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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

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HORITES

Cave dwellers of Mt Seir, according to tradition. These pre-Edomites were called the children of Seir (Gn 36:20). In the Bible they were defeated by Kedorlaomer and his allies (14:6). They were governed by chieftains (36:29-30), and eventually destroyed by the descendants of Esau (Dt 2:12, 22 OET DEU 2:12 · OET DEU 2:22).

The popular and biblical etymology of “Horite” has been disputed since the discovery of the Hurrians (Khurians) as ethnic predecessors of many Near Eastern tribes. The Hurrians were a non-Semite people from the mountains. About the second millennium BC, they migrated into north and northeast Mesopotamia, and later moved into the regions of Syria and Palestine. Since the Hurrian language was prevalent in the western Jordan area, and since phonetically “Horite” is the OT Hebrew equivalent of the extrabiblical “Hurrian,” several scholars and translators have substituted “Hurrian” for “Horite.” Many have equated the Hivites, who were part of the Hurrian language and cultural group, with the Horites. These critics assumed an early textual corruption of the r(esh) in Horite to w(aw) in Hivite. A certain Zibeon is called a Horite in Genesis 36:20-30, whereas in verse 2 the man is called a Hivite. The Septuagint of Joshua 9:7 and Genesis 34:2 reads “Horite” instead of “Hivite” as in the Masoretic Text. Some manuscripts of the Septuagint read “Hittite” for the Masoretic Text’s “Hivite” (Jos 11:3, Jgs 3:3). In Genesis 36:2, the extant Hebrew manuscripts erroneously read “Hivite” for “Horite.” It appears that the OT references do not fit the Hurrians, nor do the personal names of the Horites correspond to Hurrian examples (Gn 36:20-30). They seem instead to be Semitic. The Horites were from Transjordan and were the predecessors of the Edomites (14:6). Later references to Horites may be to western Horites, who were perhaps Hurrians (Is 17:9) and non-Semitic, but quite distinct from the predecessors of the Edomites, the eastern Horites. The Hebrew of Genesis 34:2 and Joshua 9:7 may be from a different family of manuscripts than those used by the Septuagint translators, preserving its own ethnic traditions. It seems best to think of both Hivites and Horites as ethnic groups connected with the Hurrians by language and culture.

See also Hurrians; Hivites.