Hivites
Encyclopedia
The Hivites were one group of descendants of Canaan
, son of Ham, according to the Table of Nations in (esp. 10:17).
to the descendants of Abraham. However, some 100 years later, mentions that one of Esau
's wives was "Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite" who is also described as "of the daughters of Canaan". The reference to "the daughters of Canaan" is considered to relate to their descent from the ancestor Canaan and to be a reference to a cultural distinctiveness or tribal affiliation, more than a reference to the geographical area of Canaan. By the time that Jacob
returns with his family to Canaan, describes Hivites as rulers of the region of Shechem
.
From the Book of Joshua
, we know that the Hivites were one of seven national groups living in the land of Canaan
when the Israelites under Joshua
commenced their conquest of the land. They are referred to as one of the seven nations to be removed from the land of Canaan - Hittites
(Neo-Hittites), Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites
, Hivites and Jebusites - and whose land had been promised
to the Children of Israel. However, it appears that Hivites continued to be a separate cultural group within the land of Israel until at least the time of Solomon
, and it is not clear if, when or how they ceased to be a separate group before the Israelite kingdoms came to an end. No name resembling Hivite has been found in Egyptian or Babylonian inscriptions.
, son of Ham. (Also ) A possible origin of the name may come from the Hebrew
word chava ( חוה ) which means tent dweller.
There appears to be a possible connection (or confusion) between the Hivites and the Horites
. In a Hivite named Zibeon is also described in as a Horite. Others claim that this is as a result of a scribal error, as both Hivites (Hebrew: חוי ) and Horites (Hebrew: חרי) differ in spelling by one letter of roughly similar shape, or they could refer to two individuals. According to traditional Hebrew sources, the name "Hivites" is related to the Aramaic word "Khiv'va" (HVVA), meaning "snake" related to the word 'awwiah
in Galilee meaning serpent, since they sniffed the ground like snakes looking for fertile land.
Scholars have sought to identify the biblical Hivites with the Greek Achaeans known from Homer
, the Hurrians
– one of the most important peoples in the ancient Near East – who are otherwise unmentioned in the Hebrew Bible, or settlers, who went to Shechem and the other locations from Cilicia
, a region in Asia Minor, which is called Kue in the Bible and huwi in cuneiform sources.
stretching from Lebanon
– specifically Lebo Hamath - and Mt. Hermon
in the north to the central Benjamin plateau in the Hill country just north of Jerusalem. Within this region we find specific enclaves of Hivites mentioned in the Bible
. describes Hivites ruling the region of Shechem
. Further south there were the four Hivite towns – Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim – involved in the deception of Joshua
.
described the Hivites as being "under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh" and in they are mentioned immediately after "the stronghold of Tyre."
First, in it is mentioned that Shechem
the son of Hamor was a Hivite. In , we find that the Hivites did not practice male circumcision
, one of the few peoples living in the land of Canaan
that did not. Circumcision
, as a practice was quite common among the peoples existing in the land of Canaan
. Egyptians
, Edomites, Ammon
ites, Moabites, and other various proto-Canaanite tribes practiced male circumcision
along with the Hebrews
. Other than Israel’s arch-nemesis – the Philistines
– the Hivites appear to be an exception to the rule of circumcision
which does lend them quite a distinction among the tribes of Canaan
during this time period.
The Hivites continued to exist as a distinct people group at least until the time of David
, when they were counted in a regional census
taken at this time. During the reign of Solomon
, they are described as part of the slave labor for his many building projects.
In , Joshua
had ordered the Hivites of Gibeon to be wood gatherers and water carriers for the Temple of YHWH (see Nethinim
).
forbade Israelites from marrying Hivites, because they followed other gods; but it is not clear how strictly the prohibition was observed.
It appears that the Hivite cultural distinctiveness ceased before the Assyria
n conquest of the northern Kingdom of Israel in the 8th century BCE, and the Babylonian conquest of the southern Kingdom of Judah
in the 6th century BCE, each with consequential population deportations.
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
, son of Ham, according to the Table of Nations in (esp. 10:17).
History
does not list the Hivites as being in the land that was promisedPromised land
The Promised Land is a term used to describe the land promised or given by God, according to the Hebrew Bible, to the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob. The promise is firstly made to Abraham and then renewed to his son Isaac, and to Isaac's son Jacob , Abraham's grandson...
to the descendants of Abraham. However, some 100 years later, mentions that one of Esau
Esau
Esau , in the Hebrew Bible, is the oldest son of Isaac. He is mentioned in the Book of Genesis, and by the minor prophets, Obadiah and Malachi. The New Testament later references him in the Book of Romans and the Book of Hebrews....
's wives was "Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite" who is also described as "of the daughters of Canaan". The reference to "the daughters of Canaan" is considered to relate to their descent from the ancestor Canaan and to be a reference to a cultural distinctiveness or tribal affiliation, more than a reference to the geographical area of Canaan. By the time that Jacob
Jacob
Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
returns with his family to Canaan, describes Hivites as rulers of the region of Shechem
Shechem
Shechem was a Canaanite city mentioned in the Amarna letters, and is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as an Israelite city of the tribe of Manasseh and the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel...
.
From the Book of Joshua
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
, we know that the Hivites were one of seven national groups living in the land of Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
when the Israelites under Joshua
Joshua
Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...
commenced their conquest of the land. They are referred to as one of the seven nations to be removed from the land of Canaan - Hittites
Hittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
(Neo-Hittites), Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites
Perizzites
Perizzites - villagers; dwellers in the open country, the Girgashite Canaanite nation inhabiting the fertile regions south and south-west of Carmel."They were the graziers, farmers, and peasants of the time."...
, Hivites and Jebusites - and whose land had been promised
Promised land
The Promised Land is a term used to describe the land promised or given by God, according to the Hebrew Bible, to the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob. The promise is firstly made to Abraham and then renewed to his son Isaac, and to Isaac's son Jacob , Abraham's grandson...
to the Children of Israel. However, it appears that Hivites continued to be a separate cultural group within the land of Israel until at least the time of Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
, and it is not clear if, when or how they ceased to be a separate group before the Israelite kingdoms came to an end. No name resembling Hivite has been found in Egyptian or Babylonian inscriptions.
Etymology
According to the Table of Nations (Genesis 10), the Hivites are one of the descendants of CanaanCanaan (Bible)
Canaan, according to the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, was a son of Ham and grandson of Noah.- Descendants of Canaan:According to the Table of Nations in Genesis 10 , Canaan was the ancestor of the Canaanite tribes who occupied the ancient Land of Canaan: all the territory from Sidon to...
, son of Ham. (Also ) A possible origin of the name may come from the Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
word chava ( חוה ) which means tent dweller.
There appears to be a possible connection (or confusion) between the Hivites and the Horites
Horites
Horites or Horim were a cave-dwelling people mentioned in the Torah inhabiting areas around Mount Seir. They have been identified with Egyptian references to Khar , which concern a southern region of Canaan...
. In a Hivite named Zibeon is also described in as a Horite. Others claim that this is as a result of a scribal error, as both Hivites (Hebrew: חוי ) and Horites (Hebrew: חרי) differ in spelling by one letter of roughly similar shape, or they could refer to two individuals. According to traditional Hebrew sources, the name "Hivites" is related to the Aramaic word "Khiv'va" (HVVA), meaning "snake" related to the word 'awwiah
Avvites (of Philistia)
The Avvites of southwest Philistia, are a people and place mentioned in the Bible and related literature. The Talmud notes that the Avvites were the first Philistines...
in Galilee meaning serpent, since they sniffed the ground like snakes looking for fertile land.
Scholars have sought to identify the biblical Hivites with the Greek Achaeans known from Homer
Homer
In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
, the Hurrians
Hurrians
The Hurrians were a people of the Ancient Near East who lived in Northern Mesopotamia and adjacent regions during the Bronze Age.The largest and most influential Hurrian nation was the kingdom of Mitanni. The population of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia to a large part consisted of Hurrians, and...
– one of the most important peoples in the ancient Near East – who are otherwise unmentioned in the Hebrew Bible, or settlers, who went to Shechem and the other locations from Cilicia
Cilicia
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor, south of the central Anatolian plateau. It existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Byzantine empire...
, a region in Asia Minor, which is called Kue in the Bible and huwi in cuneiform sources.
Location
The Hivites dwelted in the mountainous regions of CanaanCanaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
stretching from Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
– specifically Lebo Hamath - and Mt. Hermon
Mount Hermon
Mount Hermon is a mountain cluster in the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the border between Syria and Lebanon and, at 2,814 m above sea level, is the highest point in Syria. On the top there is “Hermon Hotel”, in the buffer zone between Syria and Israeli-occupied...
in the north to the central Benjamin plateau in the Hill country just north of Jerusalem. Within this region we find specific enclaves of Hivites mentioned in the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. describes Hivites ruling the region of Shechem
Shechem
Shechem was a Canaanite city mentioned in the Amarna letters, and is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as an Israelite city of the tribe of Manasseh and the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel...
. Further south there were the four Hivite towns – Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim – involved in the deception of Joshua
Joshua
Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...
.
described the Hivites as being "under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh" and in they are mentioned immediately after "the stronghold of Tyre."
Cultural distinctiveness
Several key features can be inferred about the cultural distinctiveness of the Hivite peoples.First, in it is mentioned that Shechem
Shechem
Shechem was a Canaanite city mentioned in the Amarna letters, and is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as an Israelite city of the tribe of Manasseh and the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel...
the son of Hamor was a Hivite. In , we find that the Hivites did not practice male circumcision
Circumcision
Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
, one of the few peoples living in the land of Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
that did not. Circumcision
Circumcision
Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
, as a practice was quite common among the peoples existing in the land of Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
. Egyptians
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, Edomites, Ammon
Ammon
Ammon , also referred to as the Ammonites and children of Ammon, was an ancient nation located east of the Jordan River, Gilead, and the Dead Sea, in present-day Jordan. The chief city of the country was Rabbah or Rabbath Ammon, site of the modern city of Amman, Jordan's capital...
ites, Moabites, and other various proto-Canaanite tribes practiced male circumcision
Circumcision
Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
along with the Hebrews
Hebrews
Hebrews is an ethnonym used in the Hebrew Bible...
. Other than Israel’s arch-nemesis – the Philistines
Philistines
Philistines , Pleshet or Peleset, were a people who occupied the southern coast of Canaan at the beginning of the Iron Age . According to the Bible, they ruled the five city-states of Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath, from the Wadi Gaza in the south to the Yarqon River in the north, but with...
– the Hivites appear to be an exception to the rule of circumcision
Circumcision
Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
which does lend them quite a distinction among the tribes of Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
during this time period.
The Hivites continued to exist as a distinct people group at least until the time of David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
, when they were counted in a regional census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
taken at this time. During the reign of Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
, they are described as part of the slave labor for his many building projects.
In , Joshua
Joshua
Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...
had ordered the Hivites of Gibeon to be wood gatherers and water carriers for the Temple of YHWH (see Nethinim
Nethinim
Nethinim was the name given to the Temple assistants in ancient Jerusalem. The term was applied originally in the Book of Joshua to the Gibeonites who converted during the time of Joshua, later in the Book of Ezra they include the Avdei Shlomo the descendants of...
).
forbade Israelites from marrying Hivites, because they followed other gods; but it is not clear how strictly the prohibition was observed.
It appears that the Hivite cultural distinctiveness ceased before the Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n conquest of the northern Kingdom of Israel in the 8th century BCE, and the Babylonian conquest of the southern Kingdom of Judah
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....
in the 6th century BCE, each with consequential population deportations.
Further reading
- Barker, Burdick, Stek, Wessel, Youngblood (Eds.). (1995). The New International Version Study Bible. (10th Ann ed). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
- Bright, John. (2000). A History of Israel. (4th ed.). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
- DeVaux, Roland. (1997). Ancient Israel. (John McHugh, Trans.) Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
- Freedman, David Noel (Ed.). (2000). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. (pp. 597) Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
- Wood, Millard, Packer, Wiseman, Marshall (Eds.). (1996). New Bible Dictionary (3rd ed.) (pp. 477). Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press.