Bible Dictionaries
Hivites

Holman Bible Dictionary

A name that occurs twenty-five times in the Bible though not in texts outside the Bible. Hivites are found in Gibeon (Joshua 9:7; Joshua 11:19 ), Shechem (Genesis 34:2 ), below Hermon in the land of Mizpah (Joshua 11:3 ), and in the Lebanon mountains (Judges 3:3 ). Most frequently the name appears in the list of nations God would drive out of the land during the Israelite conquest (for example, Deuteronomy 7:1 ).

Zibeon is identified as a Hivite (Genesis 36:2 ), but is listed among the Horites in Genesis 36:20 ,Genesis 36:20,36:29 . In addition, the Septuagint or earliest Greek translation reads “Horite” for “Hivite” in some texts (Genesis 34:2; Joshua 9:7 ). This may indicate an early linguistic confusion of “Horite” and “Hivite.” It is unlikely that the two are identical, although the exact relationship is unclear. See Horites .

James C. Moyer