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Bible Encyclopedias
Heth
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or (Heb. Chetf, חֶת , dread; Sept. (ὁ Χετταῖος, and so Josephus, Ant. 1, 6, 2), a son (descendant) of Canaan, and the ancestor of the HITTITES (Genesis 5:20; Deuteronomy 7:1; Joshua 1:4), who dwelt in the vicinity of Hebron (Genesis 23:3; Genesis 23:7; Genesis 25:10). The ‘ kings of the Hittites" is spoken of all the Canaanitish kings (2 Kings 2:6). In the genealogical tables of Genesis 10 and 1 Chronicles 1, Heth is named as a son of Canaan, younger than Zidon the firstborn, but preceding the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the other Canaanitish-families. The Hittites were therefore a Hamitic race, neither of the "country" nor the "kindred" of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 24:3-4; Genesis 28:1-2). In the earliest historical mention of the nation the beautiful narrative of Abraham's purchase of the cave of Machpelah they are styled, not Hittites, but Bene-Cheth (A.V. "sons and children of Heth," Genesis 23:3; Genesis 23:5; Genesis 23:7; Genesis 23:10; Genesis 23:16; Genesis 23:18; Genesis 23:20; Genesis 25:10; Genesis 49:32). Once we hear of the "daughters of Heth" (Genesis 27:46), the "daughters of the land," at that early period still called, after their less immediate progenitor, "daughters of Canaan" (Genesis 28:1; Genesis 28:8, compared with Genesis 27:46, and Genesis 26:34-35; see also 1 Kings 11:1; Ezekiel 16:3). In the Egyptian monuments the name Chat is said to stand for Palestine (Bunsen, Egypten, quoted by Ewald, Gesch. 1, 317, note). (See HITTITE).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Heth'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/h/heth.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
