15. It was situated “to the north of Damascus.”
Hod
Hod (splendor), one of the sons of Zophah, among the descendants of Asher. 1 Chronicles 7:37.
Hodaiah
Hoda’iah (praise ye Jehovah), son of the royal line of Judah. 1 Chronicles 3:24. (b.c. about 406.)
Hodaviah
Hodavi’ah (praise ye Jehovah).
1. A man of Manasseh, one of the heads of the half tribe on the east of Jordan. 1 Chronicles 5:24. (b.c. 720.)
2. A man of Benjamin, son of Has-senuah. 1 Chronicles 9:7.
3. A Levite, who seems to have given his name to an important family in the tribe. Ezra 2:40. (b.c. before 536.)
Hodesh
Ho’desh (new moon), a woman named in the genealogies of Benjamin, 1 Chronicles 8:9, as the wife of Shaharaim.
Hodevah
Hode’vah (praise ye Jehovah). Nehemiah 7:43. [HODAVIAH.]
Hodiah
Hodi’ah (majesty of Jehovah), one of the two wives of Ezra, a man of Judah. 1 Chronicles 4:19. She is doubtless the same person as Jehudijah in ver. 1 Chronicles 4:18.
Hodijah
Hodi’jah (majesty of Jehovah).
1. A Levite in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. Nehemiah 8:7; and probably also Nehemiah 9:5; Nehemiah 10:10. (b.c. 410.)
2. Another Levite at the same time. Nehemiah 10:13.
3. A layman; one of the “heads” of the people at the same time. Nehemiah 10:18.
Hoglah
Hog’lah (partridge), the third of the five daughters of Zelophehad. Numbers 26:33; Numbers 27:1; Numbers 36:11; Joshua 17:3. (b.c. 1450.)
Hoham
Ho’ham (whom Jehovah impels), king of Hebron at the time of the conquest of Canaan. Joshua 10:3. (b.c. 1450.)
Holofernes
Holofer’nes, or more correctly Olofernes, was, according to the book of Judith, a general of Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians, Judith 2:4, who was slain by the Jewish heroine Judith during the siege of Bethulia. (b.c. 350.)
Holon
Ho’lon (sandy).
1. A town in the mountains of Judah; one of the first group, of which Debir was apparently the most considerable. Joshua 15:51; Joshua 21:15. [HILEN.]
2. A city of Moab. Jeremiah 48:21 only. No identification of it has yet taken place.
Homam
Ho’mam (destruction), the form under which, in 1 Chronicles 1:39, an Edomite name appears, which in Genesis 36:22 is given Hemam.
Homer
Homer. [WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.]
Honey
Honey. The Hebrew debash in the first place applies to the product of the bee, to which exclusively we give the name of honey. All travellers agree in describing Palestine as a land “flowing with milk and honey,” Exodus 3:8; bees being abundant even in the remote parts of the wilderness, where they deposit their honey in the crevices of rocks or in hollow trees. In some parts of northern Arabia the hills are so well stocked with bees that no sooner are hives placed than they are occupied. In the second place the term debash applies to a decoction of the juice of the grape, which is still called dibs, and which forms an article of commerce in the East; it was this, and not ordinary bee-honey, which Jacob sent to Joseph, Genesis 43:11, and which the Tyrians purchased from Palestine. Ezekiel 27:17. A third kind has been described by some writers as “vegetable” honey, by which is meant the exudations of certain trees and shrubs, such as the Tamarix mannifera, found in the peninsula of Sinai, or the stunted oaks of Luristan and Mesopotamia. The honey which Jonathan ate in the wood, 1 Samuel 14:25, and the “wild honey” which supported John the Baptist, Matthew 3:4, have been referred to this species. But it was probably the honey of wild bees.
Hook Hooks
Hook, Hooks. Various kinds of hooks are noticed in the Bible, of which the following are the most important:
1. Fishing hooks. Job 41:2; Isaiah 19:8; Habakkuk 1:15. 2. A ring, such as in our country is placed through the nose of a bull, and similarly used in the East for leading about lions—Ezekiel 19:4, where the Authorized Version has “with chains”—camels and other animals. Called “thorn” in Job 41:2. A similar method was adopted for leading prisoners. 2 Chronicles 33:11. 3. The hooks of the pillars of the tabernacle. Exodus 26:32, Exodus 26:37; Exodus 27:10-12.; Exodus 38:13ff. 4. A vinedresser’s pruning-hook. Isaiah 2:4; Isaiah 18:5; Micah 4:3; Joel 3:10. 5. A flesh-hook for getting up the joints of meat out of the boiling-pot. Exodus 27:3; 1 Samuel 2:13, 1 Samuel 2:14. 6. Probably “hooks” used for the purpose of hanging up animals to flay them. Ezekiel 40:43.
Flesh-Hooks.
Hophni
Hoph’ni (pugilist) and Phinehas (brazen mouth), the two sons of Eli, who fulfilled their hereditary sacerdotal duties at Shiloh. Their brutal rapacity and lust, 1 Samuel 2:12-17, 1 Samuel 2:22, filled the people with disgust and indignation, and provoked the curse which was denounced against their father’s house, first by an unknown prophet, 1 Samuel 2:27-36, and then by Samuel. ch. 1 Samuel 3:11-14. They were both cut off in one day in the flower of their age, and the ark which they had accompanied to battle against the Philistines was lost on the same occasion. 1 Samuel 4:10, 1 Samuel 4:11. (b.c. 1130.)
Hor
Hor (mountain), Mount.
1. The mountain on which Aaron died. Numbers 20:25, Numbers 20:27. It was “on the boundary line,” Numbers 20:23, or “at the edge,” ch. Numbers 33:37, of the land of Edom. It was the halting-place of the people next after Kadesh, ch. Numbers 20:22; Numbers 33:37, and they quitted it for Zalmonah, ch. Numbers 33:41, in the road to the Red Sea, ch. Numbers 21:4. It was during the encampment at Kadesh that Aaron was gathered to his fathers. Mount Hor is situated on the eastern side of the great valley of the Arabah, the highest and most conspicuous of the whole range of the sandstone mountains of Edom, having close beneath it on its eastern side the mysterious city of Petra. It is now the Jebel Nebi-Harûn, “the mountain of the prophet Aaron.” Its height is 4800 feet above the Mediterranean; that is to say, about 1700 feet above the town of Petra, 4000 above the level of the Arabah, and more than 6000 above the Dead Sea. The mountain is marked far and near by its double top, which rises like a huge castellated building from a lower base, and is surmounted by a circular dome of the tomb of Aaron, a distinct white spot on the dark red surface of the mountain. The chief interest of Mount Hor consists in the prospect from its summit, the last view of Aaron—that view which was to him what Pisgah was to his brother.
2. A mountain, entirely distinct from the preceding, named in Numbers 34:7, Numbers 34:8 only, as one of the marks of the northern boundary of the land which the children of Israel were about to conquer. This Mount Hor is the great chain of Lebanon itself.
Mount Hor.
Horam
Ho’ram (mountainous), king of Gezer at the time of the conquest of the south-western part of Palestine. Joshua 10:33.
Horeb
Ho’reb (desert). [SINAI.]
Horem
Ho’rem (sacred), one of the fortified places in the territory of Naphtali; named with Iron and Migdal-el. Joshua 19:38. Van de Velde suggests Hurah as the site of Horem.
Hor-hagidgad
Hor-hagid’gad (conspicuous mountain), the name of the desert station where the Israelites encamped, Numbers 33:32; probably the same as Gudgodah. Deuteronomy 10:7.
Hori
Ho’ri (cave-dweller).
1. A Horite, son of Lotan the son of Seir. Genesis 36:22; 1 Chronicles 1:39; Genesis 36:30.
2. A man of Simeon, father of Shaphat. Numbers 13:5.
Horim
Ho’rim and Ho’rites (descendants of Hori), the aboriginal inhabitants of Mount Seir, Genesis 14:6, and probably allied to the Emim and Rephaim. The name Horite appears to have been derived from their habits as “cave-dwellers.” Their excavated dwellings are still found in hundreds in the sandstone cliffs and mountains of Edom, and especially in Petra.
Hormah
Hor’mah (a place laid waste), or Zephath, Judges 1:17, was the chief town of a king of a Canaanitish tribe on the south of Palestine, which was reduced by Joshua, and became a city of the territory of Judah, Joshua 15:30; 1 Samuel 30:30, but apparently belonged to Simeon. 1 Chronicles 4:30.
Horn
Horn. The word “horn” is often used metaphorically to signify strength and honor, because horns are the chief weapons and ornaments of the animals which possess them; hence they are also used as a type of victory. Of strength the horn of the unicorn was the most frequent representative, Deuteronomy 33:17, etc., but not always; comp. 1 Kings 22:11, where probably horns of iron, worn defiantly and symbolically on the head, are intended. Among the Druses upon Mount Lebanon the married women wear silver horns on their heads. In the sense of honor, the word horn stands for the abstract—“my horn,” Job 16:15; “all the horn of Israel,” Lamentations 2:3—and so for the supreme authority. It also stands for the concrete, whence it comes to mean king, kingdom. Daniel 8:2, etc.; Zechariah 1:18. Out of either or both of these last two metaphors sprang the idea of representing gods with horns.
Horns worn as Head-ornaments by modern Orientals.
Hornet
Hornet. The hornet bears a general resemblance to the common wasp, only it is larger. It is exceedingly fierce and voracious, especially in hot climates, and its sting is frequently dangerous. In Scripture the hornet is referred to only as the means which Jehovah employed for the extirpation of the Canaanites. Exodus 23:28; Deuteronomy 7:20; Joshua 24:12; 12:8. (It is said that the Phaselitæ, a Phœnician people, were driven from their locality by hornets; and other examples are given in Paxton’s “Illustrations of Scripture,” 1:303.—Ed.)
Horonaim
Horona’im (two caverns), a town of Moab, possibly a sanctuary, named with Zoar and Luhith. Isaiah 15:5; Jeremiah 48:3, Jeremiah 48:5, Jeremiah 48:34.
Horonite
Hor’onite (native of Horonaim), The, the designation of Sanballat. Nehemiah 2:10, Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 13:28. It is derived by Gesenius from Horonaim.
Horse
Horse. The most striking feature in the biblical notices of the horse is the exclusive application of it to warlike operations; in no instance is that useful animal employed for the purposes of ordinary locomotion or agriculture, if we except Isaiah 28:28. The animated description of the horse in Job 39:19-25 applies solely to the war-horse. The Hebrews in the patriarchal age, as a pastoral race, did not stand in need of the services of the horse, and for a long period after their settlement in Canaan they dispensed with it, partly in consequence of the hilly nature of the country, which only admitted of the use of chariots in certain localities, Judges 1:19, and partly in consequence of the prohibition in Deuteronomy 17:16, which would be held to apply at all periods. David first established a force of cavalry and chariots, 2 Samuel 8:4; but the great supply of horses was subsequently effected by Solomon through his connection with Egypt. 1 Kings 4:26. Solomon also established a very active trade in horses, which were brought by dealers out of Egypt and resold, at a profit, to the Hittites. With regard to the trappings and management of the horse we have little information. The bridle was placed over the horse’s nose, Isaiah 30:28, and a bit or curb is also mentioned. 2 Kings 19:28; Psalm 32:9; Proverbs 26:3; Isaiah 37:29. In the Authorized Version it is incorrectly given “bridle,” with the exception of Psalm 32. Saddles were not used until a late period. The horses were not shod, and therefore hoofs as hard “as flint,” Isaiah 5:28, were regarded as a great merit. The chariot-horses were covered with embroidered trappings. Ezekiel 27:20. Horses and chariots were used also in idolatrous processions, as noticed in regard to the sun. 2 Kings 23:11.
Horse-leech
Horse-leech, Heb. ˒alûkâh, occurs once only, viz., Proverbs 30:15. There is little doubt that ˒alûkâh denotes some species of leech, or rather is the generic term for any blood-sucking annelid.
Hosah
Ho’sah (refuge), a city of Asher, Joshua 19:29, the next landmark on the boundary to Tyre.
Hosah
Ho’sah, a Merarite Levite, 1 Chronicles 26:10, chosen by David to be one of the first doorkeepers to the ark after its arrival in Jerusalem. 1 Chronicles 16:38. (b.c. 1014.)
Hosanna
Hosanna (save now). “Save, we pray!” the cry of the multitudes as they thronged in our Lord’s triumphal procession into Jerusalem. Matthew 21:9, Matthew 21:15; Mark 11:9, Mark 11:10; John 12:13. The Psalm from which it was taken, the Psalm 118th, was one with which they were familiar from being accustomed to recite the Psalm 118:25th and Psalm 118:26th verses at the feast of tabernacles, forming a part of the great hallel. Psalm 113-118.
Hosea
Hose’a (salvation), son of Beeri, and first of the minor prophets. Probably the life, or rather the prophetic career, of Hosea extended from b.c. 784 to 725, a period of fifty-nine years. The prophecies of Hosea were delivered in the kingdom of Israel. Jeroboam II was on the throne, and Israel was at the height of its earthly splendor. Nothing is known of the prophet’s life excepting what may be gained from his book.
Hosea Prophecies of
Hose’a, Prophecies of. This book consists of fourteen chapters. It is easy to recognize two great divisions in the book: (1) ch. Hosea 1 to Hosea 3; (2) ch. Hosea 4 to end. The subdivision of these several parts is a work of greater difficulty.
1. The first division should probably be subdivided into three separate poems, each originating in a distinct aim, and each after its own fashion attempting to express the idolatry of Israel by imagery borrowed from the matrimonial relation. 2. Attempts have been made to subdivide the second part of the book. These divisions are made either according to reigns of contemporary kings or according to the subject-matter of the poem. The prophecies were probably collected by Hosea himself toward the end of his career. Of his style Eichhorn says, “His discourse is like a garland woven of a multiplicity of flowers; images are woven upon images, metaphor strung upon metaphor. Like a bee he flies from one flowerbed to another, that he may suck his honey from the most varied pieces. . . . Often he is prone to approach to allegory; often he sinks down in obscurity.”
Hoshaiah
Hoshai’ah (whom Jehovah aids).
1. A man who assisted in the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem after it had been rebuilt by Nehemiah. Nehemiah 12:32. (b.c. 446.)
2. The father of a certain Jezaniah or Azariah, who was a man of note after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah 42:1; Jeremiah 43:2. (b.c. after 588.)
Hoshama
Hosh’ama (whom Jehovah hears), one of the sons of Jeconiah or Jehoiachin, the last king but one of Judah. 1 Chronicles 3:18.
Hoshea
Hoshe’a (salvation).
1. The nineteenth, last and best king of Israel. He succeeded Pekah, whom he slew in a successful conspiracy, thereby fulfilling a prophecy of Isaiah. Isaiah 7:16. In the third year of his reign (b.c. 726) Shalmaneser cruelly stormed the strong caves of Beth-arbel, Hosea 8:14, and made Israel tributary, 2 Kings 17:3, for three years. At the end of this period Hoshea entered into a secret alliance with So, king of Egypt, to throw off the Assyrian yoke. The alliance did him no good; it was revealed to the court of Nineveh by the Assyrian party in Ephraim, and Hoshea was immediately seized as a rebellious vassal, shut up in prison, and apparently treated with the utmost indignity. Micah 5:1. Of the subsequent fortunes of Hoshea nothing is known.
2. The son of Nun, i.e., Joshua, Deuteronomy 32:44; and also in Numbers 13:8, though there the Authorized Version has Oshea.
3. Son of Azaziah, 1 Chronicles 27:20; like his great namesake, a man of Ephraim, ruler of his tribe in the time of King David. (b.c. 1019.)
4. One of the heads of the people who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. Nehemiah 10:23. (b.c. 410.)
Hospitality
Hospitality. Hospitality was regarded by most nations of the ancient world as one of the chief virtues. The Jewish laws respecting strangers, Leviticus 19:33, Leviticus 19:34, and the poor, Leviticus 25:14, seq.; Deuteronomy 15:7, and concerning redemption, Leviticus 25:23, seq., etc., are framed in accordance with the spirit of hospitality. In the law compassion to strangers is constantly enforced by the words “for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.” Leviticus 19:34. And before the law, Abraham’s entertainment of the angels, Genesis 18:1, seq., and Lot’s, Genesis 19:1, are in exact agreement with its precepts, and with modern usage. Comp. Exodus 2:20; Judges 13:15; Judges 19:17, Judges 19:20, Judges 19:21. In the New Testament hospitality is yet more markedly enjoined; and in the more civilized state of society which then prevailed, its exercise became more a social virtue than a necessity of patriarchal life. The good Samaritan stands for all ages as an example of Christian hospitality. The neglect of Christ is symbolized by inhospitality to our neighbors. Matthew 25:43. The apostles urged the Church to “follow after hospitality,” Romans 12:13; cf. 1 Timothy 5:10; to remember Abraham’s example, Hebrews 13:2; to “use hospitality one to another without grudging,” 1 Peter 4:9; while a bishop must be a “lover of hospitality.” Titus 1:8, cf. 1 Timothy 3:2. The practice of early Christians was in accord with these precepts. They had all things in common, and their hospitality was a characteristic of their belief. In the patriarchal ages we may take Abraham’s example as the most fitting, as we have of it the fullest account. “The account,” says Mr. Lane, “of Abraham’s entertaining the three angels, related in the Bible, presents a perfect picture of the manner in which a modern Bedawee sheikh receives travellers arriving at his encampment.” The Oriental respect for the covenant of bread and salt, or salt alone, certainly sprang from the high regard in which hospitality was held.
Hotham
Ho’tham (signet ring), a man of Asher, son of Heber, of the family of Beriah. 1 Chronicles 7:32. (b.c. 1490.)
Hothan
Ho’than (signet ring), a man of Aroer, father of Shama and Jehiel. 1 Chronicles 11:44. (b.c. 1046.)
Hothir
Ho’thir (fullness), the thirteenth son of Heman, “the king’s seer,” 1 Chronicles 25:4, 1 Chronicles 25:28, and therefore a Kohathite Levite. (b.c. 1014.)
Hour
Hour. The ancient Hebrews were probably unacquainted with the division of the natural day into twenty-four parts; but they afterwards parcelled out the period between sunrise and sunset into a series of divisions distinguished by the sun’s course. The early Jews appear to have divided the day into four parts, Nehemiah 9:3, and the night into three watches, Judges 7:19; and even in the New Testament we find a trace of this division in Matthew 20:1-5. At what period the Jews first became acquainted with the division of the day into twelve hours is unknown, but it is generally supposed they learned it from the Babylonians during the captivity. It was known to the Egyptians at a very early period. They had twelve hours of the day and of the night. There are two kinds of hours, viz. (1) the astronomical or equinoctial hour, i.e., the 24th part of a civil day, and (2) the natural hour, i.e., the 12th part of the natural day, or of the time between sunrise and sunset. These are the hours meant in the New Testament, John 11:9, etc., and it must be remembered that they perpetually vary in length, so as to be very different at different times of the year. For the purpose of prayer the old division of the day into four portions was continued in the temple service, as we see from Acts 2:15; Acts 3:1; Acts 10:9.
House
House. The houses of the rural poor in Egypt, as well as in most parts of Syria, Arabia, and Persia, are generally mere huts of mud or sunburnt bricks. In some parts of Palestine and Arabia stone is used, and in certain districts caves in the rocks are used as dwellings. Amos 5:11. The houses are usually of one story only, viz., the ground floor, and often contain only one apartment. Sometimes a small court for the cattle is attached; and in some cases the cattle are housed in the same building, or the people live on a raised platform, and the cattle round them on the ground. 1 Samuel 28:24. The windows are small apertures high up in the walls, sometimes grated with wood. The roofs are commonly but not always flat, and are usually formed of a plaster of mud and straw laid upon boughs or rafters; and upon the flat roofs, tents or “booths” of boughs or rushes are often raised to be used as sleeping-places in summer. The different between the poorest houses and those of the class next above them is greater than between these and the houses of the first rank. The prevailing plan of eastern houses of this class presents, as was the case in ancient Egypt, a front of wall, whose blank and mean appearance is usually relieved only by the door and a few latticed and projecting windows. Within this is a court or courts with apartments opening into them. Over the door is a projecting window with a lattice more or less elaborately wrought, which, except in times of public celebrations, is usually closed, 2 Kings 9:30. An awning is sometimes drawn over the court, and the floor strewed with carpets on festive occasions. The stairs to the upper apartments are in Syria usually in a corner of the court. Around part, if not the whole, of the court is a veranda, often nine or ten feet deep, over which, when there is more than one floor, runs a second gallery of like depth, with a balustrade. When there is no second floor, but more than one court, the women’s apartments—hareem, harem or haram—are usually in the second court; otherwise they form a separate building within the general enclosure, or are above on the first floor. When there is an upper story, the ka’ah forms the most important apartment, and thus probably answers to the “upper room,” which was often the guest-chamber. Luke 22:12; Acts 1:13; Acts 9:37; Acts 20:8. The windows of the upper rooms often project one or two feet, and form a kiosk or latticed chamber. Such may have been “the chamber in the wall.” 2 Kings 4:10, 2 Kings 4:11. The “lattice,” through which Ahaziah fell, perhaps belonged to an upper chamber of this kind, 2 Kings 1:2, as also the “third loft,” from which Eutychus fell. Acts 20:9; comp. Jeremiah 22:13. Paul preached in such a room on account of its superior size and retired position. The outer circle in an audience in such a room sat upon a dais, or upon cushions elevated so as to be as high as the window-sill. From such a position Eutychus could easily fall.
Upper Room.
Court of an Eastern House.
Outer Staircase of an Eastern House.
There are usually no special bedrooms in eastern houses. The outer doors are closed with a wooden lock, but in some cases the apartments are divided from each other by curtains only. There are no chimneys, but fire is made when required with charcoal in a chafingdish; or a fire of wood might be kindled in the open court of the house. Luke 22:55. Some houses in Cairo have an apartment open in front to the court, with two or more arches and a railing, and a pillar to support the wall above. It was in a chamber of this kind, probably one of the largest size to be found in a palace, that our Lord was being arraigned before the high priest at the time when the denial of him by St. Peter took place. He “turned and looked” on Peter as he stood by the fire in the court, Luke 22:56, Luke 22:61; John 18:24, whilst he himself was in the “hall of judgment.”
Eastern Battlemented House.
In no point do Oriental domestic habits differ more from European than in the use of the roof. Its flat surface is made useful for various household purposes, as drying corn, hanging up linen, and preparing figs and raisins. The roofs are used as places of recreation in the evening, and often as sleeping-places at night. 1 Samuel 9:25, 1 Samuel 9:26; 2 Samuel 11:2; 2 Samuel 16:22; Job 27:18; Proverbs 21:9; Daniel 4:29. They were also used as places for devotion and even idolatrous worship. 2 Kings 23:12; Jeremiah 19:13; Jeremiah 32:29; Zephaniah 1:5; Acts 10:9. At the time of the feast of tabernacles booths were erected by the Jews on the tops of their houses. Protection of the roof by parapets was enjoined by the law. Deuteronomy 22:8. Special apartments were devoted in larger houses to winter and summer uses. Jeremiah 36:22; Amos 3:15. The ivory house of Ahab was probably a palace largely ornamented with inlaid ivory. The circumstance of Samson’s pulling down the house by means of the pillars may be explained by the fact of the company being assembled on tiers of balconies above each other, supported by central pillars on the basement; when these were pulled down the whole of the upper floors would fall also. Judges 16:26.
Hukkok
Huk’kok (incised), a place on the boundary of Naphtali. Joshua 19:34. It has been recovered in Yakuk, a village in the mountains of Naphtali, west of the upper end of the Sea of Galilee.
Hukok
Hu’kok, a name which in 1 Chronicles 6:75 is erroneously used for HELKATH, which see.