Bible History
Bible History

The Hittites

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The Hittites (children of Heth) dwelt in the land of Canaan during the time of Abraham in the Hill Country around Hebron and in the south. The Hittites were numerous and powerful and became a threat to Egypt and even Assyria. There has been much light shed on the Hittite Nation through modern archaeology. The Hebrew word for Hittite was "Chittee" and they were referred to by the Egyptians as "Kheta" and by the Assyrians as "Hatti", and the Hittites referred to their empire as the Land of Hatti.

The Hittites were descendants of Heth, the Second Son of Canaan, the son of Ham. Canaan was cursed by Noah and therefore the sons of Canaan were also under the curse. After the Tower of Babel they settled in the mountainous areas of ancient Turkey (Anatolia) and northern Syria. During the time of Joshua there were Hittites living in the land of Canaan in the south near Hebron and west of the Dead Sea. Joshua defeated them but did not annihilate them:

Joshua 3:10 - "By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite out from before you.

There is much debate regarding exact details about the Hittites, their history, the boundaries of their kingdom, their language, their racial origin and more.

Scriptures

2 Kings 7:6 - For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, [even] the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.

Deuteronomy 7:1 - When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;

2 Chronicles 1:17 - And they fetched up, and brought forth out of Egypt a chariot for six hundred [shekels] of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so brought they out [horses] for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, by their means.

Exodus 13:5 - And it shall be when the LORD shall bring thee into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.

Joshua 1:4 - From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.

Exodus 3:8 - And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Nehemiah 9:8 - And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give [it, I say], to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou [art] righteous:

1 Kings 10:29 - And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred [shekels] of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring [them] out by their means.

Ezra 9:1 - Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, [doing] according to their abominations, [even] of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.

Numbers 13:29 - The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.

Exodus 3:17 - And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and theHittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.

Joshua 24:11 - And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.

1 Kings 11:1 - But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, [and] Hittites;

Judges 1:26 - And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which [is] the name thereof unto this day.

Exodus 23:23 - For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.

Deuteronomy 20:17 - But thou shalt utterly destroy them; [namely], the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:

Joshua 12:8 - In the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country; the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites:

Joshua 3:10 - And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God [is] among you, and [that] he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

Judges 3:5 - And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites:

1 Kings 9:20 - [And] all the people [that were] left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which [were] not of the children of Israel,

2 Chronicles 8:7 - [As for] all the people [that were] left of the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which [were] not of Israel,

Genesis 15:20 - And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims

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