Bible Dictionary

Classic 19th-century Bible dictionary entries — names, places, and terms explained from Scripture, drawn from Easton, Smith, Hastings, Hitchcock & Schaff. — 7,288 entries

The holy writings, a term which came early into use in the Christian church to denote the third division of the Old Testament scriptures, called by the Jews Kethubim, i.e., “Writings.” It consisted o…

HAIL. When a very cold current of air encounters a hot and humid one, the vapor of the latter is suddenly condensed into drops, and sometimes these are frozen into irregular spheroids of porous ice, …

HAIR. The difference between the Hebrews and their neighbors, the Egyptians, in the matter of wearing their hair is early, though incidentally, alluded to in the Bible. Thus Joseph, on being summoned…

(young). Johanan son of Hakkatan, was the chief of the Bene-Azgad who returned from Babylon with Ezra. (Ezra 8:12)

The thorn, the head of one of the courses of the priests (1 Chr. 24:10).

(bent). Bene-Hakupha were among the Nethinim who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:61; Nehemiah 7:63)

HA'LAH, a place in Assyria to which the ten tribes were carried captive. 2 Kgs 17:6; 2 Kgs 18:11; 1 Chr 5:26. It is now identified, with great probability, as the Chalcitis of Ptolemy, and in the nor…

Smooth; bald, a hill at the southern extremity of Canaan (Josh. 11:17). It is referred to as if it were a landmark in that direction, being prominent and conspicuous from a distance. It has by some b…

Halak, The Mount

HA'LAK, THE MOUNT (the smooth or the bald mountain), the name of a mountain marking the southern limit of Joshua's conquests. Josh 11:17; Acts 12:7. It has been variously identified with the range of…

HALE means to haul, to drag by force, before magistrates. Luke 12:58; Acts 8:3.

Full of hollows, a town in the highlands of Judah (Josh. 15:58). It is now a small village of the same name, and is situated about 5 miles north-east of Hebron on the way to Jerusalem. There is an ol…

(necklace), a town on the boundary of Asher, named between Helkath and Beten. (Joshua 19:25)

HALL, in Luke 22:55, was the court of the high priest's palace.

Praise, the name given to the group of Psalms 113-118, which are preeminently psalms of praise. It is called “The Egyptian Hallel,” because it was chanted in the temple whilst the Passover lambs were…

HALLELU'JAH. See Alleluia.

saying nothing; an enchanter

(enchanter), one of the chief of the people who sealed the covenant with Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 10:24) (B.C. 410.)

To render sacred, to consecrate (Ex. 28:38; 29:1). This word is from the Saxon, and properly means “to make holy.” The name of God is “hallowed”, i.e., is reverenced as holy (Matt. 6:9).

Shallum, son of Halohesh was “ruler of the half part of Jerusalem” at the time of the repair of the wall by Nehemiah. (Nehemiah 3:12) (B.C. 446.)

Lame on the feet (Gen. 32:31; Ps. 38:17). To “halt between two opinions” (1 Kings 18:21) is supposed by some to be an expression used in “allusion to birds, which hop from spray to spray, forwards an…

(doubtful). Bene-Hattil were among the children of Solomon’s slaves “who came back from captivity with Zerubbabel. (Ezra 2:57; Nehemiah 7:59) (B.C. 536.)

Warm, hot, and hence the south; also an Egyptian word meaning “black”, the youngest son of Noah (Gen. 5:32; comp. 9:22, 24). The curse pronounced by Noah against Ham, properly against Canaan his four…

(of Persian origin), magnificent, the name of the vizier (i.e., the prime minister) of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Esther 3:1, etc.). He is called an “Agagite,” which seems to denote that he was desc…

Fortress, the capital of one of the kingdoms of Upper Syria of the same name, on the Orontes, in the valley of Lebanon, at the northern boundary of Palestine (Num. 13:21; 34:8), at the foot of Hermon…

Fortress of Zobah, (2 Chr. 8:3) is supposed by some to be a different place from the foregoing; but this is quite uncertain.

one of the families descended from Canaan, named last in the list. (Genesis 10:18; 1 Chronicles 1:16)

(fortress of Zobah), (2 Chronicles 8:3) has been conjectured to be the same as Hamath. But the name Hamath-Zobah would seem rather suited to another Hamath which was distinguished from the “Great Ham…

Warm springs, one of the “fenced cities” of Naphtali (Josh. 19:35). It is identified with the warm baths (the heat of the water ranging from 136 degrees to 144 degrees) still found on the shore a lit…

Father of Haman, designated usually “the Agagite” (Esther 3:1, 10; 8:5).