HIVITES, a People descended from Hevæus, the son of Canaan. They dwelt at first in the country which was afterwards possessed by the Caphtorims, or Philistins. Deut. ii. 23. Josh. xiii. 4.The Scripture says expressly, that the Caphtorims drove out the Hivites, who dwelt from Haserim unto Gaza. There were Hivites likewise at Schechem, and Gibeon, and consequently in the centre of the promised Land; for the inhabitants of Schechem, and the Josh. xi. 19. Genes. xxxiv. 2. Josh. xi. 3.Gibeonites were Hivites. Lastly, there were some beyond Jordan, at the foot of mount Hermon. Bochart is of opinion, that Cadmus, who carried a Colony of Phœnicians into Greece, was an Hivite. His name, Cadmus, comes from the Hebrew, Kedem, the East, because he was of the Eastern part of the land of Canaan. The name of his wife Hermione, comes from mount Hermon, at the foot whereof the Hivites had their dwelling. The metamorphosis of Cadmus’s companions into serpents is grounded on the signification of the name Hivites, which in Phœnician signifies Serpents. See AVIMS.
Library / Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible, Complete and Unabridged
Volume I · H
Hivites
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Augustin Calmet, O.S.B., “Hivites,” in Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible, Complete and Unabridged, English translation, Mind of the Church, https://mindofthechurch.com/works/calmet-dictionary/h/hivites/.