What are the…
Hivites

also known as: Hiwwi, Hiwwim

Hebrew: חִוִּים‎ —transliteration: Chivvi —possible meaning: villagers —occurrences: 25 —derivation: חַוָּה (Chavvah), which means “tent village”

Tese are descendants of Canaan, son of Ham, and one of the original tribes scattered over the land of Canaan, from Hermon to Gibeon in the south.

They may have been a branch of the Hittites.

At the time of Jacob’s return to Canaan, Hamor the Hivite was the “prince of the land” (Genesis 34:2-28). Hamor’s son Shechem took Jacob’s daughter Dinah, with terrible revenge by Simeon and Levi.

The Hivites are next mentioned during the conquest of the land of Canaan the children of Israel (Joshua 9:7; 11:19). At that time they principally lived at the foot of Mt. Hermon in the land of Mizpeh (Joshua 11:3; Judges 3:3).

The Hivites craftily deceived the Israelites into believing they lived in a far country and had come to make a peace treaty with them. So Joshua treated them peacefully and made a covenant to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to the Hivites. In reality, four Hivite cities were very close to the Israelite camp, nearly in themidst of them—Beeroth near Jerusalem is one them. The others were Gibeon, Chephirah, and Kiriath-jearim (aka Kirjath-jearim) (Josh. 9:17). After discovering their deception, the Israelites determined to still keep their covenant.

“We have sworn to them by Yahweh, the God of Israel, so now we cannot touch them. This we will do to them, even let them live, so that wrath will not be upon us for the oath which we swore to them.” —Josh. 9:19-20 LSB excerpt

However, Joshua required that the Hivites serve as wood cutters and drawers of water for the congregation and the holy altar of the Tabernacle (Josh. 9:27).

Some Hivites still existed at the time of King Solomon (1 Kings 9:20).

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Article Version: July 12, 2021