Hivites

The Hivites were one group of descendants of Canaan, son of Ham, according to the Table of Nations in Genesis 10 (10:17).

According to the Table of Nations (Genesis 10), the Hivites are one of the descendants of Canaan, son of Ham (also 1 Chronicles 1:13-15).One proposed origin of the name is in the Hebrew word chava ( חוה ), which means tent dweller.

According to traditional Hebrew sources, the name "Hivite" is related to the Aramaic word "Khiv'va" (HVVA), meaning "snake", and related to the word 'awwiah in Galilee, meaning serpent, since they sniffed the ground like snakes looking for fertile land.

There appears to be a possible connection (or confusion) between the Hivites and the Horites. In Genesis 36:2 a Hivite named Zibeon is also described in Genesis 36:20-30 as a Horite. Others claim that this confusion is 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. Scholars have sought to identify the biblical Hivites with

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.

The Hivites dwelt in the mountainous regions of Canaan stretching from Lebanon – specifically Lebo Hamath (Judges 3:3) - and Mt. Hermon (Joshua 11:3) 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. Genesis 34 describes Hivites ruling the region of Shechem. Further south there were the four Hivite towns – Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim (Joshua 9:17) – involved in the deception of Joshua. (Joshua 9:3-27)

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