4. The high priest in the days of King Josiah; son of Shallum and father of Azariah; apparently a forefather of Ezra the copyist. (2 Ki. 22:3, 4; 1 Chron. 6:13; Ezra 7:1, 2, 6) Hilkiah, as high priest, figured prominently in the restoration of true worship undertaken by Josiah. During the course of the temple repair work, Hilkiah found the very “book of Jehovah’s law by the hand of Moses.” What made the find outstanding was most likely the manuscript’s being the original book written by Moses. Hilkiah gave it to Shaphan the secretary, who took the manuscript to the king. Upon hearing Shaphan read the book, King Josiah dispatched a delegation headed by High Priest Hilkiah to Huldah the prophetess to inquire of Jehovah in his behalf and in behalf of the people.—2 Ki. 22:3-14; 2 Chron. 34:14.

5. Father of Jeremiah the prophet; a priest in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.—Jer. 1:1.

6. Father of the Gemariah whom King Zedekiah sent along with Elasah to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon.—Jer. 29:3.

7. A Levite priest who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel.—Neh. 12:1, 7.

8. One of those standing at Ezra’s right hand on the occasion of his reading the Law to the people.—Neh. 8:2-4.

9. The name of a priestly paternal house in the days of Nehemiah the governor.—Neh. 12:12, 21, 26.

HILL

A natural elevation of earth’s surface, lower than a mountain. The Hebrew word for hill, giv·ʽahʹ, appears to be derived from a root meaning convex, projecting, high. Rounded hills are especially noticeable in Judea, though also found in other parts of Palestine.

On occasion hills served as burial places and places for concealment. (Josh. 24:33; 1 Sam. 23:19; 26:1) Homes and towns were frequently built on them, as was the house of Abinadab where the Ark was kept for some seventy years. (1 Sam. 7:1, 2) It was often on hills that the Israelites, in imitation of the Canaanites, carried on idolatrous worship. (Deut. 12:2; 1 Ki. 14:23; 2 Ki. 17:9, 10; Isa. 65:7; Jer. 2:20; 17:1-3; Ezek. 6:13; 20:28; Hos. 4:13) This explains the prophetic response to the appeal for Israel to return to Jehovah: “Here we are! We have come to you, for you, O Jehovah, are our God. Truly the hills as well as the turmoil on the mountains belong to falsehood.”—Jer. 3:22, 23.

Most appropriately, therefore, both Isaiah and Micah foretold that the “mountain of the house of Jehovah” would become firmly established above the top of the mountains and would be lifted up above the hills. (Isa. 2:2; Mic. 4:1) In sharp contrast with this, those not doing Jehovah’s will at the time of his executional work will “say to the mountains, ‘Cover us!’ and to the hills, ‘Fall over us!’”—Hos. 10:8; Luke 23:30; compare Isaiah 2:19; Revelation 6:16, 17.

In highlighting the greatness of the Almighty, the prophet Isaiah shows that Jehovah can, in effect, ‘weigh the hills in the scales.’ (Isa. 40:12) Even greater permanence is ascribed to God’s loving-kindness and covenant of peace than to the mountains and hills, which are described as “eternal” and “indefinitely lasting.”—Isa. 54:10; Gen. 49:26; Deut. 33:15.

Before undertaking a journey, Eastern rulers would often send out men to prepare the way before them by removing stones, filling up depressions, smoothing out rough places and, at times, even leveling hills. In a figurative sense, the hills were leveled in making possible the unhindered return of the Jews from Babylon to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.E. This was also prophetic of the preparatory work done by John the Baptist before the appearance of the Messiah.—Isa. 40:4; Luke 3:1-6.

HILLEL

(Hilʹlel) [he has praised].

A Pirathonite, an inhabitant of the town of Pirathon in Ephraim. Hillel’s son Abdon judged Israel for eight years.—Judg. 12:13-15.

HIN

A liquid measure (Ex. 30:24; Num. 28:14; Ezek. 45:24; 46:5, 7, 11); also used with reference to the container for measuring a hin. (Lev. 19:36) According to the Jewish historian Josephus, a hin equaled two Athenian choas; a bath equaled seventy-two sextarii. (Antiquities of the Jews, Book III, chap. VIII, par. 3; Book VIII, chap. II, par. 9) Since other sources indicate that two Athenian choas amounted to twelve sextarii, the hin may be reckoned at one-sixth of a bath measure (c. 23.24 quarts; 22 liters) or about 3.87 quarts (3.67 liters). The Scriptures also mention fractions of a hin: a half (c. 1.9 quarts; c. 1.8 liters) (Num. 15:9, 10), a third (c. 1.3 quarts; c. 1.2 liters) (Num. 15:6, 7; Ezek. 46:14), a fourth (c. 1.9 pints; c. .9 liter) (Ex. 29:40; Lev. 23:13; Num. 15:4, 5; 28:5, 7) and a sixth (c. 1.3 pints; c. .6 liter), this last being the daily water ration allowed Ezekiel when depicting the severe condition to come upon Jerusalem under siege.—Ezek. 4:11.

HIND

The female deer or hind is a slender, graceful creature, timid, surefooted and swift. When heavy with young the hinds retire to the recesses of the forest to give birth, and then continue in seclusion, tenderly caring for and protecting the fawns until such time as they can care for themselves.—Job 39:1; Ps. 29:9.

The gentle, graceful hind figures in the vivid imagery of the Bible. (Prov. 5:18, 19; Song of Sol. 2:7; 3:5; see GAZELLE.) Allusion is made to the animal’s swiftness and surefootedness, enabling it to escape from its enemies. (2 Sam. 22:1, 34; Ps. 18:32, 33; Hab. 3:19) Possibly with reference to skillfulness and swiftness in warfare, Jacob prophetically described the tribe of Naphtali as “a slender hind.” (Gen. 49:21) The psalmist, when deprived of free access to the sanctuary, compares his longing for God to the hind’s yearning for water streams. (Ps. 42:1-4) The picture of a hind forsaking her newborn fawn, so contrary to her well-known solicitude for her offspring under normal conditions, indicates the severity of the droughts upon Judah.—Jer. 14:1, 2, 5.

HINNOM, VALLEY OF

[Heb., gehʼ Hin·nomʹ].

Also known as “the valley of the son(s) of Hinnom” and the “Valley,” as in the expression “Valley Gate.” (Josh. 15:8; 2 Ki. 23:10; Neh. 3:13) Possibly called “the low plain of the carcasses and of the fatty ashes” at Jeremiah 31:40. The individual after whom the valley may have been named is unknown, as is also the meaning of the name “Hinnom.” The valley is located on the W and SW of Jerusalem and runs S from the vicinity of the modern Jaffa Gate, turns sharply E at the SW corner of the city and runs along the S to meet the Tyropean and Kidron valleys at a point near the city’s SE corner. At the point just above its convergence with these valleys it widens out. Here was probably the location of Topheth. (2 Ki. 23:10) On the S side of the valley near its E extremity is the traditional site of Akeldama, the “Field of Blood,” the potter’s field purchased with Judas’ thirty pieces of silver. (Matt. 27:3-10; Acts 1:18, 19) Farther up, the valley is quite narrow and deep, with many sepulcher chambers in its terraced cliffs.

The Valley of Hinnom formed a part of the boundary between the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, Judah’s territory being to the S, placing Jerusalem in Benjamin’s territory, as outlined at Joshua 15:1, 8; 18:11, 16. The valley is now known as the Wadi er-Rababi.

Apostate King Ahaz of Judah made sacrificial smoke and burned his sons in the fire in this valley. (2 Chron. 28:1-3) His grandson King Manasseh exceeded Ahaz, promoting wickedness on a grand scale, also making “his own sons pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom.” (2 Chron. 33:1, 6, 9) King Josiah, Manasseh’s grandson, put an end to this detestable practice in Topheth by defiling the place, desecrating it, thereby making it unfit for worship, possibly by scattering bones or refuse therein.—2 Ki. 23:10.

Jeremiah, who prophesied in the days of Kings Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, expressed Jehovah’s judgment for the sins of the nation, one of the foremost being the abominable sacrifice of their children to Molech. He was commanded to take some of the older men of the people and the priests out the Gate of the Potsherds (or, Gate of the Ash-heaps), located at the SE corner of Jerusalem, to the Valley of Hinnom in the area of Topheth. There he declared Jehovah’s pronouncement: “Look! there are days coming . . . when this place will be called no more Topheth and the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the killing.” Then, smashing an earthenware flask before their eyes, he continued with Jehovah’s judgment: “In the same way I shall break this people and this city . . . and in Topheth they will bury until there is no more place to bury.” (Jer. 19:1, 2, 6, 10, 11) In other words, the slaughter, not of sacrificial victims to Molech, but by the sword of God’s judgment, would be so great that some bodies would lie unburied in the valley. This would pollute it to an even greater degree than Josiah had done.

Evidently Jeremiah’s prophetic words do not mean that such sacrifices to Molech were still going on in Jeremiah’s time, so soon after Josiah’s reformation, but that Jehovah would punish the nation for their practices, past as well as present, and for the innocent blood shed by them, particularly the human sacrifices during Manasseh’s reign. The prophet, in another pronouncement, told the nation that they would be punished for what Manasseh had done. (Jer. 15:4; compare 2 Kings 23:26; Jeremiah 32:30-35.) Also, Jeremiah’s declaration at chapter 19, verse 3, is parallel to the statement at 2 Kings 21:12. In Jeremiah’s day the people certainly were carrying on with idolatries, which gave evidence that they had not repented in the least for the gross sins they shared in during Manasseh’s reign.

The gates in Jerusalem’s wall that were situated on the Valley of Hinnom were, probably, the Corner Gate at the city’s NW corner, the Valley Gate at its SW corner, and the Gate of the Potsherds (Gate of the Ash-heaps) near the point where the Valley of Hinnom joined the Tyropean and Kidron valleys. (2 Ki. 14:13; Neh. 2:13; 12:31; Jer. 19:2) Along the Valley of Hinnom between the Corner Gate and the Valley Gate the sides are so steep as to make impractical the location of other gates along this portion of Jerusalem’s wall. King Uzziah built towers by the Corner Gate and the Valley Gate, inasmuch as these would be the more vulnerable places along this part of the valley.—2 Chron. 26:9.

It was in this valley to the S of Jerusalem that Nehemiah made his night inspection tour, examining the city wall eastward from the Valley Gate to the Gate of the Ash-heaps, turning up the Kidron for a distance and then back to reenter the city by the Valley Gate. (Neh. 2:13-15) In Nehemiah’s time the Valley of Hinnom apparently marked the northern limits of the settlements of the sons of Judah (aside from those dwelling in Jerusalem). (Neh. 11:25, 30) At Jeremiah 2:23, it may be Hinnom that Jeremiah refers to in calling Judah’s attention to their idolatrous sins.

In the Christian Greek Scriptures, the Valley of Hinnom is referred to by the equivalent Greek term Geʹen·na.—Matt. 5:22; Mark 9:47; see GEHENNA.

[Picture on page 775]

A portion of the valley of Hinnom as it appears today

HIPPOPOTAMUS

See BEHEMOTH.

HIPS

[Heb., math·noʹyim, the (exterior) lumbar region and small of the back].

The word is generally translated “hips” or “loins,” although there is another Hebrew word that more specifically means “loins.”—See LOINS.

A belt was often worn at the hips, especially by the soldier, who slipped a sheathed sword or dagger under the belt or fastened the sword sheath to it. (2 Sam. 20:8; Neh. 4:18) The recorder wore his inkhorn at the hips, placed under his belt or sash. (Ezek. 9:2) Sackcloth was worn around the hips as a sign of mourning.—Gen. 37:34; Amos 8:10.

Before engaging in any form of vigorous physical activity a person would ‘gird up his hips,’ often by pulling the ends of his loose, flowing garment between his legs and tucking those ends under his sash. The Israelites in Egypt ate the passover with their hips girded, ready to march out of the land. Elijah was similarly prepared when he ran before Ahab’s chariot.—Ex. 12:11; 1 Ki. 18:46.

FIGURATIVE USAGE

The muscles in the area of the hips play a major part in picking up and carrying heavy loads; hence the appropriateness of the statement at Psalm 66:11, “you have put pressure on our hips.” Strengthening the hips would denote getting ready to exert power, as for a fight. (Nah. 2:1) The good wife girds her hips with strength and invigorates her arms to carry out her multitudinous activities for the well-being of the household. (Prov. 31:17) Conversely, those who have been reduced to a weakened condition by fear, distress, or defeat are said to have wobbling or shaking hips. (Ps. 69:23; Ezek. 21:6; 29:7) To ungird the hips of kings means to take away their strength.—Isa. 45:1.

Jehovah spoke of the houses of Israel and Judah as having been like a belt on his hips, so closely had he held them to himself, in order that they might become to him a praise and something beautiful. (Jer. 13:11) Jesus Christ is prophetically pictured as reigning with righteousness as the belt of his hips and faithfulness as the belt of his loins. This may refer to the fact that all the active powers of Jesus Christ adhere unchangeably to righteousness and faithfulness.—Isa. 11:1, 5.

HIRAH

(Hiʹrah) [nobility].

Judah’s Adullamite companion.—Gen. 38:1, 12.

HIRAM

(Hiʹram) [possibly meaning the same as Ahiram (Num. 26:38), brother of height; high].

In the Masoretic text alternate spellings are found in