Hiddekel - called by the Accadians id Idikla; i.e., "the river of Idikla", the third of the four rivers of Paradise ( Gen. 2:14). Gesenius interprets the word as meaning "the rapid Tigris." The Tigris rises in the mountains of Armenia, 15 miles south of the source of the Euphrates, which, after pursuing a south-east course, it joins at Kurnah, about 50 miles above Bassorah. Its whole length is about 1,150 miles.

Hiel - life of (i.e., from) God, a native of Bethel, who built (i.e., fortified) Jericho some seven hundred years after its destruction by the Israelites. There fell on him for such an act the imprecation of Joshua ( Gen 6:26). He laid the foundation in his first-born, and set up the gates in his youngest son (1 Kings 16:34), i.e., during the progress of the work all his children died.

Hierapolis - sacred city, a city of Phrygia, where was a Christian church under the care of Epaphras ( Col. 4:12,Col. 4:13). This church was founded at the same time as that of Colosse. It now bears the name of Pambuk-Kalek, i.e., "Cotton Castle", from the white appearance of the cliffs at the base of which the ruins are found.

Higgaion - in Ps. 92:3 means the murmuring tone of the harp. In Ps. 9:16 it is a musical sign, denoting probably a pause in the instrumental interlude. In Ps. 19:14 the word is rendered "meditation;" and in Lam. 3:62, "device" (R.V., "imagination").

High place - an eminence, natural or artificial, where worship by sacrifice or offerings was made (1 Kings 13:32; 2 Kings 17:29). The first altar after the Flood was built on a mountain ( Gen. 8:20). Abraham also built an altar on a mountain ( Gen 12:7,Gen 12:8). It was on a mountain in Gilead that Laban and Jacob offered sacrifices ( Gen 31:54). After the Israelites entered the Promised Land they were strictly enjoined to overthrow the high places of the Canaanites ( Ex. 34:13; Deut. 7:5; Deut 12:2, Deut. 7:3), and they were forbidden to worship the Lord on high places ( Deut. 12:11-14), and were enjoined to use but one altar for sacrifices ( Lev. 17:3,Lev. 17:4; Deut. 12; 16:21). The injunction against high places was, however, very imperfectly obeyed, and we find again and again mention made of them (2 Kings 14:4;2 Kings 15:4,2 Kings 14:35:2Chr. 15:17, etc.).

High priest - Aaron was the first who was solemnly set apart to this office ( Ex. 29:7;Ex 30:23; Lev. 8:12). He wore a peculiar dress, which on his death passed to his successor in office ( Ex. 29:29,Ex. 29:30). Besides those garments which he wore in common with all priests, there were four that were peculiar to himself as high priest:

(1.) The "robe" of the ephod, all of blue, of "woven work," worn immediately under the ephod. It was without seam or sleeves. The hem or skirt was ornamented with pomegranates and golden bells, seventy-two of each in alternate order. The sounding of the bells intimated to the people in the outer court the time when the high priest entered into the holy place to burn incense before the Lord (Ex. 28).

(2.) The "ephod" consisted of two parts, one of which covered the back and the other the breast, which were united by the "curious girdle." It was made of fine twined linen, and ornamented with gold and purple. Each of the shoulder-straps was adorned with a precious stone, on which the names of the twelve tribes were engraved. This was the high priest's distinctive vestment (1 Sam. 2:28;1 Sam 14:3;1 Sam 21:9;1 Sam 23:6,1 Sam. 2:9;1 Sam 30:7).

(3.) The "breastplate of judgment" ( Ex. 28:6-12,Ex. 28:25-28;Ex 39:2-7) of "cunning work." It was a piece of cloth doubled, of one span square. It bore twelve precious stones, set in four rows of three in a row, which constituted the Urim and Thummim (q.v.). These stones had the names of the twelve tribes engraved on them. When the high priest, clothed with the ephod and the breastplate, inquired of the Lord, answers were given in some mysterious way by the Urim and Thummim (1 Sam. 14:3,1 Sam. 14:18,1 Sam. 14:19;1 Sam 23:2,1 Sam. 14:4,1 Sam. 14:9,1 Sam. 14:11,1 Sam. 14:12;1 Sam 28:6; 2 Sam. 5:23).

(4.) The "mitre," or upper turban, a twisted band of eight yards of fine linen coiled into a cap, with a gold plate in front, engraved with "Holiness to the Lord," fastened to it by a ribbon of blue.

To the high priest alone it was permitted to enter the holy of holies, which he did only once a year, on the great Day of Atonement, for "the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest" (Heb. 9; 10). Wearing his gorgeous priestly vestments, he entered the temple before all the people, and then, laying them aside and assuming only his linen garments in secret, he entered the holy of holies alone, and made expiation, sprinkling the blood of the sin offering on the mercy seat, and offering up incense. Then resuming his splendid robes, he reappeared before the people (Lev. 16). Thus the wearing of these robes came to be identified with the Day of Atonement.

The office, dress, and ministration of the high priest were typical of the priesthood of our Lord ( Heb. 4:14;Heb 7:25;Heb 9:12, etc.).

It is supposed that there were in all eighty-three high priests, beginning with Aaron (B.C. 1657) and ending with Phannias (A.D. 70). At its first institution the office of high priest was held for life (but comp. 1 Kings 2:27), and was hereditary in the family of Aaron ( Num. 3:10). The office continued in the line of Eleazar, Aaron's eldest son, for two hundred and ninety-six years, when it passed to Eli, the first of the line of Ithamar, who was the fourth son of Aaron. In this line it continued to Abiathar, whom Solomon deposed, and appointed Zadok, of the family of Eleazar, in his stead (1 Kings 2:35), in which it remained till the time of the Captivity. After the Return, Joshua, the son of Josedek, of the family of Eleazar, was appointed to this office. After him the succession was changed from time to time under priestly or political influences.

Highway - a raised road for public use. Such roads were not found in Palestine; hence the force of the language used to describe the return of the captives and the advent of the Messiah ( Isa. 11:16;Isa 35:8;Isa 40:3;Isa 62:10) under the figure of the preparation of a grand thoroughfare for their march.

During their possession of Palestine the Romans constructed several important highways, as they did in all countries which they ruled.

Hilkiah - portion of Jehovah. (1.) 1 Chr. 6:54. (2.) 1 Chr. 26:11. (3.) The father of Eliakim (2 Kings 18:18,2 Kings 18:26,2 Kings 18:37). (4.) The father of Gemariah ( Jer. 29:3). (5.) The father of the prophet Jeremiah ( Jer 1:1).

(6.) The high priest in the reign of Josiah (1 Chr. 6:13; Ezra 7:1). To him and his deputy (2 Kings 23:5), along with the ordinary priests and the Levites who had charge of the gates, was entrusted the purification of the temple in Jerusalem. While this was in progress, he discovered in some hidden corner of the building a book called the "book of the law" (2 Kings 22:8) and the "book of the covenant" 2 Kings 23:2). Some have supposed that this "book" was nothing else than the original autograph copy of the Pentateuch written by Moses ( Deut. 31:9-26). This remarkable discovery occurred in the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign (B.C. 624), a discovery which permanently affected the whole subsequent history of Israel. (See JOSIAH ; SHAPHAN.)

(7.) Neh. 12:7. (8.) Neh. 8:4.

Hill - (1.) Heb. gib'eah, a curved or rounded hill, such as are common to Palestine ( Ps. 65:12;Ps 72:3;Ps 114:4,Ps. 65:6).

(2.) Heb. har, properly a mountain range rather than an individual eminence ( Ex. 24:4,Ex. 24:12,Ex. 24:13,Ex. 24:18; Num. 14:40, Num. 14:44, Num. 14:45). In Deut. 1:7, Josh. 9:1; Josh 10:40; Josh 11:16, it denotes the elevated district of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim, which forms the watershed between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea.

(3.) Heb. ma'aleh in 1 Sam. 9:11. Authorized Version "hill" is correctly rendered in the Revised Version "ascent."

(4.) In Luke 9:37 the "hill" is the Mount of Transfiguration.

Hillel - praising, a Pirathonite, father of the judge Abdon ( Judg. 12:13,Judg. 12:15).

Hill of Evil Counsel - on the south of the Valley of Hinnom. It is so called from a tradition that the house of the high priest Caiaphas, when the rulers of the Jews resolved to put Christ to death, stood here.

Hind - Heb. 'ayalah (2 Sam. 22:34; Ps. 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 ( Prov. 5:19), feminine modesty ( Cant. 2:7;Cant 3:5), earnest longing ( Ps. 42:1), timidity ( Ps. 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" ( Prov. 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 Josh. 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 ( Matt. 23:33; Luke 12:5; Matt. 5:22, etc.).

Hiram - high-born. (1.) Generally "Huram," one of the sons of Bela (1 Chr. 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 (2 Sam. 5:11; 1 Chr. 14:1). After the death of David he entered into a similar alliance with Solomon, and assisted him greatly in building the temple (1 Kings 5:1;1 Kings 9:11; 2 Chr. 2:3). He also took part in Solomon's traffic to the Eastern Seas (1 Kings 9:27;1 Kings 10:11; 2 Chr. 8:18;2 Chr 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 2 Chr. 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." (Comp. 1 Kings 7:14; 2 Chr. 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; Mark 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 ( Matt. 20:1-14).

Hiss - to express contempt ( Job 27:23). The destruction of the temple is thus spoken of (1 Kings 9:8). Zechariah 1 Kings 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 (26:34; 36:2).

They are afterwards mentioned in the usual way among the inhabitants of the Promised Land ( Ex. 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 ( Josh. 9:1;Josh 11:3).

After this there are few references to them in Scripture. Mention is made of "Ahimelech the Hittite" (1 Sam. 26:6), and of "Uriah the Hittite," one of David's chief officers (2 Sam. 23:39; 1 Chr. 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 ( Ezra 9:1; comp. Neh. 13:23-28).

The Hebrew merchants exported horses from Egypt not only for the kings of Israel, but also for the Hittites (1 Kings 10:28,1 Kings 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; 1 Chr. 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 ( Josh. 9:7;Josh 11:19). They principally inhabited the northern confines of Western Palestine ( Josh. 11:3; Judg. 3:3). A remnant of them still existed in the time of Solomon (1 Kings 9:20).

Hizkiah - an ancestor of the prophet Zephaniah 1 Kings 1:1).

Hizkijah - ( Neh. 10:17), one who sealed the covenant.

Hobab - beloved, the Kenite, has been usually identified with Jethro (q.v.), Ex. 18:5, Ex. 18:27; comp. Num. 10:29, Num. 10:30. In Judg. 4:11, the word rendered "father-in-law" means properly any male relative by marriage (comp. Gen. 19:14, "son-in-law," A.V.), and should be rendered "brother-in-law," as in the R.V. His descendants followed Israel to Canaan ( Num. 10:29), and at first pitched their tents near Jericho, but afterwards settled in the south in the borders of Arad ( Judg. 1:8-11,Judg. 1:16).

Hobah - hiding-place, a place to the north of Damascus, to which Abraham pursued Chedorlaomer and his confederates ( Gen. 14:15).