The Hivites ( Ḥiwwîm) were one group of descendants of Canaan, son of Ham, according to the Table of Nations in (10:17). A variety of proposals have been made, but beyond the references in the Bible to Hivites in the land of Canaan, no consensus has been reached about their precise historical identity.
Etymology
E. C. Hostetter has proposed that the name comes from "tent-dweller," as a cognate to the
Hebrew language word
hawwah (), which means
tent-camp, although this proposal is rejected by John Day.
No name resembling Hivite has been found in Egyptian or Mesopotamian inscriptions, though the Hiyawa in a Luvian-Phoenician bilingual has been linked to the Biblical Hiwwi.
Location
The Hivites, according to the Book of Joshua, lived in the hilly region of
Lebanon from Lebo Hamath () to
Mount Hermon (). Hivites are also mentioned further south in the
Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, which assigns to Hivites the towns of Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-Jearim (). However, the
Septuagint reads these four towns as inhabited by
Horites, suggesting that the name Hivite may have entered the Masoretic Text via a spelling error.
The Masoretic Text of described the Hivites as being "under Hermon in the land of Mizpeh." However, the Septuagint reads "Hittites" in place of "Hivites," suggesting that one text or the other has suffered an error.
Similarly in according to the Masoretic Text, Hivites are mentioned immediately after "the stronghold of Tyre," where the Septuagint once again reads "Hittites."
Biblical mentions
Within the Hebrew Bible, Hivites are often listed among the inhabitants of
Canaan, promised to the descendants of Abraham.
[Genesis 10:15; Exodus 3:8, 3:17, 13:5, 23:23, 33:2, 34:11; Numbers 13:29; Deuteronomy 7:1, 20:17; Joshua 3:10, 9:1, 11:3, 12:8 24:11; Judges 3:5; 1 Kings 9:20; 1 Chronicles 1:13; 2 Chronicles 8:7; Ezra 9:1.] , in the
Masoretic Text, 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". However, textual evidence from the Septuagint and Genesis 36:20 suggest that Zibeon was originally referred to not as a Hivite, but a Horite.
[North, Robert. " The Hivites." Biblica 54, no. 1 (1973): 56.]
The Book of Joshua claims that Hivites were one of seven groups living in the land of Canaan when the Israelites under Joshua commenced their conquest of the land (). These seven nations were to be exterminated: Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.[, , (] In , Joshua enslaved the Hivites of Gibeon to be wood gatherers and water carriers for the Temple of YHWH (see Nethinim).
The Bible records that David's census included Hivite cities.[, ] It is not clear if, when or how they ceased to be a separate group before the Israelite kingdoms came to an end.
Medieval Jewish exegetes like Nachmanides and Radak have suggested that the Hivvites are the same as the Rephaim, which explains why the two names never appear together in Biblical lists of Canaanite tribes. Nonetheless, this assumption has been question by later scholars. Others have argued that the Rephaim were not strictly Canaanite, but their land was nonetheless Promised Land to Abraham.[See ]
See also
-
Mizpah in Gilead (Joshua), where the Hivites were said to live
Further reading
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Barker, Burdick, Stek, Wessel, Youngblood (Eds.). (1995). The New International Version Study Bible. (10th Ann ed). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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Bright, John. (2000). A History of Israel. (4th ed.). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.
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DeVaux, Roland. (1997). Ancient Israel. (John McHugh, Trans.) Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
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Freedman, David Noel (Ed.). (2000). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. (pp. 597) Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
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Wood, Millard, Packer, Wiseman, Marshall (Eds.). (1996). New Bible Dictionary (3rd ed.) (pp. 477). Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press.
