view,
perfectly
unintelligible.
For
many
centuries
the
majority
of
the
laws
given
ex
hypothesi
at
Sinai
were
not
only
impracticable
but
even
unknown.
Now
we
see
how
at
each
stage
of
the
nation's
religious
development
God
raised
up
men
inspired
by
His
Spirit
to
interpret
the
past
in
the
light
of
present
requirements,
and
the
present
by
the
aid
of
past
experience;
men
who
were
commissioned
to
develop
past
legislation
into
a
living
message,
to
show
how
the
Mosaic
legislation
contained
within
itself
germs
productive
of
an
inextinguishable
life,
ever
ready
to
renew
itself
in
such
laws
or
forms
as
were
required
to
secure
the
preservation
of
the
nation
and
the
religious
ideals
for
which
it
stood.
It
is
true
that
the
Hexateuch
has
been
analyzed
into
many
component
parts;
yet
it
was
not
by
one
man's
mouth,
but
'
in
many
fragments
and
in
many
manners,
that
God
spoke
of
old
to
the
fathers'
(He
1');
and
it
is
the
realization
of
this
progressive
revelation
in
olden
days
which,
more
than
anything
else,
enables
Christians
to
grasp
the
majesty
of
that
supreme
and
final
dispensation
wherein
the
same
God
has
spoken
once
for
all
to
us
in
His
Son.
Ernest
A.
Edqhill.
HEZEKIAH.
—
1.
One
of
the
most
prominent
kings
of
Judah.
He
came
to
the
throne
after
his
father
Ahaz,
about
B.C.
714.
The
assertions
that
Samaria
was
destroyed
in
his
sixth
year
and
that
Sennacherib's
invasion
came
in
his
fourteenth
year
are
inconsistent
(2
K
18i»-
").
The
latter
has
probability
on
its
side,
and
as
we
know
that
Sennacherib
invaded
Palestine
in
701
the
calculation
is
easily
made.
Politically
Hezekiah
had
a
difficult
task.
His
father
had
submitted
to
Assyria,
but
the
vassalage
was
felt
to
be
severe.
The
petty
kingdoms
of
Palestine
were
restive
under
the
yoke,
and
they
were
encouraged
by
the
Egyptians
to
make
an
effort
for
independence.
There
was
always
an
Egyptian
party
at
the
court
of
Jerusalem,
though
at
this
time
Egypt
was
suffering
from
internal
dissensions.
In
the
East
the
kingdom
of
Babylon
under
Merodach-baladan
was
also
making
trouble
for
the
Assyrians.
Hezekiah
seems
to
have
remained
faithful
to
the
suzerain
for
some
years
after
his
accession,
but
when,
about
the
time
of
Sennacherib's
accession
(705),
a
coalition
was
formed
against
the
oppressor
he
joined
it.
We
may
venture
to
suppose
that
about
this
time
he
received
the
embassy
from
Merodach-baladan
(2
K
20™-,
Is
39'ff-),
which
was
intended
to
secure
the
co-operation
of
the
Western
States
with
Babylon
in
the
effort
then
being
made.
Isaiah,
as
we
know
from
his
own
discourses,
was
opposed
to
the
Egyptian
alliance,
and
apparently
to
the
whole
movement.
The
Philistines
were
for
revolt;
only
Padi,
king
of
Ekron,
held
out
for
his
master
the
king
of
Assyria.
For
this
reason
Hezekiah
invaded
his
terri-tory
and
took
him
prisoner.
If,
as
the
BibUcal
account
seems
to
intimate
(2
K
18'),
he
incorporated
the
con-quered
land
in
his
own
kingdom,
the
gain
was
not
for
a
long
time.
In
701
Sennacherib
appeared
on
the
scene,
and
there
was
no
possibility
of
serious
resistance.
The
inscriptions
tell
us
that
the
invaders
captured
forty-six
walled
towns,
and
carried
200,000
Judahites
into
slavery.
The
Egyptian
(some
suppose
it
to
be
an
Arabian)
army
made
a
show
of
coming
to
the
help
of
its
alUes,
but
was
met
on
the
border
and
defeated.
Hezekiah
was
compelled
to
release
the
captive
Padi,
who
returned
to
his
throne
in
triumph.
Sennacherib
was
detained
at
Lachish
by
the
stubborn
resistance
of
that
fortress,
and
could
send
only
a
detachment
of
his
troops
to
Jerusalem.
With
it
went
an
embassy,
the
account
of
which
may
be
read
in
2
K
18.
19
and
Is
36.
37.
The
laconic
sentence:
'
Hezekiah
sent
to
the
king
of
Assyria
at
Lachish,
saying:
I
have
offended;
that
which
thou
puttest
on
me
will
I
bear'
(2
K
18")
shows
that
abject
submission
was
made.
The
price
of
peace
was
a
heavy
one
—
three
hundred
talents
of
silver
and
thirty
talents
of
gold.
To
pay
it,
all
the
gold
and
silver
that
could
be
found
was
gathered
together,
even
the
Temple
doors
(v.")
being
stripped
of
their
precious
metal.
In
our
accounts
we
read
of
a
great
destruction
which
came
upon
the
Assyrian
army
(2
K
19",
Is
37»).
Whether
Sennacherib
was
not
satisfied
with
the
sub-mission
of
Hezekiah,
or
whether
a
second
campaign
was
made
which
the
historian
has
confused
with
this
one,
is
not
yet
certainly
known.
There
was
a
second
expedition
of
Sennacherib's
to
the
west
some
years
later
than
the
one
we
have
been
considering.
At
that
time,
it
may
be,
the
pestilence
broke
out
and
made
the
army
too
weak
for
further
operations.
It
is
clear
that
the
people
of
Jerusalem
felt
that
they
had
had
a
remarkable
deliverance.
Hezekiah's
sickness
is
dated
by
the
BibUcal
writer
in
the
time
of
this
invasion,
which
can
hardly
be
correct
if
the
king
lived
fifteen
years
after
that
experience.
The
account
of
Hezekiah's
religious
reforms
is
more
sweeping
than
seems
probable
for
that
date.
There
seems
no
reason
to
doubt,
however,
that
he
destroyed
the
brazen
serpent,
which
had
been
an
object
of
worship
in
the
Temple
(2
K
18').
The
cleansing
of
the
country
sanctuaries
from
idolatry,
under
the
influence
of
Isaiah,
may
have
been
accompUshed
at
the
same
time.
The
expansions
of
the
Chronicler
(2
Ch
29ff.)
must
be
received
with
reserve.
2.
An
ancestor
of
the
prophet
Zephaniah
(Zeph
1').
possibly
to
be
identified
with
the
king
of
the
same
name.
3.
Head
of
a
family
of
exiles
who
returned,
Ezr
2"
=
Neh
72'
(cf.
10").
H.
P.
Smith.
HEZION,
—
Father
of
Tabrimmon,
and
grandfather
of
Benhadad,
the
Syrian
king
(1
K
15'*).
It
has
been
plausibly
suggested
that
Hezion
is
identical
with
Bezon
of
1
K
112',
the
founder
of
the
kingdom
of
Damascus,
and
an
adversary
to
Solomon.
HEZIR.—
1.
The
17th
of
the
priestly
courses
(1
Oh
2415).
2.
A
lay
family,
which
signed
the
covenant
(Neh
1022).
HEZRO
or
HEZBAI.—
One
of
David's
thirty
heroes
(2
S
23»,
1
Ch
11").
HEZKON.
—
1.
The
eponymous
head
of
a
Reubenite
family
(Gn
46»,
Ex
6»,
Nu
26«
=
1
Ch
5').
2.
The
eponymous
head
of
a
Judahite
family
(Gn
46'2,
Nu
262'=
K.u
418-
i»,
1
Ch
2=-
s.
18.
21.
24.
26
41).
xhls
Hczrou
appears
also
in
the
NT
in
the
genealogy
of
our
Lord
(Mt
1»,
Lk
388).
The
gentiUc
name
Hezronites
occurs
in
Nu
26«
referring
to
the
descendants
of
No.
1,
and
in
V.21
referring
to
those
of
No.
2
above.
3.
A
town
in
the
south
of
Judah
(Jos
15")=Hazar-addar
of
Nu
34<.
HIDDAI.—
One
of
David's
thirty
heroes
(2
S
23s»).
He
is
called
Hurai
in
the
parallel
Ust
1
Ch
1182.
HIDDEKEL.—
The
river
Tigris,
mentioned
as
the
third
river
of
Paradise
(Gn
2"),
and
as
'the
great
river'
by
the
side
of
which
Daniel
had
his
vision
(Dn
lO").
The
Heb.
Hiddeqel
was
taken
from
the
Bab.
name
for
the
Tigris,
Idiglat
or
Diglai,
which
was
in
turn
derived
from
its
Sumerian
name,
Idigna.
L.
W.
Kino.
HIEL.
—
The
name
of
a
certain
BetheUte
who
in
the
days
of
Ahab
fortified
Jericho,
and
possibly
sacrificed
his
two
sons
to
appease
the
gods
of
the
disturbed
earth
(1
K
le*").
Some
obscure
event
is
here
applied
as
a
comment
on
the
curse
on
Jericho
pronounced
by
Joshua.
W.
F.
Cobb.
HIERAPOLIS
('holy
city')
is
mentioned
in
the
Bible
only
in
Col
4i8,
in
association
with
the
neighbouring
towns
Laodicea
and
Colossee.
All
three
were
situated
in
the
valley
of
the
Lycus,
a
tributary
of
the
Maeander,
in
Phrygia,
Hierapolis
on
the
north
side
being
about
6
miles
from
the
former
and
12
miles
from
the
latter.
(The
best
map
of
this
district
is
at
p.
472
of
Ramsay's
Church
in
the
Roman
Empire.)
It
probably
belonged
originally
to
the
tribe
Hydrelitse,
and
derived
its
title
from
the
medicinal
hot
springs
there,
which
revealed
plainly
to
the
ancient
mind
the
presence
of
a
divinity.
