Hittites
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Gen. 15:20; 23:3, and elsewhere)—one of the peoples associated with Canaan. Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite, and the narrative portrays the transaction as a formal and peaceful acquisition (Gen. 23). Esau’s Hittite wives grieved Isaac and Rebekah (Gen. 26:34–35; 27:46). Other passages place Hittites in the hill country and name them among the peoples Israel encountered in Canaan (Num. 13:29; Deut. 7:1).