the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
Click here to join the effort!
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).
These files are public domain.
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.
