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Haahashtarx – Halt
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Haahashtarx
A descendant of Judah (1 Ch i’).
HABAIAH C J" hath hidden’).— The head of a priestly family which returned with Zerubbabel, but, being unable to trace their genealogy, were not allowed to serve () called in Hobaiah, and in 1 Esdras 5:38 Obdia.
Habakkuk
The eighth of the Minor Prophets. Except for legends, e.g. in Bel and the Dragon (vv.’‘-«), nothing Is known of him outside the book that bears his name.
1. The Book of Habakkuk, read as it now stands, must be dated shortly after the appearance of the Chaldseans on the stage of world-history, seeing that their descent on the nations is imminent. It is probably later than the battle of Carchemish, where Nebuchadrezzar defeated the Egyptians in b.c. 605, and earlier than the first Judaean captivity in 597. If dated about the year 600, it falls in the reign of Jehoiakim, in the period of reaction that followed the defeat and death of Josiah at Megiddo (608). That event, apparently falsifying the promises of the recently discovered law-book, had led to a general neglect of its ethical claims, and to a recrudescence of the religious abuses of the time of Manasseh (cf. , ff. 25 etc.). The one immovable article of faith held by the Judsean nation seems to have been the inviolability of Jerusalem (cf. etc.). The book appears to be the work of a prophet living in Jerusalem. It may be divided into six sections, the first four containing two dialogues between Jahweh and the prophet, while the last two contain confident declarations springing from and expanding the Divine reply.
(1) li-<. Habakkuk, compelled to live in the midst of violent wrong-doing, contempt of religion manifesting itself in the oppression of the righteous by the wicked, complains strongly of the silence and indifference of God.
(2) . He receives an answer that a new and startling display of the Divine justice is about to be made. The Chaldaeans, swift, bitter, and terrible, are to sweep down and overwhelm the whole world. No fortress can resist their onslaught. The incredibility of this must Ue, not in the fact that the Chaldseans are the aggressors, but rather that Jerusalem, spared so long, is now to share the fate of so many other cities.
(3) . Some time may now be supposed to elapse before the next prophecy is spoken. During this period the prophet watches the progress of the Chaldaeans, who have now () penetrated into Palestine. His observation raises a new and insoluble problem. This reckless, insolent, cruel, insatiable conqueror is worse than those he lias been appointed to chastise. How can a holy God, so ready to punish the ‘wicked’ in Israel, permit one who deserves far more the name of ‘wicked’ to rage unchecked? Are wrong and violence to possess the earth for ever?
(4) . The prophet, retiring to his watch-tower, whence he looks out over the world, to see it in ruins, receives an oracle which he is bidden to write down on tablets for all to read. He is told that the purpose of God is hastening to its fulfilment, and is encouraged to wait for it. Then follows the famous sentence, ‘Behold, his soul is puffed up, it is not upright in him: but the Just shall live In his faithfulness.’ The meaning of this is plain. Tyranny is self-destructive, and carries within itself the seeds of doom. But while the evil-doer passes away, the just man, steadfast in the face of all contradiction, shall live, and last out the storm of judgment.
(5) . Content with this message, the prophet utters, triumphantly, a five-fold series of woes against the pride, the greed, the cruel building enterprises, the sensuality, the idolatry, of the heathen power.
(6) Ch.3. Finally, in a magnificent lyrio, which, as its heading and close prove, has been adapted for use in the Temple worship, the prophet sings the glorious redeeming acts of God in the past history of the people, and in the certainty of His immediate appearance, bringing hopeless ruin on the enemy, declares his unwavering trust.
So read, this short book is seen to be a human document of unique value. It marks the beginnings of Hebrew reflective thought as to the workings of Providence in history, afterwards so powerfully expressed in Job and in the later prophets.
2. Many modern scholars are unable to accept this explanation of these three chapters. It is argued that the use of the word ‘wicked’ in different senses in and is unnatural, and awkward. Further, it is urged that the descriptions of the conqueror in chs. I and 2 do not suit the Chaldaeans well at any time, and are almost impossible at so early a stage of their history as the one named. Accordingly, some have treated as a fragment of an older prophecy, and place the bulk of chs. 1 and 2 towards the close of the Exile, near the end of the Chaldeean period. Others place between and , considering that the whole section has been misplaced. The rest of the chapters are then referred to another oppressor, either Assyria or Egypt, whom the Chaldaeans are raised up to punish; and ch. 3 is ascribed to another author. Others again would alter the word ‘ChaldEeans,’ and treat it as an error for either ‘Persians’ or ‘Chittim.’ In the second case the reference is to the Greeks, and the destroyer is Alexander the Great. Without attempting to discuss these views, it may be said that none of them supplies any satisfactory explanation of !’-<, in referring Habakkuk’s complaint to wrongs committed by some heathen power. The mention of ‘law’ and ‘judgment,’ , seems to point decisively to internal disorders among the prophet’s own countrymen. The double use of the word ‘wicked’ may well be a powerful dramatic contrast. The speed with which the enemy moves, said by some to be altogether inapplicable to the Chaldaeans, may be illustrated by the marvellously rapid ride of Nebuchadrezzar himself, from Pelusium to Babylon, to take the kingdom on the death of his father. Troops of Scythian cavalry, at the service of the highest bidder after the disbanding of their own army, were probably foimd with the Chaldaeans. The question cannot be regarded as settled, a fuller knowledge of Ohaldaean history at the opening of the 7th cent, being much to be desired.
Most scholars regard ch. 3 as a separate composition. It is urged that this poem contains no allusions to the circumstances of Habakkuk’s age, that the enemy in , rejoicing to devour the poor secretly, cannot be a great all-conquering army, that the disasters to flocks and herds () are quite different from anything in chs. 1 and 2. It is conjectured that the poem, under Habakkuk’s name, had a place in a song-book, and was afterwards transferred, with the marks of its origin not effaced, to the close of this prophetic book. These considerations are of great weight, though it may be recalled that the poetical part of the Book of Job ends somewhat similarly, with a theophany little related to the bulk of the book. Whether the chapter belongs to Habakkuk or not, its picture of the intervention of God Himself, in His own all-powerful strength bringing to nought all the counsels of His enemies, is a fitting close to the book. Wilfrid J. Moulton.
Habazziniah
The grandfather of Jaazaniah, one of the Kechabites who were put to the proof by the prophet Jeremiah ().
Habergeon
( AV). An obsolete term replaced in RV by the modern ‘coat of mail.’ Cf. AV, RV ‘pointed shaft,’ and see Armour, 2 (c). A. R. S. Kesnedy.
Habor
A river flowing through the district of Gozan, on the banks of which Israelites were settled when deported from Samaria ( , ). It is a tributary of the Euphrates, the Chaboras of the Greeks, the modern Khobar. L. W. Kmo.
Hacaliah
The father of Nehemiah ( ).
Haohilah
Haohilah ( ). A hill in which David hid, and on which, during his pursuit, Saul pitched his camp, near the wilderness of Ziph. Ziph is mod. Tell en-Zlf, to the S. of Hebron. Conder suggests that Hachilah may be the hill Dahr el-KSM, but this is perhaps rather far to the east. W. Ewinq.
Hachmo
Hachmo m, HACHMONITE.— Both represent one and the same Heb. word, but in the latter is translated as a prop, name, ‘Jehiel the son of Hachmoni,’ whereas in Jashobeam is called ‘a Hachmonite." We should probably render it in both cases as a gentilic name. In , which is parallel to , we have’ the Tahchemonite,’ which is probably a textual error (see Adino, Josheb-basshebeth).
HADAD.^1. The name of a Semitic divinity (also wrritten Adad, and Dadda for Adada), the equivalent of Rimmon (wh. see) among the Aramaeans of Damascus and apparently worshipped by all the Aramaean peoples, as well as among both South-Arabian and North- Arabian tribes, and also among the Assyrians. In Assyria and Babylonia, however, his cult, combined with that of Ramman, was apparently not native, but introduced from the Aramaeans of the west. Hadad, like Rimmon (Ramman), was the god of the air and of thunder and lightning. The word seems to be derived from Arabic hadda, ‘to smite, crush.’ The name of this deity is not found alone in the Bible, but appears in severail compounds, Benhadad, Bildad, and those which follow this article. It is possible, also, that Adrammelech of and should be read Adadmelech, ‘Adad is king.’
2. The eighth son of Ishmael, , and also Gn according to RV and the best readings. 3. The fourth of the eight ancient kings of Edom, ; cf. . 4. The eighth of the kings of Edom in the same list as the last-named, (in miswritten Hadar). 6. The son of a king of Edom in the 10th cent. B.C. ( ff.). He escaped the massacre of Edomites perpetrated by Joab, David’s general, and fied (according to the received reading) to Egypt, whose king befriended him, and gave him his sister-in-law as his wife. After the death of David he returned to Edom, and his efforts seem to have rescued Edom from the yoke of king Solomon. It is probable that in instead of Mitsraim (Egypt) Mitsri should be read in the Hebrew as the name of a region west of Edom, which in the old MSS was several times confounded with the word for Egypt. The reference to Pharaoh () would then have been a later addition. J. F. M’ CuBDy.
Hadadezer
The name of a king of Zobah (wh. see) in the time of David, ff.; . In ff. the same king is called less correctly Hadarezer. the head of the combination of the Aramaeans of Northern Palestine against David, was repeatedly defeated, and finally made tributary. The word means ‘Adad is (my) helper’ (cf. Heb. Eliezer, Ebenezer, Azariah, etc.). It is found on the Black Obelisk of the Assyrian Shalmaneser ii. under the more Aramaic form Adadidri, as the equivalent of Benhadad of Damascus, who led the great combination, ineluding Ahab of Israel, against the Assyrians in B.C. 854. J. F. M’CuHDY.
Hadadr
Hadadr mBION. — A proper name occurring in Zee 12" ‘as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.’ It has usually been supposed to be a place-name. According to a notice by Jerome, it would be equivalent to Megiddo itself. The word, however,’ is a combination of the two names of a divinity (see Hadad). An) equally good translation would be ‘as the mourning /or Hadadrimmon,’ and it has been plausibly conjectured that it is the weeping for Tammuz referred to in . that is here meant. In this case the old Semitic deity Hadad-Rimmon would by the 2nd cent. b.c. have become confounded with Tammuz. There is no ground for supposing an allusion to the mourning for king Josiah, which, of course, took place in Jerusalem, not in the valley of Megiddo.
3. F. M’CUKDT.
Hadar
Hadar (). See Hadad, 4.
Hadarezer
See Hadadezsr.
Hadashah
A town in the Shephglah of Judah () site unknown.
Hadassah
(‘myrtle’). The Jewish name of Esther ( only). See Esther.
Hades
The Lat . term for the Heb. Sheol, the abode of departed spirits. It was conceived of as a great cavern or pit under the earth, in which the shades lived. Just what degree of activity the shades possessed seems to have been somewhat doubtful. According to the Greeks, they were engaged in the occupations in which they had been employed on earth. The Hebrews, however, seem rather to have thought of their condition as one of inactivity. (See Sheol and Gehenna.) RV has ‘Hades’ for AV ‘hell’ when the latter =‘realm of the dead.’ Shailek Mathews.
Hadid
Named along with Lod and Ono ( =- ), peopled by Benjamites after the Captivity (), probably to be identified also with Adida of 1 Maccabees 12:38 13:13. It is the modern Haditheh in the low hills, about 3i miles N.E. of Lydda.
Hadlai
An Ephraimite ().
Hadoram
1. The fifth son of Joktan (. ). 2. The son of Tou, king of Hamath (1 Ch ). In the parallel passage, 288, Hadoram wrongly appears as Joram. 3. . The parallel passage, , has preserved the more correct form Adoram.
Hadrach
A place in Syria mentioned in Zee as being, at the time of the writing of that passage, confederate with Damascus. Hadrach is undoubtedly identical with Hatarikka of the Assyrian inscriptions. It was the object of three expeditions by Assur-dan iii., and Tiglath-pileser in. refers to it in the account of his war with ‘Azarlah the Judaean.’ W. M. Nesbit.
Haft
‘Haft,’ still used locally for ‘handle,’ occurs in ‘the haft also went in after the blade.’
Hagab
(). His descendants returned with Zerubbabel. The name is absent from the parallel list in ; it appears in 1 Esdras 5:30 as Accaba.
Hagaba
Hagaba (). .—The head of a family of Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel. See next article.
Hagabah
The slightly different form in which the last-mentioned name appears in ) in 1 Esdras 5:29 Aggaba.
Hagar
Hagar (prob. ‘emigrant’ or ‘fugitive’) was Sarah’s Egjrptian maid ( ). Her story shows that Sarah renounced the hope of bearing children to Abraham, and gave him Hagar as concubine. Her exultation so irritated Sarah that the maid had to flee from the encampment, and took refuge in the wilderness of Shur ( ), between Philistia and Egypt. Thence she was sent back by ‘the angel of the Lord’; and soon after her return she gave birth to Ishmael. After the weaning of Isaac, the sight of Ishmael aroused Sarah’s jealousy and fear () and Abraham was reluctantly persuaded to send away Hagar and her son. Again ‘the angel of God’ cheered her; and she found her way southwards to the wilderness of Paran (), where her son settled.
This story is compacted of traditions gathered from the three great documents. J yields the greater part of Gn and E of . while traces of P have been found in , f.: xhe presence of the story in sources where such different interests are represented is in favour of its historicity; and instead of the assumption that Hagar 13 but the conjectural mother of the personi&ed founder of a tribe, the more obvious explanation is that she was the actual ancestress of the people of Ishmael. Whatever anthropological interest attaches to the passages (see Ishmael), their presence may be defended on other grounds, the force of which a Hebrew would be more likely to feel. They serve to show the purity and pride of Jewish descent, other tribes in the neignbourhood being kindred to them, but only o£Fshoots from the parent stock. The Divine guidance in Jewish history is emphasized by the double action of the angel in the unfolding of Hagar’s career.
The story is an important part of the biography of Abraham, illustrating both the variety of trials by which his faith was perfected and the active concern of God in even the distracted conditions of a chosen household. Further interest attaches to the narrative as containing the earliest reference in Scripture to ‘the angel of Jehovah’ (), and as being the first of a series (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Naaman) in which the regard of God is represented as singling out for blessing persons outside Israel, and thus as preparing for the universal mission of Christ. There is but one other important allusion to Hagar in the OT. She is mentioned In in a sketch of the family of Ishmael (so In Baruch 3:23 the Arabians are said to be her sons); and she has been assumed with much improbability to have been the ancestress of the Hagrites or Hagarenes of and (see Hagrites). In ff. Paul applies her story allegorically, with a view to show the superiority of the new covenant. He contrasts Hagar the bondwoman with Sarah, and Ishmael ‘born after the flesh’ with Isaac ‘born through promise’; thence freedom and grace appear as the characteristic qualities of Christianity. There is good MS authority for the omission of ‘Hagar’ in y.^, as in RVm; In which case the meaning is that Sinai is a mountain in Arabia, the land of bondmen and the country of Hagar’s descendants. Even if the reading of the text stands, the meaning of the phrase will not be very different. ‘This Hagar of the allegory is or represents Sinai, because Sinai is in Arabia, where Hagar and her descendants dwelt.’ R. w. Moss.
Hagarenes
See Hagrites.
Haggadah
See Talmud.
Haggai
A prophet whose writings occupy the tenth place in the collection of the Minor Prophets.
1 . The man and his work.— The sphere of his activity was the post-exilic community, his ministry (so far as may be gathered from his writings) being confined to a few months of the second year of Darius Hystaspes (B.C. 520). His name is perhaps a short form of Haggiah (), as Mattenai () is of Mattaniah (), and may mean ‘feast of J",’ though possibly it is merely an adjective signifying ‘festal’ (from hag; cf. Barzillai from barzel). According to late traditions, he was born in Babylon, and went up with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem, where he died. In his prophetic work he was associated with Zechariah ( ) and the names of the two are prefixed to certain Psalms in one or more of the Versions (to in LXX alone, to (112) in Vulg. alone, to Pss 125. 126 in Pesh. alone, to Pss 146. 147. 148 in LXX and Pesh., to in LXX, Vulg., and Pesh.).
His prophecies were evoked by the delay that attended the reconstruction of the Temple. The Jews, on returning to Palestine in t’he first year of Cyrus (536), at once set up the altar of the Lord (), and In the following year laid the foundation of the Temple (S’-‘"). The work, however, was almost immediately suspended through the opposition of the Samaritans (i.e. the semi-pagan colonists of what had once been the Northern Kingdom, ), whose wish to co-operate had been refused () and, this external obstruction being reinforced by indifference on the part of the Jews themselves (). the site of the Temple remained a waste for a period of 15 years. But in the second year of Darius (b.c. 520), Haggai, aided by Zeohariah (who was probably his junior), exhorted his countrymen to proceed with the rebuilding; and as the result of his exertions, in the sixth year of Darius (b.c. 516) the Temple was finished ().
2. The book. — The prophecies of Haggai consist of four sections, delivered at three different times.
(1) Ch. 1, on the 1st day of the 6th month (Aug.-Sept.), ia the prophet’s explanation of the prevalent scarcity, which (like the famines mentioned in and . 18) is accounted for by human sin, the people being more concerned to beautify their own dwellings than to restore the house of the Lord. The admonition, coupled with a promise of Divine assistance, had its effect, and the work of reconstruction was renewed.
(2) Ch. . on the 21st day of the 7th month (Sept.- Oct.), has in view the discouragement experienced when the old men who had seen the glory of the first Temple contrasted with it the meanness of the second: the prophet declares that within a short while the wealth of the nations will be gathered into the latter (cf . ), and its splendour will eventually exceed that of its predecessor. Haggai’s anticipations were perhaps connected with the disturbances among the Persian subject States in the beginning of Darius’ reign. The downfall of the Persian rule, which they threatened, might be expected, like the previous overthrow of Babylon by CJyrus, to redound to the advantage of
(3) Ch. . on the 24th of the 9th month (Nov.- Dec), is a further attempt to explain the reason of the continued distress, and to raise hopes of its removal. The people’s sacrifices and exertions cannot (it is contended) at once counteract the effects of their previous neglect, for the ruinous state of the Temple is a more penetrating source of pollution than holy things and acts are of sanctification; but henceforth the Lord’s blessing will attend them (cf. Zee ).
(4) Ch. . on the same day as the preceding, is an address to Zerubbabel, who in the impending commotion will be preserved by the Lord as a precious signet-ring (cf. . and contrast ).
The Book of Haggai reflects the condition of its age, and offers a contrast to the earlier prophets in the absence of any denunciation of idolatry, the practice of which had been largely eradicated from the Jews of the Exile by their experiences. It resembles the prophecies of Zechariah and Malachi (both post-exilic) in laying more stress upon the external side of religion than do the pre-exilic writings. But, unlike the books of Zechariah and Malachi, it does not contain any rebuke of moral and social offences, but is devoted to the single purpose of promoting the rebuilding of the Temple, which was then essential to the maintenance of Israel’s religious purity. The style of Haggai is plain and unadorned, and is rendered rather monotonous by the reiteration of certain phrases (especially ‘saith the Lord of hosts’). G. W. Wade.
Hagc
Hagc rEDOLm (RV and AVm: AV and RVm ‘the great men’). — Father of Zabdiel ().
HA6GI (‘born on a festival’).— Son of Gad, , (p); patronymic, Haggites, .
Haggiah
(‘feast of J"‘). A Levite descended from Merari ().
Haggites
See Haqgi.
Haggith
(‘festal’). The mother of Adonijah (. ).
Hagiographa
See Canon of OT, § 8.
Hagri
Father of Mibhar, one of David’s heroes (). The parallel passage, . reads ‘of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,’ which is probably the correct text.
Hagrite
Jaziz the Hagrite was ‘over the flocks’ of king David (). See next article.
Hagrites, Hagarites, Hagarenes
Atribe of Arabian or Aramaean origin inhabiting territory to the east of Gilead. Twice they were the object of campaigns by the trans-Jordanic Israelite tribes, by whom they were crushingly defeated and expelled from their land (, , f.). Because the name appears only in very late passages, Bertheau and others have conjectured that it was a late appellation tor Bedouin in general. It has been supposed to mean ‘Descendants of Hagar — hence to be synonymous with’ Ishmaelites.’ But this is unhkely, since the Hagrites are named along with other tribes which,’ according to this theory, they included. The Hagrites are mentioned among a group of Aramsean tribes in an inscription of Tiglath-pileser in.
W. M. Nebbit.
Hahiroth
See Pi-hahiroth.
Hair
The usual word in OT is st ar, in NT thrix. Black hair was greatly admired by the Hebrews (Ca 4i 5" 7’). Women have always worn the hair long, baldness or short hair being to them a disgrace (, . , ). Absalom’s hair was cut once a year (; cf. rules for priests, ). but men seem to have worn the hair longer than is seemly among us (, ). In NT times it was a shame for a man to have long hair ( ff.). This probably never applied to the Arabs, who still wear the hair in long plaits. The locks of the Nazirite were, of course, an exception ( etc.). The Israelites were forbidden to cut the comers of their hair ( ). In neighbouring nations the locks on the temples, in front of the ears, were allowed to grow in youth, and their removal was part of certain idolatrous rites connected with puberty and initiation to manhood. These peoples are referred to as those that ‘have the corners polled’ ( RV). The practice was probably followed by Israel in early times, and the prohibition was required to distinguish them from idolaters. One curious result of the precept is seen among the orthodox Jews of to-day, who religiously preserve the love-locks which, in the far past, their ancestors re- Ugiously cut.
The Assyrians wore the hair long (Herod, i. 195). In Egypt the women wore long hair. ‘The men shaved both head and beard () but they wore imposing wigs and false beards, the shape of the latter indicating the rank and dignity of the wearer (Herod, ii. 36, iii. 12; Wilk. Aiw. Egyp. ii. 324, etc.). Josephus says that young gallants among the horsemen of Solomon sprinkled gold dust on their long hair,’ so that their heads sparkled with the reflexion of the sunbeams from the gold’ (Ant. viii. vii. 3). Jezebel dressed her hair (). Judith arranged her hair and put on a head-dress (Jth ). St. Paul deprecates too much attention to ‘braided hair’ (. cf . ). Artificial curls are mentioned in . The fillet of twisted silk or other material by which the hair was held in position stands for the hair itself in . Combs are not mentioned in Scripture; but they were used in Egypt (Wilk. op. cit. ii. 349), and were doubtless well known in Palestine. The barber with his razor appears in (cf . Chagiga 4b, Shab, § 6). Herod the Great dyed his hair black, to make himself look younger (Jos. Ant. xvi. viii. 1). We hear of false hair only once, and then it is used as a disguise (i&., Vit, 11). Light ornaments of metal were worn on the hair () in modern times coins of silver and gold are commonly worn; often a tiny bell is hung at the end of the tress. It is a grievous Insult to cut or pluck the hair of head or cheek (2 Samuel 117: S0=, ). Letting loose a woman’s hair is a mark of abasement ( RV) ; or it may indicate selfhumiliation (). As atokenof grief it was customary to cut the hair of both head and beard (, . ). to leave the beard untrimmed (). and even to pluck out the hair (). Tearingthe hair is still a common Oriental expression of sorrow. Arab women cut off their hair in mourning.
The hair of the lifelong Nazirite might never be cut (. 1 s ). The Nazirite for a specified time cut his hair only when the vow was performed. If, after the period of separation had begun, he contracted defilement, his head was shaved and the period began anew ( ff.). An Arab who is under vow must neither cut, comb, nor cleanse his hair, until the vow is fulfilled and his offering made. Then cutting the hair marks his return from the consecrated to the common condition (Wellhausen, Skizzen, iii. 167). Offerings of hair were common among ancient peoples (W. R. Smith, iJS^ 324ff.; Wellhausen, op. cU. 118 f.). It was believed that some part of a man’s life resided in the hair, and that possess on of hair from his head maintained a certain connexion with him, even after his death. Before freeing a prisoner, the Arabs cut a portion of his hair, and retained it, as evidence that he had been in their power (Wellh. op. cit. 118). Chalid b. al-Walid wore, in his military head-gear, hair from the head of Mohammed (i6. 146).
The colour of the hair was observed in the detection of leprosy ( ff. etc.). Thorough disinfection involved removal of the hair (, ). The shaving of the head of the slave-girl to be married by her captor marked the change in her condition and prospects (; w. R. Smith, Kinship^ 209). Swearing by the hair () is now generally confined to the beard. The hoary head is held in honour (. Wisdom 2:10 etc.), and white hair is associated with the appearance of Divine majesty (. ).
W. EWING.
Hajeh
Hajeh tTDIJAH occurs in RVm of in an obscure genealogical list. It is probably not a proper name, but means ‘the Jewess’ (so RV and AVm). AV reads Jehudijah.
Hakkatan
(‘the smallest’). The head of a family of returning exiles () called in 1 Esdras 8:38 Akatan.
Hakkoz
1. A Judahite (). 2. The eponym of a priestly family (. . , ) called in 1 Esdras 5:38 Akkos. They were unable to prove their pedigree.
Hakupha
Eponym of a family of Nethinim (. ) called in 1 Esdras 5:31 Achipha.
Halah
One of the places to which Israelites were deported by the king of Assyria on the capture of Samaria ( . ). It was situated in the region of Gozan (wh. see), but it has not yet been satisfactorily identified. L. W. Kino.
HALAK, or the ‘smooth mountain,’ (only). — This eminence has not been identified, but its approximate locality is indicated by the words ‘that goeth up to Seir’; and it formed the southern limit of Joshua’s conquests.
Halakhah
See Talmud.
Halhul
A city of Judah (). It is the modern HaXhvl, a large village 4 miles north of Hebron.
Hali
A city belonging to the tribe of Asher (Jos 192s). The site is doubtful. It may be the ruin ‘AMa on the hills N.E. of Achzib, about 13 miles N.E. of Acre.
Halicarmassus
Halicarmassus was one of the six Dorian colonies on the coast of Caria. Though excluded from the Dorian confederacy (HexapolisJ on account of some ancient dispute (Herod, i. 144), it was a very important city in respect of politics, commerce, literature, and art. It was one of the States to which the Roman Senate sent letters in favour of the Jews in B.C. 139 (1 Maccabees 15:23). It must therefore have been a free and self-governing city at that time. The decree of the city passed in the first cent. B.C., granting to the Jews religious liberty and the right to build their proseuchai beside the sea (Jos. Ant. xiv. x. 23), attests the existence of an early Jewish colony in the city; and this was natural, as Halicarnassus was a considerable centre of trade owing to its favourable position on a bay opposite Cos, on the north-west side of the Ceramic Gulf. The city extended round the bay from promontory to promontory and contained, among other buildings, a famous temple of Aphrodite.
The site of Halicarnassus is now called Bodrum (i.e. ‘fortress’), from the Castle of St. Peter which was built by the Knights of St. John (whose headquarters were in Rhodes), under their Grand Master de Naillac, A.D. 1404.
Hall
See PH.ETORinM.
Hallel
The name given in Rabbinical writings to the Pss 113-118— called the ‘Egyptian Hallel’ in distinction from the ‘Great Hallel’ (Pss 120-136), and from Pss 146-148, which are also psalms of Hallel character. The Hallel proper (Pss 113-118) was always regarded as forming one whole. The word Hallel means ‘Praise,’ and the name was given on account of the oft-recurring word HalMujah (‘Praise ye the Lord’) in these psalms. The ‘Hallel’ was sung at the great Jewish festivals — Passover, Tabernacles, Pentecost, and Chanukkah (‘Dedication’ of the Temple).
W. O. E. Oestehley.
Hallelujah
A Hebrew expression, used liturgically in Hebrew worship as a short doxology, meaning ‘praise ye Jah.’ With one exception () it occurs only at the beginning or the end of psalms, or both: at the beginning only in Pss 111. 112; at the beginning and end in Pss 106. 113. 135. 146. 147. 148. 149, and 150; at the end only in Pss 104. 105. 115. 116. 117.
In the LXX, however, the Gr. (transliterated) form of the expression occurs only at the beginning of psalms as a heading, and this would seem to be the more natural usage. The double occurrence in the Heb. text may in some cases be explained as due to accidental displacement (the heading of the following psalm being attached to the conclusion of the previous one).
As a liturgical heading the term served to mark oft certain well-defined groups of psalms which were probably intended in the first instance for synagogue use, and may once have existed as an independent collection. With the exception of , these groups (in the Heb. text) are three in number, viz. 104-108; 111-113. 115- 117; and 146-150. But in the LXX a larger number of psalms is so distinguished, and the consequent grouping is more coherent, viz. 105-107; 111-119 (135-136); 146-150. In the synagogue liturgy the last-mentioned group (146-150). together with 135-136, has a well-defined place in the daily morning service, forming an integral part of the great ‘Benediction of Song’ (in certain parts of the early Church, also, it was customary to recite the ‘Hallelujah’ psalms daily).
The ‘Hallel* (Pss 113-118), which forms a liturgical unit in the synagogue liturgy, is the most complete example of’ Hallelujah’ psalms in collected form. (In the LXX, notice all the individual psalms of this group are headed ‘Alleluia’).
All the psalms referred to exhibit unmistakable marks of late composition, which would accord with their distinctively synagogal character. Like other Jewish liturgical terms (e.g. ‘Amen’), ‘Hallelujah’ passed from the OT to the NT (cf. ). from the Jewish to the Christian Church (cf . esp. the early liturgies) , and so to modern hymnody. Through the Vulgate the form ‘Alleluia’ has come into use. The AV and RV, however, render ‘Praise ye the Lord.’
G. H. Box.
Hallohesh
An individual or a family mentioned in connexion with the repairing of the wall () and the sealing of the covenant ().
Hallow
To ‘hallow’ is either ‘to make holy’ or ‘to regard as holy.’ Both meanings are very old. Thus Wyclif translates ‘Halwe thou hemin treuthe.’ and ‘Ye halwide not me amonge the sones of Yreal’ (1388. ‘Israel’). In the Lord’s Prayer (, , the only places where ‘hallow’ occurs in the NT) the meaning is ‘regard as sacred.’ All the Eng. versions have ‘hallowed’ in these verses except the Rhemish (Rom. Cath.), which has ‘sanctified’; but in the modern editions of this version the change has been made to ‘hallowed.’
Halt
This Eng. word is used (1) UteraUy, as a verb ‘to be lame, to limp,’ or as an adj. ‘lame.’ Cf. Tindale’s tr. of ‘The blynd se, the halt goo, the lepers are clensed.’ Or (2) figuratively ‘to stumble, fail,’ as ‘All my familiars watched for my halting.’ From this comes the meaning (3) ‘to be undecided, waver,’ ‘How long halt [lit.’ limp,’ as on unequal legs] ye between two opinions?’ The Revisers have introduced(4) the mod. meaning ‘to stop,’ ‘This very day shall he halt at Nob.’
James Hastings (ed.), with John A. Selbie and John C. Lambert, Dictionary of the Bible (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1909). Public domain. Scan of Cornell University Library’s copy from the Internet Archive; text from its OCR, with the Bible references read again from the page images.