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Hivites

Old TestamentFemaleCanaanites

The Hivites were one of the Canaanite tribes inhabiting the land promised to the Israelites.

Hivites illustration
Hivites

Biography

The Hivites were one of the seven Canaanite nations listed in God's land grant to Israel (Deuteronomy 7:1; Joshua 3:10). They appear throughout the Old Testament as inhabitants of various regions of Canaan, particularly in the north near Hermon and Lebanon (Judges 3:3) and in the central hill country around Shechem and Gibeon. The most prominent biblical accounts involving Hivites include the deceptive treaty made by the Gibeonites, identified as Hivites in Joshua 9:7 and 11:19, who secured a peace covenant with Israel through subterfuge, and the episode at Shechem in Genesis 34 involving the Hivite Hamor and his son Shechem. In the Solomonic era, Hivite remnants were conscripted into forced labor for royal construction projects (1 Kings 9:20–21).

Significance

The Hivites illustrate the complex relationship between Israel and the indigenous peoples of Canaan, governed by divine command, moral failure, and unexpected acts of grace. The Gibeonites' deceptive treaty in Joshua 9, though obtained through fraud, was honored by Israel's leaders as a sacred oath, leading to their preservation as a protected people within Israel. This episode raises profound questions about covenant keeping and divine sovereignty that resonate throughout the biblical narrative. Theologically, the Hivites serve as a reminder that the conquest of Canaan was not racial but covenantal, those who aligned themselves with Israel's God could find a place within the community of promise, as the Gibeonite example powerfully demonstrates.

Verse Appearances (25)

References

  1. Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
  2. Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
  3. Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
  4. Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]

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