Hind Heb. 'ayalah (Sa2 22:34; Psa 18:33, etc.) and 'ayeleth (Ps. 22, title), the female of the hart or stag. It is referred to as an emblem of activity (Gen 49:21), gentleness (Pro 5:19), feminine modesty (Sol 2:7; Sol 3:5), earnest longing (Psa 42:1), timidity (Psa 29:9). In the title of Ps. 22, the word probably refers to some tune bearing that name.
Hinge (Heb. tsir ), that on which a door revolves. "Doors in the East turn rather on pivots than on what we term hinges. In Syria, and especially in the Hauran, there are many ancient doors, consisting of stone slabs with pivots carved out of the same piece inserted in sockets above and below, and fixed during the building of the house" (Pro 26:14).
Hinnom A deep, narrow ravine separating Mount Zion from the so-called "Hill of Evil Counsel." It took its name from "some ancient hero, the son of Hinnom." It is first mentioned in Jos 15:8. It had been the place where the idolatrous Jews burned their children alive to Moloch and Baal. A particular part of the valley was called Tophet, or the "fire-stove," where the children were burned. After the Exile, in order to show their abhorrence of the locality, the Jews made this valley the receptacle of the offal of the city, for the destruction of which a fire was, as is supposed, kept constantly burning there. The Jews associated with this valley these two ideas, (1.) that of the sufferings of the victims that had there been sacrificed; and (2.) that of filth and corruption. It became thus to the popular mind a symbol of the abode of the wicked hereafter. It came to signify hell as the place of the wicked. "It might be shown by infinite examples that the Jews expressed hell, or the place of the damned, by this word. The word Gehenna [the Greek contraction of Hinnom ] was never used in the time of Christ in any other sense than to denote the place of future punishment." About this fact there can be no question. In this sense the word is used eleven times in our Lord's discourses (Mat 23:33; Luk 12:5; Mat 5:22, etc.).
Hiram High-born. (1.) Generally "Huram," one of the sons of Bela (Ch1 8:5). (2.) Also "Huram" and "Horam," king of Tyre. He entered into an alliance with David, and assisted him in building his palace by sending him able workmen, and also cedar-trees and fir-trees from Lebanon (Sa2 5:11; Ch1 14:1). After the death of David he entered into a similar alliance with Solomon, and assisted him greatly in building the temple (Kg1 5:1; Kg1 9:11; Ch2 2:3). He also took part in Solomon's traffic to the Eastern Seas (Kg1 9:27; Kg1 10:11; Ch2 8:18; Ch2 9:10). (3.) The "master workman" whom Hiram sent to Solomon. He was the son of a widow of Dan, and of a Tyrian father. In Ch2 2:13 "Huram my father" should be Huram Abi, the word "Abi" (rendered here "my father") being regarded as a proper name, or it may perhaps be a title of distinction given to Huram, and equivalent to "master." (Compare Kg1 7:14; Ch2 4:16.) He cast the magnificent brazen works for Solomon's temple in clay-beds in the valley of Jordan, between Succoth and Zarthan.
Hireling A labourer employed on hire for a limited time (Job 7:1; Job 14:6; Mar 1:20). His wages were paid as soon as his work was over (Lev 19:13). In the time of our Lord a day's wage was a "penny" (q.v.) i.e., a Roman denarius (Mat 20:1).
Hiss To express contempt (Job 27:23). The destruction of the temple is thus spoken of (Kg1 9:8). Zechariah (Zac 10:8) speaks of the Lord gathering the house of Judah as it were with a hiss: "I will hiss for them." This expression may be "derived from the noise made to attract bees in hiving, or from the sound naturally made to attract a person's attention."
Hittites Palestine and Syria appear to have been originally inhabited by three different tribes. (1.) The Semites, living on the east of the isthmus of Suez. They were nomadic and pastoral tribes. (2.) The Phoenicians, who were merchants and traders; and (3.) the Hittites, who were the warlike element of this confederation of tribes. They inhabited the whole region between the Euphrates and Damascus, their chief cities being Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Kadesh, now Tell Neby Mendeh, in the Orontes valley, about six miles south of the Lake of Homs. These Hittites seem to have risen to great power as a nation, as for a long time they were formidable rivals of the Egyptian and Assyrian empires. In the book of Joshua they always appear as the dominant race to the north of Galilee. Somewhere about the twenty-third century B.C. the Syrian confederation, led probably by the Hittites, arched against Lower Egypt, which they took possession of, making Zoan their capital. Their rulers were the Hyksos, or shepherd kings. They were at length finally driven out of Egypt. Rameses II. sought vengeance against the "vile Kheta," as he called them, and encountered and defeated them in the great battle of Kadesh, four centuries after Abraham. (See JOSHUA.) They are first referred to in Scripture in the history of Abraham, who bought from Ephron the Hittite the field and the cave of Machpelah (Gen 15:20 :23:3-18). They were then settled at Kirjath-arba. From this tribe Esau took his first two wives (Gen 26:34; Gen 36:2). They are afterwards mentioned in the usual way among the inhabitants of the Promised Land (Exo 23:28). They were closely allied to the Amorites, and are frequently mentioned along with them as inhabiting the mountains of Palestine. When the spies entered the land they seem to have occupied with the Amorites the mountain region of Judah (Num 13:29). They took part with the other Canaanites against the Israelites (Jos 9:1; Jos 11:3). After this there are few references to them in Scripture. Mention is made of "Ahimelech the Hittite" (Sa1 26:6), and of "Uriah the Hittite," one of David's chief officers (Sa2 23:39; Ch1 11:41). In the days of Solomon they were a powerful confederation in the north of Syria, and were ruled by "kings." They are met with after the Exile still a distinct people (Ezr 9:1; compare Neh 13:23). The Hebrew merchants exported horses from Egypt not only for the kings of Israel, but also for the Hittites (Kg1 10:28, Kg1 10:29). From the Egyptian monuments we learn that "the Hittites were a people with yellow skins and 'Mongoloid' features, whose receding foreheads, oblique eyes, and protruding upper jaws are represented as faithfully on their own monuments as they are on those of Egypt, so that we cannot accuse the Egyptian artists of caricaturing their enemies. The Amorites, on the contrary, were a tall and handsome people. They are depicted with white skins, blue eyes, and reddish hair, all the characteristics, in fact, of the white race" (Sayce's The Hittites). The original seat of the Hittite tribes was the mountain ranges of Taurus. They belonged to Asia. Minor, and not to Syria.
Hivites One of the original tribes scattered over Palestine, from Hermon to Gibeon in the south. The name is interpreted as "midlanders" or "villagers" (Gen 10:17; Ch1 1:15). They were probably a branch of the Hittites. At the time of Jacob's return to Canaan, Hamor the Hivite was the "prince of the land" (Gen. 24:2-28). They are next mentioned during the Conquest (Jos 9:7; Jos 11:19). They principally inhabited the northern confines of Western Palestine (Jos 11:3; Jdg 3:3). A remnant of them still existed in the time of Solomon (Kg1 9:20).
Hizkiah An ancestor of the prophet Zephaniah (Zep 1:1).
Hizkijah (Neh 10:17), one who sealed the covenant.