(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.)
Ham
(hot; sunburnt).
•The name of one of the three sons of Noah, apparently the second in age. (B.C. 2448.) Of the
history of Ham nothing is related except his irreverence to his father and the curse which that
patriarch pronounced. The sons of Ham are stated, to have been “Cush and Mizraim and Phut and
Canaan.” (Genesis 10:6) comp. 1Chr 1:8 Egypt is recognized as the “land of Ham” in the Bible.
(Psalms 78:51; 105:23; 106:22) The other settlements of the sons of Ham are discussed under
their respective names. The three most illustrious Hamite nations—the Cushites, the Phoenicians
and the Egyptians—were greatly mixed with foreign peoples. Their architecture has a solid grandeur
that we look for in vain elsewhere.
•According to the present text, (Genesis 14:5) Chedorlaomer and his allies smote the Zuzim in a
place called Ham, probably in the territory of the Ammonites (Gilead), east of the Jordan.
Haman
(magnificent), the chief minister or vizier of King Ahasuerus. (Esther 3:1) (B.C. 473.) After
the failure of his attempt to cut off all the Jews in the Persian empire, he was hanged on the gallows
which he had erected for Mordecai. The Targum and Josephus interpret the inscription of him—the
Agagite—as signifying that he was of Amalekitish descent. The Jews hiss whenever his name is
mentioned on the day of Purim.
Hamath
(fortress), the principal city of upper Syria, was situated in the valley of the Orontes, which it
commanded from the low screen of hills which forms the water-shed between the source of the
Orontes and Antioch. The Hamathites were a Hamitic race, and are included among the descendants
of Canaan. (Genesis 10:18) Nothing appears of the power of Hamath until the time of David. ( 2
Samuel 8:9) Hamath seems clearly to have been included in the dominions of Solomon. (1 Kings
4:21-24) The “store-cities” which Solomon “built in Hamath,” (2 Chronicles 8:4) were perhaps
staples for trade. In the Assyrian inscriptions of the time of Ahab (B.C. 900) Hamath appears as a
separate power, in alliance with the Syrians of Damascus, the Hittites and the Phoenicians. About
three-quarters of a century later Jeroboam the Second “recovered Hamath.” (2 Kings 14:28) Soon
afterwards the Assyrians took it, (2 Kings 18:34; 19:13) etc., and from this time it ceased to be a
place of much importance. Antiochus Epiphanes changed its name to Epiphaneia. The natives,
however, called it Hamath even in St. Jerome’s time, and its present name, Hamah, is but slightly
altered from the ancient form.
Hamathite, The
one of the families descended from Canaan, named last in the list. (Genesis 10:18; 1 Chronicles
1:16)
Hamathzobah
(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 Hamath” by the suffix “Zobah.”
Hammath
(warm springs), one of the fortified cities in the territory allotted to Naphtali. (Joshua 19:35) It
was near Tiberias, one mile distant, and had its name Chammath, “hot baths,” because it contained
frankie
(Frankie)
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