Man living at the time of Divided Monarchy
Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho during the reign of King Ahab, fulfilling Joshua's curse on the city.
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Hiel the Bethelite is mentioned in 1Ki.16.34 as the man who rebuilt the city of Jericho during the reign of King Ahab of Israel. Jericho had been destroyed and cursed by Joshua centuries earlier (Jos.6.26), with a warning that whoever rebuilt the city would do so at the cost of his firstborn and youngest sons.
Despite this curse, Hiel rebuilt Jericho, and as a result, he lost his firstborn son, Abiram, when he laid the foundation, and his youngest son, Segub, when he set up the gates. This event is recorded as a fulfillment of Joshua's prophecy and a demonstration of the power of God's word.
Hiel's actions were in direct disobedience to God's command and showed a disregard for the history and spiritual significance of Jericho. His story serves as a warning against disobedience and the consequences of ignoring God's word.
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Life of (i.e., from) God, a native of Bethel, who built (i.e., fortified) Jericho some seven hundred years after its destruction by the Israelites. There fell on him for such an act the imprecation of Joshua (6:26). He laid the foundation in his first-born, and set up the gates in his youngest son (1 Kings 16:34), i.e., during the progress of the work all his children died.
(God liveth), a native of Bethel, who rebuilt Jericho in the reign of Ahab, (1 Kings 16:34) (B.C. after 915), and in whom was fulfilled the curse pronounced by Joshua, (Joshua 6:26) five hundred years before.
God lives; the life of God
HI'EL (God lives), a Bethelite who rebuilt Jericho in the reign of Ahab, and in whom Joshua's curse, Josh 6:26, was fulfilled. 1 Kgs 16:34.
HI'EL (God lives), a Bethelite who rebuilt Jericho in the reign of Ahab, and in whom Joshua's curse, Josh 6:26, was fulfilled. 1 Kgs 16:34.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
1 verse in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H2419
In Ahabʼs days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest he set up its gates, according to the word that the LORD had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.