Biblical Encyclopedia: H
318 entries · Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
, among the Hebrews Havakkuk (embracer) — one of the twelve so-called minor prophets, about the time and place of whose birth Holy Scripture says nothing. Jewish traditions concerning his birthplace, life, and death do not deserve attention. One thing alone is certain: he lived in the reign of Josiah and was a contemporary of the prophet Jeremiah. It is generally supposed that he lived continuously in Judea and died there. In the time of Eusebius, the tomb of the prophet Habakkuk was shown in the city of Keilah, near Eleutheropolis.
Habazziniah
(Jer. 35:3)—the grandfather of Jaazaniah, a leader of the Rechabites in Jeremiah’s time.
Habiah (Hobaiah)
(Ezra 2:61; Neh. 7:63)—the ancestor of a priestly family returning from exile. Because its members could not find their genealogy, they were excluded from the priesthood as unclean until a priest should arise with Urim and Thummim. The name appears in variant forms in ancient versions.
(2 Kings 17:6; 18:11; 1 Chron. 5:26)—a river in Gozan beside which Assyrian kings settled deportees from Israel. It is generally identified with the Khabur, a major tributary of the Euphrates in northern Mesopotamia. The deportation notices belong to the campaigns of Tiglath-pileser III and the fall of Samaria under the later Assyrian kings.
Hachaliah
(perhaps, adornment of the Lord) (Neh. 1:1) — father of Nehemiah, undoubtedly descended from some illustrious Jewish family, since he held the office of governor in the land of Judah, and his son Nehemiah was cupbearer at the royal court.
(darkness) (1 Sam. 23:19; 26:1) — the name of a hill to the south of Jeshimon and near the wilderness of Ziph. On this hill David twice hid from the pursuit of Saul (23:19–28; 26:1–25). Both times Saul, informed by the Ziphites of David’s whereabouts, attempted to seize him, but in vain. The first time, Saul was prevented from capturing David by an attack of the Philistines, and the second time, David himself, having crept by night with Abishai into Saul’s camp, took from there a jug of water and a spear and departed unnoticed (26:12). It is thought that Hachilah was located in the southern part of the tribe of Judah.
Hachmoni Achami
(1 Chron. 27:32)—the father of Jehiel, who attended David’s sons. The source allows that the name might be ancestral rather than strictly paternal.
(mighty, powerful) (1 Kings 11:14–22) — an Idumean, descendant of the kings of Idumea. He escaped the slaughter of his household by Joab and, still a small child, fled to Egypt. The Pharaoh then reigning in Egypt received him kindly, gave him lodging and support, and finally married him to the sister of his own wife. His son Genubath lived in Pharaoh’s house together with his sons. After David’s death, Hadad left Egypt, seized part of Syria, and from there made raids upon the border lands of King Solomon, ravaging and laying them waste.
Hadad
(terrible, mighty) (Gen. 36:35, 36) — son of Bedad, king of Edom, who reigned after Husham. He defeated the Midianites in the field of Moab. His chief city was called Avith.
Hadad
(Gen. 25:15; 1 Chron. 1:30)—a son of Ishmael. Genesis also preserves the form Hadar. The source’s proposed connection with an ancient Arabic term for a spear-bearing land is conjectural.
(Zech. 12:11). From a comparison of this passage with the words of 2 Chronicles (35:22–25) it must be thought that this city of the tribe of Manasseh was located in the valley of Megiddo, near which Josiah, the most pious king of Judah, was mortally wounded in battle with the Egyptians, whose death was bitterly mourned by all Judah and Israel. It is with this great mourning of all Israel over the death of Josiah that the prophet Zechariah compares the mourning of the house of David over the crucifixion-death that was one day to be accomplished, of the Son of God, the Savior of the world.
“They shall look upon Him,” says the prophet, “whom they pierced… And in that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the valley of Megiddo.”
(help of Hadad) (2 Sam. 8:3; 10:16), so named, probably, after the Syrian deity Hadad, king of Zobah, a contemporary of King David, one of the richest kings of Zobah, or Soba. David waged several wars with him, in one of which he took captive 20,000 footmen and 700 horsemen, besides a great number of war chariots. On another occasion, when Hadadezer made an alliance with a neighboring king, David again defeated him and took 22,000 men captive. Among the spoils of war were golden shields and a great quantity of silver and bronze.
Some years later, Hadadezer and three other Syrian kings made an alliance to help the Ammonites against David; but the entire Syrian army was defeated by the Israelites under the command of Joab, on the east bank of the Jordan. In this battle between 40,000 and 50,000 of the enemy were slain, and after this they became tributary to David (1 Chron. 19).
Hadar Arad Barad
(heights, greatness) (Gen. 36:39; 1 Chron. 1:50, 51) — the last of the kings of Edom, son of Ishmael, after whom sovereign power passed to the chiefs; his residence was the city of Pau.
Hadashah Adasan
(Josh. 15:37)—a town in the lowland of Judah; its location is uncertain.
Hadassah Aminadab
(myrtle) (Esther 2:7) — the first name of Esther, wife of the Persian king Artaxerxes, before her marriage to the king, after which her Hebrew name was changed to the ancient Persian name Esther, meaning “star.”
Hadassah Aminadab
(Esth. 2:7). See Esther.
Hadid
(Ezra 2:33; Neh. 7:37; 11:34)—a Benjaminite town named with Lod and Ono. It is often identified with a site near modern Hadid east of Lod, though the equation remains a geographical proposal.
Hadlai Eldai
(2 Chron. 28:12)—the father of Amasa, one of the Ephraimite leaders who opposed the enslavement of captives taken from Judah. The captives were clothed, fed, treated, and returned to Jericho.
(Hadar is high) (Gen. 10:27; 1 Chron. 1:21) — fifth son of Joktan, son of Eber. The dwelling-place of his descendants has not been precisely determined, although it is placed in southern, or Arabia Felix, below Mecca. The descendants of Hadoram are held to be the Adramites of Ptolemy and the Atramitae of Pliny.
Hadrach Sedrach
(Zech. 9:1)—a land or city named in an oracle together with Damascus and Hamath. It probably lay in Syria, but its precise identification is debated.
Hagab
(Ezra 2:46)—an ancestor of Temple servants who returned with Zerubbabel. The similar Hagabah appears separately in the surrounding lists.
Hagabah (Hagaba)
(Ezra 2:45; Neh. 7:48)—an ancestor of Temple servants who returned from exile. First Esdras 5:29 has the variant Agraba.
(1 Chron. 5:10; Ps. 82 [83]:7; Bar. 3:23) — descendants of Ishmael, son of Hagar; Ishmaelites, or Arabs. At the time Israel took possession of the Promised Land, they lived on the eastern side of Palestine, between Gilead and the Euphrates. From Holy Scripture it appears that they sometimes entered into alliance with the Moabites against the Israelites, but for the most part fought without success.
Hagedolim
(son of the great ones) (Neh. 11:14) — a proper name, namely, this is the father of a certain Zabdiel, an official over the priests in Jerusalem after the return from captivity.
Haggi
(Gen. 46:16; Num. 26:15)—a son of Gad and ancestor of the Haggite clan.
Haggiah Angia
(1 Chron. 6:30)—a Merarite Levite in the ancestry of Ethan.
Hagri Nathan Mebaal Agari
(wandering) (1 Chron. 11:38) — father of Mibhar, one of David’s brave and chief warriors. In the parallel passage (2 Sam. 23:36) instead of Mibhar, son of Hagri, it reads: Bani the Gadite.
(Num. 6:5) — among the Hebrews it was customary to cut the hair as frequently as among other peoples, but they used a razor, or knife, for cutting hair, and not scissors (Isa. 7:20; Ezek. 5:1). As a result of the vow of growing and letting the hair grow, given, for example, by the Nazirites, the hair of the head remained uncut (Judg. 13:5). It was forbidden to shave the head round about, or to mar the edges of the beard (Lev. 19:27), and of the hair at the temples, as various pagan peoples and priests did (Jer. 9:25; 25:23, and elsewhere); of the priests it was required neither to shave the hair, nor to let it grow long, but to trim it to a moderate length (Ezek. 44:20), and this, of course, in order to distinguish them from the pagan priests, who shaved their heads clean, and from the Nazirites, who did not cut their hair at all.
Curls were considered the chief beauty of hair (Song of Songs 4:1; 5:2). Hair, especially black or dark hair, was considered an adornment and was anointed with oil at festivals or other joyous occasions (Ps. 23 [22]:5; Eccl. 9:8; Ruth 3:3). The bald were held in contempt (2 Kings 2:23). Hair was often adorned with pearls and precious stones (1 Tim. 2:9; 1 Pet. 3:3). Samson’s hair was braided into seven locks (Judg. 16:14). Gray hair indicated advancement in years and was regarded as the crown and adornment of old age (Prov. 16:31). Perfectly white hair was considered a symbol of Divine majesty (Dan. 7:9; 1 Cor. 11:14).
Hakkatan
(small, younger) (Ezra 8:12) — father of Johanan, one of the descendants of Azgad. In 2 Esdras (8:38) it reads: Ashan [as given].
(thorn, thornbush) — the names of three persons: a) (1 Chron. 24:10) of the priests of David’s time; b) (Ezra 2:61) of a priestly family, whose sons, upon the return from captivity, could not produce their genealogical record and were therefore excluded from the priesthood; c) (Neh. 3:4–21) one of the ancestors of Meremoth, who repaired a section of the wall of Jerusalem near the Fish Gate.
Hakupha
(Ezra 2:51; Neh. 7:53)—an ancestor of Temple servants returning from exile. First Esdras preserves a variant form.
Halah
(2 Kings 17:6; 18:11; 1 Chron. 5:26)—an Assyrian district or settlement to which Israelites were deported. Several locations have been proposed, but none is certain.
Halasa
. See Chellus; Elusa.
Halban
(Galbanum). See Galbanum.
Halhul Aelua
(Josh. 15:58)—a town in the hill country of Judah north of Hebron, generally identified with modern Halhul.
Hali Aleph
(Josh. 19:25)—a town in the territory of Asher; its location is unknown.
— a well-known city in the Carian region of Asia Minor, on the shore of the Aegean, mentioned in 1 Maccabees (15:23), the dwelling place of a considerable number of Jews in the latter period of Old Testament history: the birthplace of the famous writers Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Herodotus. It was renowned for its harbor and the strength of its walls. It is now called Bodrum.
Ham
(noise, tumultuous gathering) (Gen. 14:5) — the name of a place, evidently the chief city of the Zuzim, who were once defeated by Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, together with his allies. Gesenius supposes that it was located in the land of the Ammonites or in the vicinity thereof.
(Gen. 5:32; 6:10)—one of Noah’s three sons and a survivor of the Flood. Genesis recounts Ham’s disrespect after Noah’s drunkenness; Noah’s curse is spoken specifically over Canaan, Ham’s son, not over Ham or every descendant attributed to him (Gen. 9:20–27). Ham’s sons are Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan (Gen. 10:6). Later racial interpretations built upon this passage have no warrant in the wording of Genesis.
Haman
(glorious, renowned), the name of two persons:
(fortress, stronghold) (Num. 13:22; 34:8; Josh. 13:5; Judg. 3:3) — name of a city in Syria, near the northern borders of Palestine, generally identified with the Epiphania of the Greeks. In David’s time it was a royal residence, and its king, Toi, sent gifts to David (2 Sam. 8:10). It formed the boundary of Solomon’s kingdom (1 Kings 8:65), and likewise that of Jeroboam (2 Kings 14:25, 28). Some of its inhabitants were carried away to Samaria by the king of Assyria (2 Kings 17:24); they worshiped the pagan deity Ashima.
Sennacherib took possession of Hamath (2 Kings 18:34; 19:13). This is referred to in the account of the invasion of Pharaoh Necho, at which time the region is already called “the land of Hamath” (23:33), likewise in the account of Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion (25:2) and elsewhere. The prophet Amos (6:14) calls it “Hamath the great.” It is repeatedly mentioned by the prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and others. All this shows that Hamath was a very ancient and important place, a royal residence, whose name was also given to the whole surrounding country subject to it.
The inhabitants of Hamath belonged to the Hamitic race, descendants of Ham, and are included in the book of Genesis (10:18, as “Hamathites”) among the descendants of Canaan. If Hamath is indeed identical with the Epiphania of the Greeks, or the present-day city of Hama, then even in its present state it is still a considerable city, lying in the narrow valley of the river Orontes, on both its banks. A few decades ago it numbered about 30,000 inhabitants, most of them Muslims. The city, however, retains few antiquities and is remarkable chiefly for its great waterwheels, which lift water from the Orontes to the gardens and houses of the upper town.
The dwellings are mostly built of clay and have cone-shaped roofs. The surrounding region was called the granary of northern Syria. Christianity was planted in Hamath in the early centuries after Christ. One of the bishops of Hamath was present at the Council of Nicaea in 325, and, somewhat later, another at the Council of Constantinople in 381. At present there are between two and three thousand Christians in Hamath. The expression “the entrance of Hamath,” frequently met with in Holy Scripture (Judg. 3:3; 2 Kings 14:25), undoubtedly refers to the Bukaa, a narrow pass leading from the land of Canaan into Syria, which, as is well known, forms the northern boundary of Palestine.
Hamath
. See Hamath.
Hamath-zobah Baesoba
(2 Chron. 8:3–4) — a small state in Syria, near Damascus, conquered by Solomon. According to ancient tradition, it was founded 160 years after the promise given to Abraham.
Hamathites Aradian
(Gen. 10:18; 1 Chron. 1:16)—a Canaanite people associated with Hamath.
Hamites
(1 Chron. 4:40)—people described as descendants of Ham who formerly occupied territory where Simeonite clans later found pasture.
—(1) (Josh. 19:35) a fortified town of Naphtali, probably associated with the hot springs immediately south of Tiberias and perhaps identical with Hammoth-dor (Josh. 21:32). (2) (1 Chron. 2:55) the ancestor or clan designation connected with the Kenites descended from the house of Rechab; the wording of the genealogy is compressed.
(the appointed, designated place) (Neh. 3:31) — one of the gates of Jerusalem, otherwise called the “Judgment” gate, probably the same as that called by Ezekiel (43:21) “the appointed place of the House, outside the sanctuary.” According to some, this is the so-called Golden Gate in Jerusalem today, but this is not exactly proven.
Hammon
(Josh. 19:28)—a town on the boundary of Asher. Its location is uncertain.
Hammoth-dor
(Josh. 21:32)—a Levitical city in Naphtali, probably the same as Hammath near the hot springs of Tiberias.
Hammuel Amuel
(1 Chron. 4:26)—a son of Mishma in the genealogy of Simeon.
Hamon-gog Gog
(the multitude of Gog) — this name is given by the prophet Ezekiel (39:11–15) to the Valley of the Passengers [Travelers], east of the sea (probably the Dead Sea), after the burial there of Gog and his hordes.
(multitude, place of much burial) — the name given to a certain city in the prophecy of Ezekiel (39:11–16), evidently having an allegorical meaning, in which, it appears, is represented the struggle of paganism and the kingdoms of the earth against the Kingdom of God, the end of which is indicated in the Revelation of John (20:7–9).
Hamor
(Gen. 33:19; Acts 7:16) (donkey) — a name given in the New Testament to the father of Shechem, the Hivite.
Hamul
(ripe, grown) (1 Chron. 24:17) — one of the heads of the priestly divisions in the time of David, who received the 22nd lot in the order of priestly service.
Hamul
(Gen. 46:12; Num. 26:21)—a son of Perez, grandson of Judah and Tamar, and ancestor of the Hamulite clan.
Hamul.
See Hamul.
Hamutal
(2 Kings 23:31; 24:18; Jer. 52:1)—the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, wife of Josiah, and mother of Kings Jehoahaz and Zedekiah. Her father is not the prophet Jeremiah.
Hanan
(kind, merciful) (Jer. 35:4) — son of Igdaliah, in the days of Jehoiakim king of Judah, “a man of God” according to the prophet’s words. His sons had, in Jeremiah’s time, a special chamber in the Temple, the house of God.
(gracious)—the name of several persons. (1) (1 Chron. 8:23) a son of Shashak. (2) (1 Chron. 8:38; 9:44) a son of Azel in the line of Saul. (3) (1 Chron. 11:43) a son of Maacah and one of David’s warriors. (4) (Ezra 2:46; Neh. 7:49) an ancestor of Temple servants. (5) (Neh. 8:7) a Levite who helped the people understand the Law; First Esdras has a variant form. (6) (Neh. 10:10) a Levite who sealed the covenant. (7) (Neh. 10:22, 26) the name of one or more leaders who sealed the covenant. (8) (Neh. 13:13) a son of Zaccur appointed to help distribute the stored offerings.
Hanani
(kind, merciful) (2 Chron. 16:7; 1 Kings 16:1–7 [as given]) — a seer, in the reign of Asa, king of Judah, imprisoned for his rebukes.
(gracious)—the name of several persons. (1) (1 Chron. 25:4, 25) a son of Heman and a musician in David’s service. (2) (Neh. 1:2; 7:2) a brother or close relative of Nehemiah who brought news of Jerusalem’s distress. Nehemiah later entrusted authority in Jerusalem to Hanani and to Hananiah, commander of the citadel. (3) (Ezra 10:20) a priest of the sons of Immer who had married a foreign woman; First Esdras has a variant form. (4) (Neh. 12:36) a participant in the musical procession at the dedication of Jerusalem’s wall.
Hananiah
— one of the three companions of the prophet Daniel, raised together with him at Nebuchadnezzar’s court (Dan. 1:6, 7). Here he was given the Chaldean name Shadrach.
(the LORD is gracious)—the name of several persons. (1) (2 Chron. 26:11) an officer connected with the organization of Uzziah’s army. (2) (1 Chron. 25:23) a Davidic temple musician assigned the eighteenth lot. (3) (1 Chron. 3:19, 21) a son of Zerubbabel in David’s line. (4) (1 Chron. 8:24) a son of Shashak in a Benjaminite genealogy. (5) (Ezra 10:28) a son of Bebai who had married a foreign woman; First Esdras has Ananias. (6) (Neh. 3:8) one of the perfumers who helped repair Jerusalem’s wall; the source mistakenly makes him the son of Harhaiah, who was the father of the neighboring worker Uzziel.
(7) (Neh. 3:30) a son of Shelemiah who repaired the wall. (8) (Neh. 7:2) commander of Jerusalem’s citadel, described as faithful and God-fearing. (9) (Neh. 10:23) a leader who sealed the covenant. (10) (Neh. 12:12) head of the priestly house of Jeremiah in the days of Joiakim. (11) (Neh. 12:41) a priest with a trumpet at the dedication of the wall.
Handkerchiefs
(Acts 19:12) were in common use among the Hebrews, and, according to the testimony of travelers, the inhabitants of Eastern countries still carry handkerchiefs in their hands to this day. Handkerchiefs of this kind were often beautifully embroidered.
Hanes Tanes
(Isa. 30:4)—an Egyptian city named with Zoan in Isaiah’s condemnation of Judah’s reliance on Egypt. It is often associated with Heracleopolis in Middle Egypt, but the identification is not beyond dispute.
(Deut. 21:22-23)—the public exposure of an executed offender on a tree or wooden structure as a sign of disgrace; the body was not to remain overnight because “anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse.” The passage need not describe hanging as the original means of death. Paul applies its language to Christ: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13). The sinless Savior bore the curse due to lawbreakers and “carried our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24). The cross therefore displays both the gravity of sin and the self-giving love by which Christ redeems sinners.
Hannathon Amoth
(gracious; Josh. 19:14)—a town marking the northern boundary of Zebulun. Its location is uncertain.
Hanniel
(God is gracious)—the name of two persons. (1) (1 Chron. 7:39) a son of Ulla in a genealogy of Asher. (2) (Num. 34:23) the son of Ephod and the leader appointed from Manasseh to assist in dividing the land.
Hanoch
(dedicated)—the name of two persons. (1) (Gen. 25:4; 1 Chron. 1:33) a son of Midian and grandson of Abraham through Keturah. (2) (Gen. 46:9; Exod. 6:14; Num. 26:5; 1 Chron. 5:3) the eldest son of Reuben and ancestor of the Hanochite clan.
(granted) (2 Sam. 10:1–4; 1 Chron. 19:2–4) — son of Nahash, king of the Ammonites, contemporary of David. As is known, David had enjoyed the goodwill of Nahash, Hanun’s father. After his death, David sent envoys to comfort Hanun and to express his condolences for the deceased. But Hanun thought, or suspected, that he had sent spies to him — as a result of which he seized the envoys, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut their garments off at the middle, to their hips, and sent them back to David in this condition.
Hearing of this, David sent servants to meet them, with instructions to remain at Jericho until their beards had grown back. Hanun’s dishonorable act became the occasion of a long war, in the course of which a great many Ammonites and their allies, the Syrians, and other peoples, were destroyed, at the end of which David placed the crown of the Ammonites upon his own head.
Hanun
(gracious)—the name of two men who repaired Jerusalem’s wall. (1) (Neh. 3:13) a worker who, with the inhabitants of Zanoah, repaired the Valley Gate and one thousand cubits of wall. (2) (Neh. 3:30) the sixth son of Zalaph, who repaired another section together with Hananiah.
Hanuney
(1 Esdras 8:47)—a Levite associated with the group summoned to accompany Ezra. The parallel Hebrew account refers to descendants of Merari and preserves different names (Ezra 8:19).
Hapharaim Agin
(two springs; Josh. 19:19)—a town in the territory of Issachar. Eusebius placed it north of Megiddo, but its precise site is uncertain.
Happizzez Aphese
(dispersion) (see 1 Chron. 24:15) — of the heads of the priestly divisions, who had the 18th lot in the order of priestly service, in David’s time.
Haradah Charadath
(terror; Num. 33:24–25)—one of Israel’s wilderness encampments, between Mount Shepher and Makheloth. Its location is unknown.
Haran
(mountainous) (1 Chron. 23:9) — a Levite, son of Shimei, who held a division of priestly service in the house of the Lord under David.
—(1) (Gen. 11:31–32; 2 Kings 19:12; Isa. 37:12; Ezek. 27:23; Acts 7:2–4) an ancient city of Upper Mesopotamia. Terah died there; Abraham departed from it for Canaan; and Laban, Rebekah’s brother, lived in the region (Gen. 27:43). Ezekiel names Haran among Tyre’s trading partners, and Assyria later subdued it. The site is securely associated with modern Harran in southeastern Turkey, near the Balikh River. (2) (1 Chron. 2:46) a son of Caleb by Ephah.
Hararite, otherwise Hararite
(mountaineer) (2 Sam. 23:33) — one of David’s mighty men, Ahiam, so named after his place of residence.
Harashim Ageaddair
(craftsmen; 1 Chron. 4:14; Neh. 11:35)—the Valley of Craftsmen, associated with descendants of Joab and later with Benjaminite settlements. Its exact location near Jerusalem or Lod is uncertain.
Harbona
(Esth. 1:10; 7:9)—one of the seven eunuchs serving King Ahasuerus. He later drew attention to the gallows Haman had prepared for Mordecai.
(Lev. 11:6; Deut. 14:7) (in Hebrew, arnebeth) — a four-footed animal of the order of rodents, reckoned by the Mosaic Law among the unclean animals, as it is likewise regarded by most of the peoples of the East. It has a cud, but only in appearance, for it has a habit of grinding its teeth against one another, which gives it the appearance of chewing the cud.
Hareph Baetha Lammon
(1 Chron. 2:51)—the ancestor or founder associated with Beth-gader in the genealogy of Hur and Caleb.
Harhaiah Arachias
(maker of ointments) (Neh. 3:8) — father of Hananiah, a silversmith, who took part in the repair of the wall of Jerusalem under Nehemiah.
Harhaiah Arachias
(Neh. 3:8)—the father of Uzziel the goldsmith, who helped repair Jerusalem’s wall.
Harhas Aras
(2 Kings 22:14)—an ancestor of Shallum, husband of the prophetess Huldah. Second Chronicles 34:22 has the form Hasrah.
Harhur Arur
(Ezra 2:51; Neh. 7:53)—an ancestor of Temple servants who returned from exile.
—a name borne by priestly and lay families and individuals. (1) (1 Chron. 24:8) the priestly division that received the third lot in David’s organization. (2) (Ezra 2:32; Neh. 7:35) a lay family of 320 returnees. (3) (Ezra 2:39; Neh. 7:42) a priestly family of 1,017 returnees. (4) (Ezra 10:21) a priestly family represented among those who had married foreign women. (5) (Ezra 10:31) a lay family represented in the same proceeding. (6) (Neh. 3:11) the father of Malchijah, who repaired the wall.
(7) (Neh. 10:5) a priestly signatory of the covenant. (8) (Neh. 10:27) a leader who sealed the covenant. (9) (Neh. 12:15) a priestly house whose head in the days of Joiakim was Adna.
Hariph Ariph
—(1) (Neh. 7:24) the ancestor of a family returning with Zerubbabel; Ezra 2:18 has the variant Jorah. (2) (Neh. 10:19) a leader who sealed the covenant.
Hariphite
(1 Chron. 12:5)—the designation of Shephatiah, a warrior who joined David at Ziklag.
Harmi
(bony, of bone) (1 Chron. 4:1) — son of Mered by Hodiah, mentioned in the genealogy of the descendants of the patriarch Judah.
Harnepher Arnaphar
(1 Chron. 7:36)—a son of Zophah in a genealogy of Asher.
Harod Arad
(Judg. 7:1)—the spring beside which Gideon encamped before reducing his force and fighting Midian. It is commonly identified with ‘Ain Jalud at the foot of Mount Gilboa.
Harodite Rudaean
(2 Sam. 23:25)—a designation of Shammah and Elika among David’s mighty warriors.
Haroeh
(seer) (1 Chron. 2:52) — son of Shobal, evidently the same person as Reaiah in chapter 4 (v. 2).
Harosheth-hagoyim
(Judg. 4:2, 13, 16)—Sisera’s base during the oppression under Jabin of Hazor. Deborah and Barak defeated his forces. The city’s location is uncertain, although sites near the western end of the Jezreel Valley have been proposed.
Harpist; Lyre Player
(Gen. 4:21)—a person who plays a stringed instrument such as the lyre. Jubal is called the ancestor of all who play the lyre and pipe. See Lyre.
Harran
. See Haran.
Harsha
(Ezra 2:52; Neh. 7:54)—an ancestor of Temple servants who returned with Zerubbabel.
Harsith Gate
(Gate of Potsherds; Jer. 19:2)—a gate of Jerusalem near the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, where Jeremiah proclaimed judgment. Its exact position is unknown.
Harum Jarin
(exalted) (1 Chron. 4:8) — a name occurring in the genealogy of the descendants of Judah.
Harumaph Eromaph
(Neh. 3:10)—the father of Jedaiah, who repaired the wall opposite his house.
Haruz Arus
(2 Kings 21:19)—the father of Meshullemeth, wife of King Manasseh and mother of Amon.
(Gen. 8:22). The harvest in Palestine usually begins around the start of April and ends in June, though later in some parts of the hill country. The barley harvest preceded the wheat harvest. A sickle was generally used for cutting the ears, just as with us, and threshing and winnowing were often done in the open air. Gathering up the individual ears, and even individual sheaves, left behind in the field after the harvest was permitted to the poor and became their own property.
Hasadiah
(the LORD is gracious; 1 Chron. 3:20)—a son of Zerubbabel in David’s line.
Haseva
(1 Esdras 5:31)—an ancestor of Temple servants. The surrounding names differ substantially from the parallel lists in Ezra and Nehemiah.
(the LORD has considered)—the name of several Levites and priests. (1) (1 Chron. 6:45) a Merarite ancestor in the line of the singer Ethan. (2) (1 Chron. 9:14) a Merarite ancestor of Shemaiah. (3) (1 Chron. 25:3, 19) a son of Jeduthun and temple musician assigned the twelfth lot. (4) (1 Chron. 26:30) a Hebronite charged with religious and royal business west of the Jordan. (5) (1 Chron. 27:17) the son of Kemuel and officer over the Levites. (6) (2 Chron. 35:9) a Levitical leader who contributed animals for Josiah’s Passover.
(7) (Ezra 8:19) a Levite who joined Ezra’s return. (8) (Neh. 3:17) a ruler of half the district of Keilah who repaired the wall. (9) (Neh. 10:11) a Levite who sealed the covenant. (10) (Neh. 11:22) the grandfather of Uzzi, overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem. (11) (Neh. 12:21) the head of the priestly house of Hilkiah in Joiakim’s days. (12) (Neh. 12:24) a Levitical leader in responsive praise and thanksgiving.
Hashabnah Reum Essabana Maasia
(Neh. 10:25)—a leader who sealed the covenant in Nehemiah’s time.
Hashabneiah
—the name of two persons. (1) (Neh. 3:10) the father of Hattush, who repaired Jerusalem’s wall. (2) (Neh. 9:5) a Levite who took part in the people’s confession and worship after the exile.
Hashbaddanah Asabadma
(wise judge; Neh. 8:4)—one of the men standing at Ezra’s left as he read the Law.
Hashem Asam
(from Arabic: radiant, bright) (1 Chron. 11:34), Hashem the Gizonite — probably named thus after his place of origin, but this locality is unknown.
Hashmonah Selmona
(Num. 33:29–30)—one of Israel’s wilderness encampments, between Mithkah and Moseroth. Its location is unknown.
Hashub
—the name of several persons. (1) (1 Chron. 9:14; Neh. 11:15) the father of the Levite Shemaiah. (2) (Neh. 3:11) a son of Pahath-moab who repaired the wall. (3) (Neh. 3:23) a man who, with Benjamin, repaired opposite his house. (4) (Neh. 10:23) a leader who sealed the covenant.
Hashubah Asube
(1 Chron. 3:20)—a son of Zerubbabel in David’s line.
—a family or personal name appearing in several postexilic settings: a family of returnees (Ezra 2:19; Neh. 7:22), men who had married foreign women (Ezra 10:33), a man standing beside Ezra (Neh. 8:4), and a covenant signatory (Neh. 10:18). The source treats these references as one man, but the texts do not require that conclusion.
Hasrah
(2 Chron. 34:22). See Harhas.
Hassenuah
(thorny, sharp) (1 Chron. 9:7) — of the sons of Benjamin, one of the ancestors of Sallu.
Hassophereth Sephera
(scribe, writing) (Ezra 2:55; Neh. 7:57) — of the sons of Solomon’s servants, ancestor of one of the families that returned from captivity with Zerubbabel.
Hassupha
(nakedness; Ezra 2:43; Neh. 7:46)—an ancestor of Temple servants who returned with Zerubbabel.
Hathath Gothoniel Athath
(1 Chron. 4:13)—a son of Othniel in the genealogy of Judah.
Hatipha
(Ezra 2:54; Neh. 7:56)—an ancestor of Temple servants returning with Zerubbabel; the source incorrectly calls the family gatekeepers.
Hatita
(Ezra 2:42; Neh. 7:45)—the ancestor of a family of Temple gatekeepers who returned from exile.
Hattil
(Ezra 2:57; Neh. 7:59)—an ancestor of Solomon’s servants who returned from exile.
—the name of several persons. (1) (1 Chron. 3:22; Ezra 8:2) a descendant of David through Shemaiah who returned with Ezra. (2) (Neh. 12:2) a priest who returned with Zerubbabel and Jeshua. (3) (Neh. 3:10) a son of Hashabneiah who repaired Jerusalem’s wall. (4) (Neh. 10:4) a signatory of the covenant.
—the name of persons and regions. (1) (Gen. 10:7) a son of Cush. (2) (Gen. 10:29) a son of Joktan. (3) (Gen. 2:11–12) the land encircled by the Pishon, noted for gold, bdellium, and onyx; its location is unknown. (4) (Gen. 25:18; 1 Sam. 15:7) a region named with Shur in descriptions of Ishmaelite and Amalekite territory. These passages may not all refer to one geographical area, and proposed locations in Arabia, Africa, India, or the Caucasus remain uncertain.
(Lev. 11:16)—a swift bird of prey, included among birds not to be eaten under the law of Moses (Deut. 14:15). “Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars and spreads its wings toward the south?” God asks Job (Job 39:26). The question directs attention to divine providence in the instincts of migratory birds, many of which pass through Palestine. The source’s report that killing a hawk was a criminal offense among Greeks and Egyptians reflects particular ancient cultic customs and should not be generalized to every place or period.
(Isa. 5:24)—grass that has been cut and dried for fodder. Because dry grass is quickly consumed by fire and soon loses its freshness, Scripture uses it as an image of frailty and transience: “As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth” (Ps. 103:15). Isaiah compares empty human schemes with conceiving chaff and bringing forth stubble (Isa. 33:11).
(vision of God) — the name of the following persons: a) (1 Kings 19:15) king of Syria, contemporary of Ahaziah and Jehoram. While Hazael was still a servant of Ben-hadad, king of Syria, the prophet Elijah received a command from God to anoint him king of Syria, and, together with him, Jehu king of Israel. Eleven years afterward, Ben-hadad, then living in Damascus, having fallen ill, sent Hazael to take gifts to the prophet Elisha and ask him about the outcome of his illness. The prophet told Hazael that Ben-hadad’s illness was not fatal, but that he would nevertheless soon die, and then, with tears, foretold to him that he would occupy the throne of the king of Syria and would bring many calamities upon the children of Israel.
Hazael, having brought the king a favorable answer concerning his illness, on the next day smothered him: “he took a thick cloth,” says the sacred writer, “and dipped it in water, and spread it on his face, so that he died” (2 Kings 8:15). He then occupied his throne. The prophet’s further predictions were fulfilled exactly. He waged many wars with the kings of Judah and Israel, and did indeed bring upon them many calamities.
Hazaiah Ozia
(Neh. 11:5)—an ancestor of Maaseiah, a Judahite resident of postexilic Jerusalem.
Hazar-gaddah Seri
(enclosure of Gad; Josh. 15:27)—a town in the Negeb of Judah. Its location is unknown.
Hazar-hatticon
(middle enclosure; Ezek. 47:16)—a point on the northern boundary in Ezekiel’s vision, between the regions of Damascus and Hamath near Hauran. Its exact location is unknown.
Hazar-shual
(enclosure of jackals; Josh. 15:28; 19:3; 1 Chron. 4:28; Neh. 11:27)—a town in the Negeb, first assigned to Judah and then to Simeon, and resettled after the exile.
Hazar-susah (Hazar-susim)
(enclosure of horses; Josh. 19:5; 1 Chron. 4:31)—a town assigned to Simeon within the territory of Judah.
Hazarmaveth Sarmoth
(Gen. 10:26; 1 Chron. 1:20)—a son of Joktan. The name has often been connected with Hadramaut in southern Arabia, but the genealogical-geographical relationship cannot be proved in detail.
Hazazon-tamar
(pruning of palms; Gen. 14:7; 2 Chron. 20:2)—a place identified in Chronicles with En-gedi on the western shore of the Dead Sea.
Hazi
(1 Chron. 2:52)—an interpretation found in the source’s reading of the genealogy of Shobal. The Hebrew phrase is commonly rendered “half of the Menuhoth” rather than treated as the personal name Hazi; the text and ancient versions are difficult.
Haziel Dan
(1 Chron. 23:9)—a son of Shimei in a Gershonite Levitical genealogy.
Hazlelponi
(my shelter, my protection) — daughter of Etam, mentioned in 1 Chronicles (4:3) together with her brothers.
Hazo Melcha Nachor
(Gen. 22:22)—a son of Nahor and Milcah and a nephew of Abraham.
(settlement, fortress) (Josh. 11:1) — a city of the tribe of Naphtali, capital of the Canaanites, in which Jabin reigned at the time of the conquest of the land of Canaan, and which was taken and burned by Joshua (Josh. 11:1–13). Despite this, the city was rebuilt and afterward came under the rule of another king, also named Jabin, whose army was defeated by Barak (Judg. 4:2–17). Fortified by Solomon (1 Kings 9:15), at the invasion of the country by Tiglath-pileser, king of Assyria, it fell into the hands of this conqueror (1 Kings [rather, 2 Kings] 15:29), and its inhabitants were carried captive to Assyria.
The final destruction of the city was foretold by the prophet Jeremiah in the following words: “And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons, and a desolation for ever: there shall no man abide there, nor any son of man dwell in it” (Jer. 49:33). It is clear from the context of the prophecy, however, that the Hazor referred to was located in Arabia and had special importance. No trace remains of the city, though some suppose it to be the present-day Petra.
(enclosed place, settlement) — the name of two cities: a) (Josh. 15:25) this is another name for the city of Hezron, on the border of the tribe of Judah in Edom; b) (Neh. 11:33) one of the cities occupied by the Benjamites after their return from the Babylonian captivity. It may be supposed that it lay to the north of Jerusalem, at no great distance from it.
Hazor-hadattah
(new Hazor) (Josh. 15:25) — a city of the tribe of Judah, near Edom, probably the same as Hazor.
Hazorphi
(goldsmith) (Neh. 3:31) — father of Malchijah, apparently a goldsmith, one of those who repaired the wall of Jerusalem.
To determine precisely what form of head covering the Hebrews had is very difficult, for on the one hand the writers of the sacred books do not describe these coverings in detail, and on the other hand Josephus and others, in their descriptions, give the head coverings of the Hebrews various forms. It is certain that the custom of keeping the head covered existed among the Hebrews from the deepest antiquity, the basis for which, of course, could have been climatic conditions, namely the harmful effect of the vertical rays of the sun upon the head, which could result, not infrequently in hot countries, in the dangerous condition of sunstroke.
The uncovering of the head during the trial by water of jealousy (Num. 5:18) and in the case of affliction by leprosy (Lev. 13:45) indicates that in the time of Moses the custom of covering the head was, it appears, a general custom, not only among women but also among men. Later, head coverings (wrappings), used out of necessity, began to serve as adornment for the heads of persons of means, as we see from the book of Job (29:14). The same was done by kings (Isa. 62:3) and noble women (Ps. 45 [44]:13 [as given]).
Part of festive attire was the crown, worn for adornment (Isa. 61:3), also at the marriage ceremony (Isa. 61:10). The high priests generally wore on the head a tiara, or miter. Women wore veils, but these can hardly be counted as head coverings, though the head was sometimes covered by them. Depictions of the head coverings or veils of Assyrian and Egyptian women, with their ornaments, can still be seen to this day on ancient Assyrian monuments. At present the head covering of the Arabs is very simple; but among eastern women in general it is distinguished by particular elaborateness and costliness.
The head coverings of men of various classes in Egypt, Syria, Assyria, and Persia today are extremely diverse in form and appearance; they depend entirely upon the position, nationality, or religion of those who wear them. One modern writer, in explanation of the following words of St. Peter the Apostle — “whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel” (1 Pet. 3:3) — cites the still-existing custom among Levantine women of braiding their hair into plaits and interweaving them with cords strung with gold or silver coins.
—the principal representatives of clans or ancestral houses (Ezra 1:5; 8:1). “Head” frequently symbolizes authority, preeminence, or responsibility: Damascus is called the head of Syria (Isa. 7:8); elders and honored persons are contrasted with false prophets as “head and tail” (Isa. 9:14-15); and Paul speaks of ordered relations under God and of Christ as head of the Church, his body (1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 1:22-23). Other biblical uses include lifting up the head for restoration, putting dust on the head in mourning, anointing the head in hospitality, and bringing another person’s blood upon one’s own head by accepting responsibility.
(Job 13:4). In the Bible, the word “physician” is mentioned for the first time in the Book of Genesis (50:2). However, there is some ground to suppose that physicians existed among the Hebrews even before this time: thus, for example, the circumcision performed on Isaac (Gen. 21:4), midwifery (midwives) at the difficult birth of Benjamin (Gen. 35:17), were evidently performed by persons more or less acquainted with the medical art (Gen. 50:2). Medical science flourished especially in Egypt.
In learning the wisdom of the Egyptians, Moses in all likelihood also studied the art of healing. Egypt, as Pliny remarks, abounded in diseases. Herodotus says that in Egypt each physician treated only one particular disease, and therefore on the banks of the Nile a great multitude of physicians practiced. Each family had to have a particular physician for each particular disease, such as, for example, for the eyes, ears, teeth, and so on, so that it is not surprising when we read, for example, in the Book of Genesis (50:2) the following words: “Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father” (that is, Jacob), namely, that the plural, not the singular, is used here.
Egyptian medical art was famed also in other countries. The Persian kings Cyrus and Darius made use of the help of Egyptian physicians. In the Bible there are also quite a few factual indications that the art of healing diseases according to their various kinds constituted a special profession (Prov. 17:22; Jer. 8:22; Ezek. 30:21; Matt. 9:12; Luke 4:23; Col. 4:14). Of course this science in antiquity was very simple and not very complex, and consisted chiefly in the treatment of wounds and external ailments: wounds, for example, were cleansed, bound, and softened with oil (Isa. 1:6).
Later, treating external ailments, physicians could become acquainted also with internal ones (2 Chron. 16:12), and even with mental ones (1 Sam. 16:16). Balm of Gilead was highly valued as a healing remedy. When Asa became diseased in his feet, so that the disease mounted to the upper parts of his body, he was condemned for this, that in his disease he sought not the Lord, but physicians (2 Chron. 16:12). “The woman with an issue of blood,” according to the testimony of the Evangelist Mark, “had suffered many things of many physicians” (Mark 5:26).
And the Evangelist Luke, being himself a physician, says of her that, “having spent all her living upon physicians, she could not be healed of any” (Luke 8:43). Physicians and healing are spoken of with particular approval in the Book of Jesus the son of Sirach (38:1–18); for example, the following expressions are especially notable: “Honor a physician with the honor due unto him for the uses which ye may have of him… The skill of the physician shall lift up his head… The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth… with such doth He heal men, and taketh away their pains… give place to the physician, for the Lord hath created him… in their hands there is good success,” and so on.
The most commonly used remedies in antiquity for diseases, besides balm, were the following: oil, or olive oil, sometimes combined with wine (Luke 10:34), a plaster of figs, applied to boils (2 Kings 20:7) — Arab physicians recommended its use for all ripening boils — various other plasters (Wisd. of Sol. 16:12), parts of animals, such as, for example, heart, liver, and gall of fish against eye diseases (Tobit 6:5, 9), copper as a softening and vision-clearing remedy (1 Sam. 16:25–29 [as given]).
In the land of Israel there were also mineral springs, whose healing waters were used in the treatment of various diseases, as, for example, by King Herod (Josephus, Antiquities, book XVII, ch. 6:6–8).
—in biblical language, the inward center of the person: thought, understanding, desire, will, conscience, courage, faith, and affection. The heart is not merely the seat of emotion contrasted with the mind. People reason in their hearts, form intentions there, and direct their lives from it (Prov. 4:23; Mark 2:6-8). Lydia’s heart was opened by the Lord to attend to Paul’s message, and faith is confessed as belief “with the heart” (Acts 16:14; Rom. 10:10).
(Jer. 17:6)—a plant of dry and barren country used in the prophet’s comparison: the person who trusts in human strength is “like a shrub in the desert” and does not see prosperity when it comes. The Hebrew plant name is uncertain and is variously rendered shrub, juniper, tamarisk, or heath. The image, rather than the exact species, is clear: isolation in a parched and salt land contrasts with the tree planted by water that represents trust in the LORD (Jer. 17:7-8).
. This word is used in Holy Scripture in various senses. Sometimes it denotes simply the atmosphere immediately surrounding the earth. Thus the expression “all the nations under the whole heaven” (Deut. 4:19) signifies almost the same thing as the expression “all the nations upon the earth.” In this sense, heaven is the region assigned to the birds, just as the earth serves as the region of man and beast, and the water as the region of fish. In another sense, “heaven” denotes the heavenly firmament, or vault, upon which the sun, moon, stars, and other heavenly bodies move.
In Holy Scripture this heaven is sometimes called a curtain, or the vessels of heaven (Job 38:37 [as cited]), a scroll (Rev. 6:14). Thus, whether it be the atmosphere or the heavenly firmament, the heavens in this sense present an object accessible to our eyes: “look now toward the heavens,” it is said in the Book of Job, “and behold how high they are” (Job 22:12 [as cited]). This heaven tells us of God, striking our sight with its beauty, majesty, and harmony (Ps. 19:1). It is also doomed, on the last day of judgment, to destruction, just as the earth is: “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,” says the holy Apostle Peter, “and the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Pet. 3:10–13).
It shall be rolled up as a scroll, it is said in the Revelation (6:14). “And I saw,” says the holy Seer in Revelation, “a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea” (21:1). Finally, besides the atmosphere and the firmament, by the word “heaven” is meant the so-called heaven of heavens. This is the invisible, immaterial world, perhaps that very third heaven of which the holy Apostle Paul speaks (2 Cor. 12:2). Here, in the height of heaven, is located the particular place of God’s omnipresence; here is His throne, here He walks upon the circle of heaven (Job 22:14 [as cited]); here especially is present the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 3:21); here also the Spirit of God manifests His all-penetrating power from the seven fiery lamps burning before the throne of God (Rev. 4:5).
This heaven is the dwelling place of angels of every rank. Here, in the place of rest, are found the spirits of the righteous who have attained perfection (Heb. 12:23). This heaven is otherwise called now the bosom of Abraham, now paradise. We read in Holy Scripture of heavenly mansions, of a heavenly fatherland, of the heavenly city of Jerusalem. It is described as having, as it were, its own city, its own temple, its many inhabitants, its own crowns of glory, and its own springs of refreshment. From this heaven the Lord came down to earth; thither He ascended, and from thence He shall come again to judge the living and the dead.
(fellowship)—the name of several persons. (1) (Gen. 46:17; Num. 26:45; 1 Chron. 7:31) a son of Beriah, grandson of Asher, and ancestor of the Heberite clan. (2) (Judg. 4:11, 17; 5:24) a Kenite descended from Hobab and the husband of Jael. Sisera fled to Heber’s tent and was killed there by Jael. (3) (1 Chron. 4:18) a son of Mered and father of Soco in a Judahite genealogy. (4) (1 Chron. 8:17) a son of Elpaal in a Benjaminite genealogy.
(sojourner) (Gen. 14:13) — words used to denote the Hebrew people, descended from Abraham. The word “Hebrew” derives either from the patriarch Eber, son of Shelah, one of Abraham’s ancestors, or from the Hebrew verb ʿabar (“to cross over”), meaning “sojourner,” a stranger from another land. The people known by the name of Hebrews came into the land of Canaan by crossing the Euphrates, and so it was natural for the Canaanites to call them Hebrews, that is, newcomers from another country, just as we generally say of some foreigner that he has arrived “from over the sea.” Nevertheless, the first opinion is supported by the circumstance that Eber, being the father of Peleg (Gen. 10:25; 11:16), in whose lifetime the division of the peoples took place, could easily have transmitted his name to his descendants.
This opinion is held by Eusebius and others, in preference to the rest. The Hebrews began to be called Jews only in a later period of their history — a name derived from Judah. Some time before Christ, however, the designation “Hebrew” reappeared, and we find it in the book of Acts (6:1) and in some of the epistles (2 Cor. 11:22; Phil. 3:5).
—(1) (Num. 13:22; Josh. 14:15) one of the most ancient cities of the hill country of Judah, earlier called Kiriath-arba. It lies about twenty miles south of Jerusalem and is now called al-Khalil, “the Friend,” from Abraham’s traditional title as the friend of God. Abraham lived near Mamre and purchased the cave of Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place for Sarah; Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rebekah, and Leah were also buried there according to Genesis (Gen. 13:18; 23:1–20; 25:9; 35:27–29; 49:29–32; 50:13).
(Isa. 14:23; 34:11; Zeph. 2:14) (from the Arabic: something prickly, that rolls itself into a ball) — a well-known spine-covered, insectivorous animal. In case of danger, the hedgehog rolls itself into a ball and displays its spines on every side, thereby defending itself and even wounding its enemy. It is said that no poison has any effect on hedgehogs. In summer they come out of their burrows at night in search of food, while in winter they generally fall into a lethargic sleep; they are found in damp, desolate, uninhabited places, together with pelicans and other creatures of the wilderness, and are therefore mentioned in the passages cited above alongside other animals of the same kind, as evidence of the desolation and ruin of once-noisy and populous cities and settlements.
“Both the pelican and the hedgehog shall lodge in the capitals of her [Nineveh’s] pillars,” says the prophet Zephaniah, “and their voice shall sing in the windows” (2:14).
Hegai
(venerable, honored) (Esther 2:8) — one of the eunuchs of King Ahasuerus, to whose care Esther, the ward of Mordecai, was entrusted, and by whose favor she was granted advantages.
Helah
(weakness; 1 Chron. 4:5, 7)—one of the wives of Ashhur, father of Tekoa.
Helam
(2 Sam. 10:16–18)—a place east of the Jordan where David defeated the Aramean forces assembled by Hadadezer. Its exact location is unknown.
Helbah Chebda
(Judg. 1:31)—a town in Asher from which the Canaanite inhabitants were not driven out. Its location is unknown.
Helbon
(Ezek. 27:18)—a Syrian city whose wine was traded with Tyre. It is commonly identified with modern Halbun north of Damascus; the source’s identification with Aleppo is unlikely.
(God knows; all-knowing) (Zech 6:10, 14) - one of those who had come from captivity and whom the Jews sent from Babylon to Jerusalem with gold, silver, and other offerings donated for the restoration of the temple. God commanded Zechariah to make crowns from this gold and silver for Joshua the high priest.
Heldai
—the name of two persons. (1) (1 Chron. 27:15) a Netophathite of the line of Othniel who commanded David’s twelfth monthly division. (2) (Zech. 6:10, 14) one of the returned exiles who brought silver and gold for the symbolic crown; verse 14 preserves the variant Helem in some textual traditions.
Heleb Esthai
(2 Sam. 23:29)—the son of Baanah and one of David’s mighty warriors. First Chronicles 11:30 has the form Heled.
Heled Chthaod
(1 Chron. 11:30). See Heleb.
Helek
(portion; Num. 26:30; Josh. 17:2)—a son of Gilead and ancestor of the Helekite clan in Manasseh.
Helem
(blow, strike). See 1 Chronicles 7:35.
Helem
(Zech. 6:14). See Heldai.
Heleph Moolam
(Josh. 19:33)—a place on the boundary of Naphtali. Its location is uncertain.
Helez
(strength)—the name of two persons. (1) (1 Chron. 2:39) the son of Azariah and father of Eleasah in a Judahite genealogy. (2) (2 Sam. 23:26; 1 Chron. 11:27; 27:10) the Pelonite, one of David’s mighty warriors and commander of the seventh monthly division from Ephraim.
Heliodorus
(2 Macc 3:7 and elsewhere) - one of the dignitaries of Seleucus Philopator, mentioned in 2 Maccabees.
Heliopolis
— a city of Lower Egypt, situated, according to Strabo and Pliny, to the east of the Nile, between the Nile and the Red Sea, above the royal canal.
(Gen 41:45), also called On (Ezek 30:17) or Beth-shemesh (Jer 43:13), was called Heliopolis by the Greeks, that is, City of the Sun. This name was given to the city because the Egyptians there especially worshiped the sun, or Ra, the remains of whose magnificent temple still exist. Heliopolis was considered one of the most ancient cities in the world. It stood in the land of Goshen, a few miles northwest of present-day Cairo. Eighteen centuries ago, when Strabo visited Heliopolis, it already lay in ruins.
According to Josephus, Joseph gave this city to his brothers when they first arrived in Egypt; and we know from Genesis 41:45 that Pharaoh gave Joseph Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of Heliopolis, as his wife. Here also, in the days of Ptolemy Philadelphus, the Jew Onias received permission to erect, on the site of a sanctuary of Diana, a temple resembling the one in Jerusalem, which for a long time was visited by Hellenistic Jews. The priests of Heliopolis once formed a wealthy and learned corporation, and among them, it is thought, Moses studied the wisdom of Egypt.
According to some, Pythagoras and Plato likewise received their higher education here. The ruins of Heliopolis may still be seen near the village of Matariyeh. Among them rises a solitary red-granite obelisk covered with hieroglyphs, around which fragments of marble, granite, clay, and other materials lie scattered in abundance. Another, larger obelisk was long ago removed from its place and now stands in Rome. The sacred Egyptian bull Mnevis was kept at Heliopolis. On the first obelisk, among other inscriptions, the following has been deciphered and read: Horus - life-giving king of the obedient people, lord of Upper and Lower Egypt.
The village of Matariyeh is noteworthy for us Christians because, according to tradition, the Most Holy Virgin Mary with the Christ Child stayed there for a time during the flight from Herod.
Helkath
(portion; Josh. 19:25; 21:31)—a town in Asher assigned to the Gershonite Levites. First Chronicles 6:75 has Hukok in the parallel list.
Helkath-hazzurim
(field of sword-edges; 2 Sam. 2:16)—a place beside the pool of Gibeon named from the deadly combat between twelve men of Ish-bosheth and twelve servants of David.
Hellas
(1 Macc. 1:1; Acts 20:2) — Greece proper, as distinguished from Macedonia. See Greece.
Hellenists
(Acts 6:1) — Jews from pagan lands.
Helleon
(Judith 2:23)—a land or people named in Holofernes’s campaign south of the Ishmaelites. Its position cannot be determined securely.
Heman, Eman
(faithful) — name of three persons:
Hemdan Deson Amada
(pleasant; Gen. 36:26; 1 Chron. 1:41)—a son of Dishan in the genealogy of Seir the Horite.
Hen
(favor; Zech. 6:14)—a form found in the source for a name or title connected with Josiah son of Zephaniah, in whose house the symbolic crown was placed. The Hebrew can also be understood as “for the kindness of the son of Zephaniah,” and translations differ.
- familiar domestic fowl. Chickens were common in Judea during the Lord's earthly life, as the Gospels partly show; the egg likewise appears as ordinary food (Luke 11:12). All four Evangelists record the cock's crow at Peter's denial (Matt 26:34, 75; Mark 14:30, 68, 72; Luke 22:34; John 13:38), and cockcrow was a familiar designation for a watch of the night (Mark 13:35). The Savior Himself evokes the mother hen's tenderness and care: 'O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ... how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not' (Matt 23:37).
Hena
(lowland) (2 Kings 18:34; Isa. 37:13) — a royal city in Mesopotamia, conquered by the Assyrians. Traces of this city are found in present-day Anah, or Anatho — ruins on one of the islands of the Euphrates.
Henadad
(favor)—a Levitical family name. Descendants of Henadad supervised work on the Second Temple (Ezra 3:9); Binnui and Bavai, sons or descendants of Henadad, repaired the wall (Neh. 3:18, 24); and the family was represented among the covenant signatories (Neh. 10:9).
(Song 1:14; 4:13) - a small, beautiful aromatic tree, ten to twelve feet high, flowering in clusters and spreading a strong camphor-like fragrance. It grows abundantly in Egypt. Eastern women especially valued it, carrying its flowers, wearing them on the breast, decorating their homes with them, and taking them to baths. Powdered leaves were also used for various purposes.
—the name of persons and a city. (1) (Num. 26:32–33; Josh. 17:2–3) a son of Gilead and ancestor of the Hepherite clan and of Zelophehad. (2) (1 Chron. 4:6) a son of Ashhur, father of Tekoa. (3) (1 Chron. 11:36) a man from Mecherah represented among David’s mighty warriors. (4) (Josh. 12:17; 1 Kings 4:10) a Canaanite royal city and later an administrative district under Solomon. Its site is uncertain.
Hephzibah
(my delight is in her; 2 Kings 21:1)—the wife of Hezekiah and mother of King Manasseh. Isaiah 62:4 also uses the name symbolically for restored Zion.
(2 Macc. 4:19, 20) — the well-known mythological hero of Greece, son of Jupiter and Alcmene, especially venerated for his strength and many heroic exploits, not only in Greece and Rome, but also in Phoenicia, Carthage, Tyre, and elsewhere. In the last-named city a magnificent temple was erected to Hercules, and various festivals and games were established in his honor. And it was to these pagan festivals that the unworthy Jewish high priest Jason, brother of Onias, under the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes, sent spectators and money, thus diverting the people from the service of the one true God.
Herds
. See Livestock.
Heres
(sun)—the name of two places. (1) (Judg. 1:35) Mount Heres in the territory of Dan, where Amorites persisted until the house of Joseph subjected them to forced labor. (2) (Judg. 8:13) the ascent or pass of Heres, by which Gideon returned after defeating the Midianite kings.
Heresh Bacbacar
(craftsman; 1 Chron. 9:15)—a Levite living in Jerusalem after the exile.
(from the Greek word hairesis — separation, division, sect) (Acts 5:17; 2 Pet. 2:1; Titus 3:10) — according to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, consists in this, that people mix with the teaching of the faith opinions contrary to divine truth: such, for example, was the false teaching of Arius, who thought impiously concerning the Son of God; of Macedonius, who thought impiously concerning the Holy Spirit; of Nestorius, of Simon Magus, generally regarded as the patriarch of the Gnostics, of the Iconoclasts, of the Monophysites, and of many other heretics.
The word “heresy,” however, has a broad meaning in general, but is nearly always taken in a bad sense, namely: it denotes religious factions among the Jews, such as the Pharisees and Sadducees (Acts 5:17; 15:5; 26:5); or various religious factions within Christian society (1 Cor. 11:19; Gal. 5:20); or heresies in the proper sense, that is, willful distortions of Christian truth (2 Pet. 2:1). The best-known heresies in the Russian Church have been the following: the Bogomils (10th century), the Sorcerers (12th century), the Strigolniki (13th century), the Judaizers (15th century), Bakshin and Kosoi (16th century), the Old Believers and the Schism with its various branches (17th century), the heresy of Tveritinov, the Beguny, the Khlysty, and others (18th century), the Skoptsy, the Molokans, the Stundists, the Pashkovites, and others (18th–19th centuries).
Hereth Saric
(forest; 1 Sam. 22:5)—a forest or wooded district in Judah where the prophet Gad directed David to go after leaving his stronghold.
Herez
(2 Sam. 23:26; 1 Chron. 11:27). See Helez.
Hermas
(Rom. 16:14) — according to tradition, one of the Seventy Apostles, who was afterward bishop in Dalmatia. The Apostle Paul greets him, together with Hermes and others, in the Epistle to the Romans. His memory is kept on April 8.
(Mercury, the Greek god of gain) — also greeted by the Apostle Paul, together with Hermas and others, in the Epistle to the Romans (16:14). Nothing more is known of him. His memory is kept on January 7 and April 8. Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen ascribe to Hermes the epistle entitled “The Shepherd,” from the contents of which show that its author was a married man with children. It originally appeared in Greek, but at present survives only in a Latin translation. Although this epistle always enjoyed great esteem among Christians, it was never received by the Church into the canon of sacred books.
It consists of three parts: the first contains a description of four visions; the second, twelve moral precepts; and the third, ten similitudes, each of which embodies some truth. It is notable in the epistle of Hermas that every man, throughout the whole course of his earthly life, is accompanied by one good and one evil angel. His memory is kept on January 4 and March 8.
(Acts 14:12)—the Greek messenger god, called Mercury by the Romans. After Paul healed a man at Lystra who had been unable to walk from birth, the crowd shouted that the gods had come down in human form. They called Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes because Paul was the chief speaker. Paul and Barnabas tore their garments and urged the people to turn from vain idols to the living God (Acts 14:8-18). See Mercury and Jupiter.
(of the race of Mercury) (2 Tim. 1:15) — one of the Christians of Asia who accompanied the Apostle Paul but forsook him at Rome during his first imprisonment there. Among them are named specifically Hermogenes and Phygellus. “Thou knowest this,” the Apostle Paul reminds Timothy with sorrow, “that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes” (1:15).
(a mountain’s projecting summit) (Deut. 3:8; Josh. 12:1) — the name of a lofty mountain in the chain of the Anti-Lebanon range, to the northeast of Palestine. At present it is called Jebel esh-Sheikh, and rises to about 10,000 English feet, so that it is visible from a great distance, even from the Jordan valley near the Dead Sea. It has, properly speaking, three principal summits, always covered with snow — not only in winter but even in summer — so that while the whole land lies scorched by the sun, white lines of snow gird the summit of Hermon.
The Sidonians called it Sirion, and the Ammonites Senir; it was also called Sion (Deut. 3:9; 4:48). This mountain is mentioned repeatedly in the Old Testament, and twice, as some suppose, under the name Baal-hermon (Judg. 3:3; 1 Chron. 5:23), though this has not yet been confirmed. More recent writers sometimes speak of a “Little Hermon,” by which they mean a mountain situated near Tabor. This supposition evidently arose from a wish to explain such passages of Holy Scripture as Ps. 42:6 [41:7]; 89:12 [88:13]; 133:3 [132:3], but it rests on no adequate foundation, nor is it in fact necessary.
Herod
- the name of the following rulers:
(Acts 12:1 and elsewhere), son of Aristobulus and grandson of Herod the Great. To please the Jews he darkened his reign by persecuting Christians; thus, for example, he slew with the sword the holy apostle James, son of Zebedee, and intended to do the same to the apostle Peter, but Providence saved him (Acts 12:1-10). Soon afterward the persecutor himself ended his life. At Caesarea, during public games in honor of the emperor, he was struck by a sudden internal illness that lasted only four days; on the fifth day he died in his palace, eaten by worms (Acts 12:20-23).
Herod Agrippa II.
See Agrippa.
Herod Antipas.
See Antipas.
Herod Archelaus.
See Archelaus.
(Mark 6:17), son of Herod the Great and Mariamne, daughter of the high priest Simon. He must not be confused with Philip the tetrarch. He was married to Herodias, sister of Agrippa I, by whom he had a daughter, Salome. Herodias, however, left Philip and entered into an incestuous marriage with Philip's half brother Herod Antipas (Matt 14:3; Mark 6:17; Luke 3:19). Herod deprived Philip of his inheritance, and Philip spent his whole life as a private citizen.
- son of Herod the Great and Cleopatra of Jerusalem. He governed Batanea, Trachonitis, and Auranitis with the title of tetrarch (Luke 3:1). His rule was marked by moderation and justice. On the site of ancient Paneas he built a new city named Caesarea (Matt 16:13); he also rebuilt the city of Bethsaida in lower Gaulanitis and renamed it Julias. There he died in A.D. 34. He was married to Salome, the daughter of Philip I and Herodias. The dynasty of the Herods ruled in Judea for 140 years.
(Matt 2:1), king of Judea, was the son of Antipater and the progenitor of the other kings of the same name mentioned in the New Testament. He ruled Judea, then a Roman province, in the year of the Lord's birth in Bethlehem of Judea. Although Herod bore the title of king, he was subject to the Roman emperor. He was distinguished by savage ferocity. A whole series of cruelties marked his thirty-four-year reign; he even killed his own wife and two of his sons. In the thirty-third year of Herod's reign, as noted above, the Savior of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ, was born in Bethlehem.
When Herod learned of the newborn King of the Jews and feared that He might in time take the kingdom from him, he put to death fourteen thousand infants of Bethlehem, thinking to destroy the Christ Child Jesus among them. Soon afterward, however, he himself died a dreadful death at Jericho: he was eaten alive by worms. Before his death he divided the government of the kingdom among his three sons. He made Archelaus ruler over Judea, Samaria, and Idumea; Herod Antipas tetrarch over Galilee and Perea; and Philip ruler over three northern regions east of the Jordan: Iturea, Auranitis, and Trachonitis (Luke 3:1).
The well-known saying of Augustus, who, on hearing that Herod had killed his own son among the infants of Bethlehem, exclaimed, 'It is better to be Herod's pig than his son,' directly proves that the report of the slaughter of the infants of Bethlehem, in one form or another, reached Rome itself.
(Mark 3:5-6; Matt 22:15). In the passages cited, both Evangelists present the Herodians as acting together with the Pharisees to ensnare the Lord in His words and destroy Him. Their very name shows that they acted in the interests of Herod's dynasty. Since that dynasty owed much to the influence of Rome, it may be supposed that the Herodians especially favored the Roman government, in opposition to the purely Jewish party among the Hebrews. The crafty question they put to the Lord together with the Pharisees during His last visit to the Jerusalem temple plainly reveals the political tendency of these sectarians, although it is not entirely clear why the two parties joined in common action against the Lord Jesus.
The Savior does indeed speak jointly of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod, without separating one from the other (Mark 8:15); but this circumstance proves nothing, since at the same time He warned His disciples against the leaven of the Sadducees (Matt 16:6). According to others, the Herodians were a kind of Jewish religious sect who regarded Herod as their messiah; neither Philo nor Josephus, however, mentions such a sect.
(Matt 14:3) - granddaughter of Herod the Great and sister of Herod Agrippa I. She first married her uncle Herod Philip I and then entered into an incestuous union with another uncle, Herod Antipas, although her first, albeit unlawful, husband was still alive. She was the chief cause of the martyrdom of John the Baptist, who openly rebuked this vile adultery. Herod, as the holy Evangelist Mark relates, feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and protected him (Mark 6:20); he gladly heard the voice of the preacher in the wilderness and did many things in obedience to him.
Nevertheless, Herodias succeeded in turning Herod Antipas against the courageous and sincere reprover of his lawlessness. The celebration of the king's birthday, Salome's dance, and Antipas's rash oath to grant whatever Salome asked gave Herodias the opportunity to obtain what she had long desired. Prompted by her mother, her daughter came before the king and asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Though the king was deeply grieved, he would not break his oath before his guests; summoning an executioner, he commanded him to behead John in prison and gave the head to the girl, who gave it to her mother (Mark 6:17-29).
According to Josephus, the beheading of the Baptist took place at the fortress of Machaerus, on the frontier of the dominions of the Arabian king Aretas, whose daughter Philip had formerly married and then divorced. Many Jews attributed Antipas's total defeat by Aretas, which occurred soon after the death of John the Baptist, to this criminal deed. Justice requires it to be noted, however, that Herodias did not abandon Antipas in the misfortunes of his life. She followed him when he was summoned to Rome and afterward when he was exiled to southern France - to Lyon, or, according to others, to Lugdunum, probably the present Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges in France - where she ended her ungodly life in seclusion, poverty, and obscurity.
Herodion
(Rom 16:11) - a kinsman of the holy apostle Paul who lived in Rome, one of the Seventy Apostles. According to tradition, he was bishop of Patras and suffered in Rome during the reign of Nero. His memory is kept on January 4, April 8, and November 10.
(Lev. 11:19)—a large, long-legged water bird included among the birds Israel was not to eat. Herons frequent rivers, lakes, marshes, and coasts. They feed chiefly on fish but also take frogs, insects, worms, and small animals. Many species migrate, nest in colonies in trees or reed beds, and lay several blue-green eggs. They can reduce fish stocks locally while also consuming insects and other small creatures. The source’s natural-history description reflects nineteenth-century zoology and should not be treated as identifying the exact Hebrew species with certainty.
(invention) (Num. 21:26–34; Deut. 2:24–25) — capital of Sihon, king of the Amorites. It was originally held by the Moabites, but the Amorites took it from them and made it their capital, and it remained under their power until, in the days of Moses, the Israelites conquered it from them. It was afterward given to the tribe of Reuben, which rebuilt the city (Num. 32:37). Heshbon lay on the borders of the tribe of Gad (Josh. 13:26) and became a city of the Levites, of the family of Merari (21:39).
After the Babylonian captivity it passed again to the Moabites, and is frequently mentioned in the prophets’ denunciations against Moab. The site on which Heshbon stood is now called Hesban, twenty miles east of the Jordan, near its mouth. The ruins of a great ancient city still exist there, with remnants of a temple whose half-ruined columns survive to this day. Deep cisterns are hewn in the rocks; near the foot of the hill was once a great ancient reservoir, which calls to mind a passage from the Song of Songs: “Thine eyes are like the fishpools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim” (7:4 [7:5]).
Heshbon continued to exist for several centuries after Christ, and one of its bishops was present at the Council of Nicaea in 325, another at the third Council of Ephesus in 431. It is mentioned by Josephus, Pliny, Jerome, and others. The remains of Moorish architecture indicate that it fell into decay under Muslim rule.
Heshmon Baephalath
(Josh. 15:27)—a town in the Negeb of Judah. Its location is unknown.
Heth
(Gen. 10:15; 1 Chron. 1:13)—the second son of Canaan and traditional ancestor of the Hittites.
Hethlon
(way of Hethlon; Ezek. 47:15; 48:1)—a point on the northern boundary in Ezekiel’s vision of the restored land, probably in the approach toward Hamath. Its location is uncertain.
Hezekiah
(strength of Jehovah, strength of the Lord):
Hezion Taberema Azin
(vision; 1 Kings 15:18)—the grandfather of Ben-hadad, king of Aram.
Hezir
(boar)—the name of two persons or houses. (1) (1 Chron. 24:15) the priestly division assigned the seventeenth lot. (2) (Neh. 10:20) a leader who sealed the covenant.
Hezrai (Hezro)
(2 Sam. 23:35; 1 Chron. 11:37)—a Carmelite and one of David’s mighty warriors.
Hezron
(enclosed, shut in) (Matt. 1:3; Luke 3:33) — son of Perez, one of the ancestors of David (Gen. 46:12; Ruth 4:18), mentioned in the genealogy of our Lord.
Hezron
—(1) (Gen. 46:9; Exod. 6:14) the third son of Reuben. (2) (Josh. 15:3, 25) a town or boundary point in southern Judah near Kadesh-barnea and Addar, probably related to one of the places also called Hazor. Its exact identification is uncertain.
Hezron (Esrom)
(Matt. 1:3)—the son of Perez and father of Ram, named in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. The Greek form in Matthew is Esrom; most modern English Bibles use the Hebrew form Hezron.
Hiddai Adroi
(mighty, powerful) (2 Sam 23:30)—one of the thirty mighty men of King David, from Nahale-gaash. In 1 Chronicles 11:32 he is read as: Hurai, of the brooks of Gaash.
Hiddekel
(Gen. 2:14). See Tigris.
(Jer. 41:8)—concealed stores of wheat, barley, oil, and honey. Ten of the eighty men seized by Ishmael son of Nethaniah pleaded for their lives by revealing that they had provisions hidden in the fields. Grain and other goods could be stored in underground pits, cistern-like chambers, or plastered silos protected from heat and theft. The text does not require one uniform architectural form.
(holy city) (Col 2:3 in the source; 4:13) - a city of Phrygia in Asia Minor, celebrated for its warm baths. It stood not far from Colossae and Laodicea, near the junction of the Maeander and Lycus Rivers. Its later name was Pambuk-Kalesi, 'the city of cotton.' The ruins of Hierapolis were often described by travelers. One later traveler, the Englishman Hartley, wrote that majestic remains of antiquity covered a circuit of three or four miles. They stood upon a mountain in a very picturesque setting, bordered by a valley in front and mountains behind.
The theater ruins were excellently preserved, and many ruins of Christian churches were also found. The city once had a bishop who attended the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325. According to tradition, the holy apostle Philip taught and suffered martyrdom at Hierapolis. In the source's day, it says, the ruins served only as a refuge for unfortunate lepers, who under Turkish laws were liable to be killed if they approached dwellings or met other people and therefore wandered in groups through inaccessible places covered with ruins.
Hieronymus
(sacredly named) (2 Macc 12:2) - one of the local Syrian commanders in the days of Judas Maccabeus.
(1 Sam. 9:12), or elevations on hills and mountains, were frequently chosen as places for the true worship of God, but also, very often, for idol-worship as well. It seems that from the most ancient times, elevated places were chosen for the building of altars or shrines (Gen. 12:7; 22:2; 31:54). Before the Temple became the fixed place for divine worship, altars and shrines were usually built on mountaintops (Judg. 6:25; 1 Sam. 9:12; 1 Chron. 16:39, and elsewhere). After the building of the Temple, such high places became an abomination precisely because they were very often defiled by pagan idol-worship.
Holy Scripture notes of one king of Judah (Jehoash) that he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord in all things… only the high places were not taken away (2 Kings 15:34 [as given]). Mountains and high places were always considered the most sacred sites in nearly all eastern religions, as places raised above the earth and drawing nearer to heaven. The high places mentioned in Holy Scripture were located: a) at Gibeon (1 Kings 3:4); b) at Arnon (Num. 21:28); c) the high places of Baal (Num. 22:41); d) the high places of Topheth (Jer. 7:31); e) the high places of Bamah (Ezek. 20:29); f) the high places of Aven (Hos. 10:8), and others.
Distinguished by their particular zeal for the building of high places were: Jehoram (2 Chron. 21:11), Ahaz (2 Chron. 28:24, 25), and Manasseh (2 Chron. 33:3–7). In the destruction of the high places, distinguished especially were the kings Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4) and Josiah (2 Kings 23:8). After Josiah, the high places are no longer mentioned in the Bible.
(2 Chron. 19:11)—the head and chief of the priests in the Jewish Church, the senior, great, and first priest, as Aaron was and as were his successors from the eldest families of his descendants. Consecration to the high-priestly office was performed according to a special rite and was distinguished by a copious pouring of holy chrism upon the head of the one consecrated. The high priest’s garments were more majestic and costly than those of ordinary priests. The rite and vestments are described in Exodus 28–29 and Leviticus 8.
Hilen Jethar
(1 Chron. 6:58)—a priestly city in the hill country of Judah, probably the Holon of Joshua 21:15.
(the LORD is my portion)—the name of several persons. (1) (2 Kings 18:18) the father of Eliakim, Hezekiah’s steward. (2) (2 Kings 22:4–14; 23:4; 2 Chron. 34:9–22) the high priest in Josiah’s reign who found the Book of the Law during the Temple repairs and sent it to the king. He helped lead the reform and the Passover that followed (2 Kings 23; 2 Chron. 35). (3) (1 Chron. 6:45) a Merarite ancestor in a Levitical genealogy. (4) (1 Chron. 26:11) a son of Hosah and Temple gatekeeper. (5) (Neh. 8:4) a man standing beside Ezra at the public reading of the Law. (6) (Neh. 12:7) a priest who returned with Zerubbabel.
(7) (Jer. 1:1) the priestly father of the prophet Jeremiah at Anathoth. (8) (Jer. 29:3) the father of Gemariah, one of Zedekiah’s envoys to Babylon. (9) (Neh. 11:11) an ancestor of Seraiah, a leader in the house of God. (10) (Bar. 1:1) an ancestor of Baruch. (11) (Susanna 2) the father of Susanna in the Greek additions to Daniel.
(Luke 1:39) - the hill country occupied much of eastern Judea south of Jerusalem. Its towns are listed in Joshua 15:48-60. The source supposes that its ancient population was very large, though it was far smaller in the nineteenth century. Much of the region was wild, hilly, barren, and lacking water, vegetation, and inhabitants, while other parts remained beautiful and fertile. Among its more important towns, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Hebron, and several others still existed in the source's day.
Hillel Ellel
(praise) (Judg. 12:13–15) — a Pirathonite, father of Abdon, who for 8 years was a judge of Israel.
Hirah
(Gen. 38:1, 12)—an Adullamite friend or associate of Judah.
(2 Sam. 5:11; 1 Kings 5:1–18; 9:10–14; 10:11)—king of Tyre and a contemporary and ally of David and Solomon. He sent cedar, carpenters, and masons to build David’s house. After David’s death, Hiram continued the alliance with Solomon and supplied cedar and cypress timber and skilled workers for the Temple and royal buildings. Solomon in return provided wheat and oil and later assigned Hiram twenty towns in Galilee, which displeased him (1 Kings 5; 9:10–14).
(my master craftsman; 1 Kings 7:13–45; 2 Chron. 2:13–14; 4:11–16)—the skilled artisan sent from Tyre to Solomon for work on the Temple. Kings calls him the son of a widow from Naphtali and a Tyrian father; Chronicles describes his mother as belonging to Dan, perhaps reflecting residence and ancestry. He was especially skilled in bronze and made the two great pillars, the Sea, stands, basins, and other furnishings. The element abi is an honorific expression such as “my father” or “master,” not necessarily part of his personal name.
(Job 7:1)—a laborer engaged for a stated period, whether a day, a season, or a year. The law required wages to be paid promptly because the worker depended upon them (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14-15). Job compares the brevity and hardship of mortal life to the service of a hired laborer longing for evening and wages (Job 7:1-2; 14:6). In Jesus’ discourse on the good shepherd, the hired hand flees when the wolf comes because the sheep are not his own; Christ, by contrast, lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11-13). The contrast concerns fidelity and self-giving care, not a condemnation of paid labor.
Christ is the holy, innocent, undefiled High Priest, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens (Heb. 7:26). His enemies could not convict Him of sin; even Judas confessed that he had betrayed innocent blood (Matt. 27:4). The Gospels reveal the perfect union of purity and goodness: tender love for His Mother, compassion for the suffering, patience under hostility, courage before rulers, prayer through the night, tireless teaching by day, and willing obedience unto death.
Scripture describes Christ’s seamless tunic but gives no physical portrait (John 19:23–24). The earliest Christian art often used symbols—the cross, anchor, fish, lamb, shepherd, vine, ship, and dove—alongside developing representations of Christ. Later tradition associates the image not made by hands with King Abgar of Edessa and the Mandylion, and another tradition speaks of Veronica’s veil on the way to Golgotha. Eusebius also reports seeing at Caesarea Philippi a bronze group locally associated with the woman healed of the flow of blood (Ecclesiastical History 7.18). These are venerable ecclesiastical traditions, not descriptions supplied by the canonical Gospels.
(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).
(dwellers of villages, huts) (Gen. 10:17) — one of the most ancient Canaanite peoples, who dwelt in Palestine before its conquest by the Israelites. Their genealogy is given in the book of Genesis (10:17), where Hivi, forefather of the Hivites, is numbered sixth among those born of Canaan. In the days of the patriarch Jacob, the Hivites dwelt in the midst of the land of Canaan, at Shechem (present-day Nablus) (Gen. 34:2). At that time the Hivite people, it appears, was not numerous or powerful.
In the book of Genesis (36:2) one of Esau’s wives is called a Hivite. The Hivites are mentioned in the book of Joshua (9:1, 7; 11:19) as the inhabitants of Gibeon, near Mount Hermon. Well known is the ruse they employed against the Israelites at the time of Joshua’s conquest of the Promised Land (Josh. 9:3–27; see Gibeon). In the book of Judges (3:3) it is said of the Hivites that they dwelt on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon to the entrance of Hamath. In the vicinity of this region the Hivites also dwelt at the time when Joab, at David’s command, passed through all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites for the purpose of numbering the people of Israel (2 Sam. 24:7).
After the time of Solomon they are no longer mentioned in Holy Scripture, since under this king they, like other Canaanite peoples remaining among the Hebrews, were reduced to forced labor (1 Kings 9:20).
Hivites
. See Hivites.
Hizki Azaki
(1 Chron. 8:17)—a son of Elpaal in a Benjaminite genealogy.
Hoba
(Judith 15:4)—a place to which messengers were sent during the pursuit of Holofernes’s army. Its location is unknown and it need not be the Hobah north of Damascus.
(beloved; Num. 10:29; Judg. 4:11)—a Midianite or Kenite relative of Moses, called the son of Reuel. Moses asked him to guide Israel in the wilderness. The Hebrew kinship term can mean father-in-law or another relation by marriage, so the precise relationship among Hobab, Reuel, and Jethro has been interpreted in different ways.
Hobah Choba
(Gen. 14:15)—a place north of Damascus to which Abraham pursued the kings who had taken Lot. Its exact location is unknown.
Hobaiah Ebia
(Neh. 7:63). See Habiah.
Hodaviah (source form Sudii)
(1 Esd. 5:26; compare Ezra 2:40; Neh. 7:43)—ancestor of a Levitical family that returned from the exile.
Hodesh
(new moon; 1 Chron. 8:9)—one of the wives of Shaharaim and the mother of seven sons in a Benjaminite genealogy.
Hoglah
(partridge; Num. 26:33; 27:1; Josh. 17:3)—one of the five daughters of Zelophehad who appealed for and received an inheritance in Manasseh.
Hoham Elam
(Jehovah, multitude of the people) (Josh. 10:3) — king of Hebron, one of the five kings hostile to Joshua and defeated by him at Beth-horon.
Holofernes
(Judith 2:4)—commander of the army of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Assyria. See Judith.
Holon
(Jer. 48:21)—a town of Moab named in the judgment oracle against the cities of the plateau. Its location is uncertain.
Holon
(cavernous)—the name of two towns. (1) (Josh. 15:51; 21:15) a priestly city in the hill country of Judah, probably the Hilen of 1 Chronicles 6:58. (2) (Jer. 48:21) a city on the plateau of Moab.
(Ex. 30:25, 1 Chron. 9:30)—a special compound of aromatic substances for sacred anointing. In the Old Testament it was, by the command of God, compounded of pure myrrh, sweet cinnamon, sweet calamus, cassia, and oil, or olive oil. “Thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil,” the Lord commanded Moses (Ex. 30:23–25). With this chrism, by the command of God, were anointed: first the Tabernacle with all its furnishings, and then Aaron and his sons, for the sacred service of God. In later times, not only priests but also kings and prophets were anointed with chrism.
The Lord Jesus is called Christ, or the Anointed One, because to His humanity were imparted, without measure, all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and thus to Him belongs, in the highest degree, the knowledge of a prophet, the holiness of a high priest, and the power of a king.
Holy City
—see Jerusalem.
—the sacrament in which the faithful receive the Body and Blood of Christ under the forms of bread and wine and are united to him as a pledge of eternal life. At the Mystical Supper Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” He took the cup and declared it “my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins,” commanding his disciples to do this in remembrance of him (Matt. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26).
Holy Scripture
—the collection of books written by prophets and apostles under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and known as the Bible. It preserves divine revelation faithfully and accurately. Holy Scripture is divided into the Old and New Testaments.
Holy Scripture
. See Scripture.
—the word Trinity does not itself occur in Scripture, yet the Church uses it to confess the biblical revelation of the one God in three divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Theophilus of Antioch employed an early Greek triadic term, and Tertullian used the Latin trinitas; the terminology was refined as the Church defended the apostolic faith. The doctrine is not a belief in three gods, but in one divine essence and glory, personally possessed without division by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Church is holy because Christ sanctified her through His suffering, teaching, prayer, and sacraments. He loved the Church and gave Himself for her, cleansing her so that she might be holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:25-27). Sinners may be present in the Church; those who repent are cleansed, while persistent and unrepentant sin is subject to ecclesial discipline and God’s judgment. Their presence does not make holiness cease to be the Church’s divine calling and gift (1 Cor. 5:13; 2 Tim. 2:19).
Homer, or Omer
(Exod. 16:16, 32 [as given]; 18 [as given]) — a tenth part of an ephah, or bath, equal in capacity to three seahs, that is, it contained the equivalent of 432 eggshells, namely, exactly as much as is needed to feed a person for one day; the omer, it appears, contains no more than a peck and a half.
(Deut 32:13; Ps 81:16). Moses says that the Lord set His people upon the high places of the earth, that they might eat the increase of the fields, and He fed them with honey out of the rock, and with oil out of the flinty rock. Honey is separated by bees not from the food on which they themselves feed, but is gathered by them only from the dust of fragrant flowers, which they carry to their hives and lay up in the honeycomb. The abundance of honey in the land of Judea is noted in many places in Holy Scripture, as well as in the writings of many modern travelers.
Palestine was truly a land flowing with milk and honey (Exod 3:8, 17). The wild honey on which John the Baptist fed in the wilderness was in all likelihood honey gathered from clefts in the rocks and hollows of trees. Sometimes the word “honey” is understood to mean the sugary liquid obtained from grape clusters and other honey-bearing plants, which in Hebrew is called debbesh (2 Chr 31:5). According to Dr. Robinson, the best clusters of grapes are dried as raisins, while the rest are put into a press, squeezed there, and their juice boiled in some vessel until it becomes a syrup.
This syrup is in wide use among all classes, wherever there are vineyards, as a relish for food. It resembles molasses, but is far more pleasant to the taste. In some parts of the East there is also frequently found a particular tree, from whose leaves and branches the Arabs collect into vessels a sweet liquid used as food, which at first strongly resembles honey. The allegorical references of the sacred writers to honey and honeycomb are truly striking and beautiful (Ps 19:10; Prov 5:3; 27:7).
Milk and honey, among the ancient peoples, as among the Bedouins at the present day, formed the chief and daily food. Butter and honey are also mentioned in Holy Scripture among articles of food (2 Sam 17:29). In southern Africa bees deposit their honey on the surface of cliffs and rocks, and for its preservation cover it with a dark-colored wax. This wax, through the action of time and weather, hardens and becomes as it were stony. Travelers make a cut in this hardened mass, and, applying their mouths to the opening, suck out as much liquid honey as they need (Deut 32:13).
Honey was not permitted among the offerings brought to the Lord upon the altar (Lev 2:11), probably with the purpose of making a distinction between the religious rites of the Hebrews and those of the pagans, in whose sacrificial offerings honey often held one of the chief and foremost places (Ezek 16:13, 19).
(Lev. 11:19; Deut. 14:18)—a distinctive crested bird named among the animals unclean for Israel. The hoopoe feeds largely on insects and other small creatures found by probing the ground. It nests in cavities in trees, walls, rocks, and banks. The source’s comparison with the cuckoo and its explanation of roadside nesting are descriptive conjectures, not features supplied by Scripture.
(closed hand, handful) (1 Sam. 1:3; 2:34)—one of the sons of Eli the high priest and last of the judges. Hophni and his brother Phinehas behaved lawlessly in the sanctuary and corrupted the people by their conduct, bringing the terrible judgment of God upon themselves. A warning concerning the sons and the consequences of their behavior was given first by an unnamed man of God (1 Sam. 2:27) and then through the boy Samuel (3:11–14). Eli was told that God would judge him and his house and that Hophni and Phinehas would die on the same day. The prophecy was soon fulfilled (4:11).
(Jer. 44:30)—pharaoh of Egypt, reigning in the sixth century BC and contemporary with Nebuchadnezzar. King Zedekiah sought Egyptian aid; an Egyptian force temporarily drew the Chaldeans away from Jerusalem, but they returned and captured the city (Jer. 37:5–10; Ezek. 17:11–21). Judean refugees later went to Egypt against Jeremiah’s warning. Jeremiah declared that Hophra would be given into the hands of his enemies, as Zedekiah had been given to Nebuchadnezzar. Greek sources call this pharaoh Apries.
Hor-haggidgad Gadgad
(ravine, cleft) (Deut. 10:7) — an encampment of the Israelites, in the valley between Bene-jaakan and Jotbathah, to the southwest of Mount Hor, still called to this day Wadi el-Ghadhaghidh, located in the vicinity of the mountain mentioned by Moses.
Hor-haggidgad Gadgad
(mountain of Gidgad; Num. 33:32–33)—an Israelite wilderness encampment between Bene-jaakan and Jotbathah. Deuteronomy 10:7 has the related name Gudgodah. Its location is uncertain.
Horam Elam
(elevated, high) (Josh. 10:33) — king of Gezer. During the conquest of the southwestern part of Palestine by the Israelites, he came to the aid of Lachish, but, defeated by Joshua, perished together with all his people.
Horashan
(smoking furnace; 1 Sam. 30:30)—one of the places in Judah to whose elders David sent a share of the spoil after his victory over the Amalekites, when he returned to Ziklag.
(dry, desolate; Exod. 3:1; 17:6; 33:6; Deut. 1:2, 6; 1 Kings 8:9)—the mountain or mountain region in the Sinai wilderness where God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and where water came from the rock. Scripture associates the giving of the Law both with Horeb and with Sinai (Exod. 19; Deut. 4:10–15; 5:2). The names may designate the broader mountain region and a particular peak within it, but the biblical usage does not permit a completely certain topographical distinction. See Moses; Sinai.
Horem Megalaarim
(Josh. 19:38)—one of the fortified towns allotted to Naphtali.
Hori
(Gen. 36:22; 1 Chron. 1:39)—a son of Lotan in the genealogy of Seir the Horite.
(cave-dwellers; Gen. 14:6; 36:20–30; Deut. 2:12, 22)—the inhabitants of Mount Seir, south of Canaan between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba. Their name was traditionally connected with the caves and clefts of their country. Chedorlaomer defeated them in Abraham’s time; Esau’s descendants later dispossessed them and occupied Seir. In Jehoshaphat’s reign forces from Moab, Ammon, and Mount Seir turned against one another after Judah sought the LORD (2 Chron. 20:22–23). The source’s equation of all Horites with Greek “Troglodytes” is an old conjecture, not a secure ethnic identification.
(devoted to destruction; Num. 14:45; 21:3; Deut. 1:44; Josh. 12:14; 15:30; Judg. 1:17)—a town or district in the southern Negeb near Edom. After Israel presumptuously attempted to enter the land without Moses and the ark, Amalekites and Canaanites defeated them as far as Hormah. Later, after the king of Arad attacked Israel, the LORD gave the Canaanites into Israel’s hand; their cities were devoted to destruction, and the place received the name Hormah. Hormah and Arad were probably neighboring places. See Arad.
(1 Sam. 2:1–10 and elsewhere)—an emblem in Scripture of power, honor, and glory (Deut. 33:17; Luke 1:69), and therefore a frequent symbol of kings and kingdoms in prophetic visions (Dan. 7:20–24). Horns also served as vessels for liquids, especially oil and perfumes (1 Sam. 16:1; 1 Kings 1:39), and as trumpets (Josh. 6:8–13). Because an animal’s horns are its chief defense, to break a king’s or nation’s horn means to diminish its power, while to exalt the horn means to increase strength.
Hornets
(Exod. 23:28; Deut. 7:20; Josh. 24:12; Wis. 12:8)—stinging insects used in biblical language as agents of terror by which the inhabitants of Canaan were driven out before Israel. The passages emphasize God’s action rather than supplying a zoological account of a particular species.
Horonaim
(two caves) (Jer. 48:3, 34)—a Moabite city whose destruction was foretold by Isaiah and Jeremiah. Josephus mentions it in his Antiquities, but its location remains unknown. Isaiah calls it Horonaiim (Isa. 15:5).
Horonaim
(Isa. 15:5). See Horonaim.
Horonite
(Neh. 2:10, 19; 13:28)—the designation of Sanballat, probably connecting him with Beth-horon. He was a regional governor and one of Nehemiah’s chief opponents, together with Tobiah the Ammonite, and was deeply displeased that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel.
Horse
—see Horse.
(Gen 49:17) - naturalists cited by the source placed the horse's original homeland in the highlands of Asia, perhaps Armenia, rather than Syria, Arabia, or Egypt. Wild asses remained native to Mesopotamia, and traditional and monumental evidence places horses among Central Asian peoples in very remote antiquity. Egyptian and Assyrian monuments contain hieroglyphic representations of them. In early times the ox and ass were the chief working animals of the Hebrews and other eastern peoples; horses, whether ridden or harnessed to chariots, were principally used by kings and commanders (Exod 14:9-28) and were therefore costly. During the famine Egyptians exchanged their horses with Joseph for bread.
Hosa
(1 Chron. 16:38; 26:10–11, 16)—a Merarite Levite and gatekeeper in David’s arrangements for worship. His sons and brothers numbered thirteen. Although Shimri was not the firstborn, his father appointed him chief.
Hosah Osa
(Josh. 19:29)—a town on the boundary of Asher between the region of Tyre and Achzib. Its exact location is uncertain.
(salvation) (Matt. 21:9, 15; Mark 11:9, 10; John 12:13). The word first occurs in Psalm 118:25, one of the psalms sung at Passover. According to some, it was a customary greeting and response among pilgrims arriving at Jerusalem for the feast and was also used by priests when offering sacrifices. During the Feast of Tabernacles the word was repeatedly cried by crowds who passed in great numbers around the altar and wove branches for booths. With this same acclamation the Hebrews expressed their joy, goodwill, love, and devotion to the Savior during His triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:9).
(help, deliverance of God) — the name of two persons: a) (Neh. 12:32) one of those present at the celebration of the dedication of the city wall, upon its restoration by Nehemiah and Zerubbabel; b) (Jer. 42:1) father of Jezaniah, who came, among others, to the prophet Jeremiah after the destruction of Jerusalem, with the request that he pray to the Lord God for them.
Hoshama Jekimia
(God hears) (1 Chron. 3:18) — son of Jeconiah, the second-to-last king of Judah.
Hoshea
(deliverance, salvation)—the name of three persons:
Hoshir
(to abound, to have advantage) (1 Chron. 25:4, 28 [as given]) — one of the sons of Heman, the thirteenth, a well-known singer and seer in the days of David. He directed the 21st division of the musical choir at the Jerusalem Temple.
(Gen. 18:1 and following; Deut. 10:17–19; Heb. 13:2, and elsewhere) — a virtue very widespread in antiquity, even among crude and uncultured peoples; but it was especially exalted among God’s chosen people. The finest examples of it are seen in the history of Abraham, who was once accounted worthy of the honor of receiving the Lord and two angels under the guise of travelers (Gen. 18:1–8); Abraham’s nephew Lot showed hospitality to passing strangers, who were likewise angels (Gen. 19:1–3); Jethro, priest of Midian, cordially received Moses into his house (Exod. 2:20).
Job, in vindication of his own integrity, spoke of hospitality as a virtue he had unfailingly practiced: “The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveller” (Job 31:32). The virtue of hospitality is especially enjoined in the New Testament; the Lord Jesus Christ Himself says: “whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple… he shall in no wise lose his reward” (Matt. 10:42). For this reason, coldness in hospitality is identified by the Lord with coldness toward Himself: “I was a stranger,” He says, “and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not” (Matt. 25:43).
The apostles directly urge this virtue upon the faithful (Rom. 12:13), upon Timothy (1 Tim. 3:2), upon Titus (1:8), and in the First Epistle of St. Peter the Apostle (4:9). To receive strangers and to wash the feet of the saints (1 Tim. 5:10), according to the words of the Apostle Paul, is one of the essential qualities required of a widow, for her to be enrolled among the widows appointed for the service of the Church. The example of the Good Samaritan, presenting an application of the fundamental commandment of Christianity, “love thy neighbor as thyself,” will serve for all ages as a model of Christian love of mankind and of Christianity. In the East, hospitality is still highly valued to this day, especially among the Arabs, and even among the predatory Bedouins.
Hotham
—the name of two persons. (1) (1 Chron. 7:32) a son of Heber in a genealogy of Asher. (2) (1 Chron. 11:44) an Aroerite and father of Shama and Jeiel among David’s mighty warriors.
(Dan. 3:15; 4:16; Mark 15:25, 33-34; Acts 2:15; 23:23; John 11:9)—a measure of time. Sundials and measurement by the sun’s shadow were known in the ancient Near East, and the “steps of Ahaz” may have served such a purpose (2 Kings 20:9-11). By New Testament times the daylight period was commonly reckoned as twelve variable hours from sunrise to sunset (John 11:9). The day could be marked by the third, sixth, and ninth hours, while the night was divided into watches (Acts 2:15; 3:1; 10:9; Mark 13:35).
(Exod. 12:7; Lev. 7:26). The most common dwellings from remote antiquity were undoubtedly tents, though Holy Scripture also repeatedly mentions caves (see Caves) as places of temporary residence or refuge. The simple mode of life then prevailing, the wandering, pastoral existence, and the favorable climate of the earliest inhabited regions of the globe made tents the most convenient dwelling; these were built, in various sizes and forms, generally in the following manner: posts or stakes were driven into the ground, and over them a covering of cloth or leather was stretched, fastened to the poles by ropes.
Each printed page contains two parallel blocks. Within a block, the Russian Bible headword and its Scripture reference stand on the left, and the corresponding Church Slavonic form stands beside them. Entries are read down the left block first and then down the right block. Dashes repeat the preceding headword for a different reference. Braces gather multiple references or source forms under a single equivalent.
Hozai
(2 Chron. 33:19)—a word in the notice concerning Manasseh’s prayer and deeds. It may mean “the records of the seers” rather than name an individual prophet Hozai; manuscripts and translations differ.
Hukkok (Hukok)
(appointment, decree)—(1) a Levitical city of Asher (1 Chron. 6:75), called Helkath in Joshua 19:25 and 21:31; (2) a boundary point of Naphtali between Aznoth-tabor and Zebulun (Josh. 19:34). The two references may not denote the same place.
Hul
(region, land; Gen. 10:23; 1 Chron. 1:17)—a son of Aram, son of Shem, in the genealogy of Noah’s descendants.
(2 Kings 22:14)—a prophetess, wife of Shallum, keeper of the wardrobe, a contemporary of the prophets Jeremiah and Zephaniah, perhaps at the beginning of their prophetic ministry. When the priest Hilkiah found a copy of the Book of the Law, the reading of which alarmed King Josiah, the prophetess Huldah, to whom, by the king’s command, they turned for an explanation, on behalf of the king, the people, and all Judah, concerning the words of the book that had been found, uttered a notable prophecy concerning the fate of the Israelites (2 Kings 22:14-20, 2 Chron.
34:14-28). Enjoying high esteem during her life, she was also honored with special distinction after her death, since, according to rabbinic tradition, she was buried within the walls of Jerusalem itself.
(Gen. 1:26-27; 2:7, 18, 21-23; Ps. 8:4-8; Sir. 17:1-12; Acts 17:25-28)—Scripture speaks of humanity’s origin, bodily life, and spiritual nature. The body gathers within itself the ordered complexity of visible creation and may be called a small world within God’s greater world. Yet the human person is not merely bodily. The soul is distinct from the body and surpasses visible nature through its spiritual capacities and calling.
(Prov. 15:33)—a virtue opposed to pride and among the chief graces of Christian life. The humble person does not think highly of himself, recognizes that every good gift comes from God, and relies upon divine help and grace. Scripture commands Christ’s followers to clothe themselves with humility, “for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5–6). The perfect pattern is the Savior, who “humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:8). Scripture abounds in promises of mercy to the humble and warnings of judgment against the proud.
Humtah Euma
(fortress; Josh. 15:54)—a town in the hill country of Judah, listed with Aphekah and Hebron.
(Gen. 10:9; 25:27–28). Holy Scripture frequently speaks of hunting game and wild animals. Nimrod was a mighty hunter (Gen. 10:9). Ishmael, son of Hagar, and Esau, Isaac’s elder son, both loved hunting; Ishmael used the bow. Instruments used for taking birds and wild beasts included the bow (Gen. 27:3; Isa. 7:24), spear and arrows (Isa. 56:5 [as printed]), nets and snares (Job 19:6; Isa. 51:20), traps (Eccl. 9:12), loops and pitfalls (Sir. 11:30), and pits (Ezek. 19:4; Ps. 119:85; Prov. 26:27). Assyrian and other monuments of antiquity sometimes contain detailed scenes of hunting lions, bulls, deer, and hares.
Hupham Suthalanites Tanach
(Num. 26:39)—a son or clan of Benjamin, ancestor of the Huphamite clan. See Huram.
Huppah Oppha
(1 Chron. 24:13)—an Aaronic priest to whom the thirteenth lot fell in the order of service in the house of the LORD.
(covering, protection)—the name of several persons or clans: (1) a descendant of Benjamin through Bela in the list of Jacob’s household that went down to Egypt (Gen. 46:21); (2) a descendant associated with Ir in 1 Chronicles 7:12; (3) the brother of Maacah, whom Machir took as wife (1 Chron. 7:15). The genealogical forms vary among passages and textual traditions.
Hur
(whiteness, purity, innocence)—the name of two persons:
(white, pure)—the name of several persons: (1) one of the five kings of Midian killed when Israel fought Midian in Moses’ time (Num. 31:8; Josh. 13:21); (2) a descendant associated with Caleb and the ancestry of Bethlehem (1 Chron. 2:19-20, 50; 4:4; see the earlier entry Hor); (3) a descendant of Judah (1 Chron. 4:1); (4) the father of Rephaiah, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, who helped repair the wall under Nehemiah (Neh. 3:9).
Hurai Uri
(noble; 1 Chron. 11:32)—one of David’s mighty warriors, from the ravines of Gaash. The parallel list calls him Hiddai (2 Sam. 23:30).
Huram Chiram
(of noble birth; 1 Chron. 8:5)—a son of Bela and grandson of Benjamin. The source compares the nearby names Shephuphan and Huram with Shephupham, Hupham, Shuppim, and Huppim in other Benjamite genealogies; the relationships among these forms are textually uncertain.
Huri Uri
(linen-weaver; 1 Chron. 5:14)—son of Jaroah and father of Abihail, in a Gadite genealogy. These Gadites lived in Gilead and Bashan and throughout the pasturelands of Sharon.
Hushah Osan
(1 Chron. 4:4)—a descendant of Judah through Ezer.
Hushai Chusi
(1 Kings 4:16)—the father of Baanah, one of Solomon’s twelve district governors, who supplied provisions for the king and his household for one month of the year. The source mistakenly makes Hushai himself the governor.
(quick, swift)—the name or form attached to several persons: (1) Hushai the Archite, David’s friend (2 Sam. 15:32-37; 16-18; 1 Chron. 27:33). During Absalom’s revolt David sent him back to Jerusalem to frustrate Ahithophel’s counsel and to report through the priests Zadok and Abiathar. Hushai carried out the plan and helped save David and his followers. (2) Cushi, an ancestor of Jehudi, who was sent in King Jehoiakim’s reign to bring Baruch’s scroll of Jeremiah’s prophecies to the officials (Jer. 36:14). (3) Cushi, father of the prophet Zephaniah (Zeph. 1:1).
Husham Asom
(swift; Gen. 36:34-35; 1 Chron. 1:45-46)—a man from the land of the Temanites who reigned in Edom after Jobab.
Hushathite
(2 Sam. 21:18; 23:27; 1 Chron. 11:29)—a designation borne by several persons, evidently derived from a place or clan. The precise locality is unknown.
Hushim
(swiftness; 1 Chron. 8:8, 11)—a wife of Shaharaim. She bore Abitub and Elpaal; Elpaal’s numerous descendants are named in the following verses.
Hushim (Shuham)
—(1) a son of Dan (Gen. 46:23), called Shuham in Numbers 26:42; the Shuhamite clan numbered 64,400 in the census (Num. 26:43). The source’s Genesis citation is misprinted. (2) A descendant associated with Aher (1 Chron. 7:12).
- mentioned by St. Paul together with Alexander in 1 Timothy 1:20, and together with Philetus in 2 Timothy 2:17 - was one of the heretics of the apostolic age. Among other things, he denied the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, which at that time was a stumbling block to many pagans (Acts 17:32). The apostle directly calls him an apostate and blasphemer and says that his teaching and that of his followers spreads like a cancer and infects believers. He therefore found it necessary to exclude them from the society of the faithful and deliver them to Satan.
Hypocrisy
(Matt 7:5; 23) - a sin against the second commandment in which outward acts of piety, such as fasting and strict ritual observance, are used to win human respect without concern for the inward correction of the heart. The Lord especially rebuked hypocrites, as Matthew 23 shows.
Hyrcanus Hircanus
(2 Macc. 3:11) — son of Tobiah, who, upon Heliodorus’s arrival in Jerusalem, deposited the greater part of his property for safekeeping in the treasury of the Jerusalem Temple.
(Exod 12:22; Ps 51:7) - a plant frequently mentioned in the Bible. With a bunch of hyssop dipped in the blood of the lamb slain on Passover night, the Hebrews marked the lintels and doorposts of their dwellings (Exod 12:22). A person being cleansed from leprosy was sprinkled seven times with hyssop dipped in the blood of a bird (Lev 14:4). Hyssop was also used to sprinkle an unclean person for purification, having first been dipped in the water of cleansing (Num 19:18). David, having in view the frequent use of hyssop in ceremonial purifications and foreseeing the rite's spiritual significance, exclaims: 'Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow' (Ps 51:7).
Solomon spoke of trees, 'from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall' (1 Kings 4:33). At the Lord's crucifixion, the soldiers filled a sponge with vinegar (sour wine), put it upon hyssop, and raised it to His mouth (John 19:29). The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews likewise points to the use of hyssop, together with the blood of calves and goats and scarlet wool, in Levitical ritual (Heb 9:19). From these passages one may conclude that this fragrant plant, sometimes reaching a height of a sazhen, with blue or white flowers, often grew upon the walls of old ruined houses and upon heaps of refuse; its stems, tied in a bunch, were convenient for sprinkling liquids and were used by the Hebrews as an aspergillum is ordinarily used among us.
Hyssop
—see Hyssop.
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