Hiel

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

("God liveth".) Native of Bethel. Rebuilt, i.e. restored as a fortified town, Jericho in Ahab's reign, who hoped through fortifying it (for Hiel was Ahab's profane and reckless tool) to have on his borders a city securing to himself the passage of Jordan. In Hiel was fulfilled Joshua's curse on the rebuilder of Jericho ( Joshua 6:26), "he shall lay the foundation in (i.e. at the price of) his firstborn (Abiram), and in (i.e. at the price of) his youngest son (Segub) shall he set up the gates of it." The builder paid for its restoration by the loss of all his Sons, from the firstborn to the youngest.

The Benjamites, by Joshua's allotment ( Joshua 18:21), inhabited it, and it is called "the city of palms" ( Judges 3:13;  2 Samuel 10:5); but not until Ahab's time, when men cast off all fear of Jehovah, was Joshua's curse fulfilled, when Hiel presumed to fortify it ( 1 Kings 16:34). The walls had been miraculously cast down, and it was against their being rebuilt that the curse was leveled. The sin marks how deeply Israel had fallen; the curse how God will not let His word be transgressed with impunity.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

The Bethelite of Jericho. His name implies, the life of God; from Chajak, to live; and El, God. I refer the reader to those two passages in Scripture, for the short but striking account of this man, whose boldness, in face of the curse Joshua pronounced, led him to so daring an act as that of building Jericho, and whose rashness the Lord so fully punished, in conformity to his servant's prediction. (See  Joshua 6:26 with  1 Kings 16:34)

See also Elisha

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Native of Bethel who rebuilt Jericho in the reign of Ahab. In him was fulfilled the curse pronounced by Joshua that he should lay the foundation of the city in his firstborn and set up the gates in his youngest son. His building the city was a marked sign of insubordination.

 1 Kings 16:34 . Cf.  Joshua 6:26 .

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

HIEL . The name of a certain Bethelite who in the days of Ahab fortified Jericho, and possibly sacrificed his two sons to appease the gods of the disturbed earth (  1 Kings 16:34 ). Some obscure event is here applied as a comment on the curse on Jericho pronounced by Joshua.

W. F. Cobb.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Hi'el. (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.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

God liveth, a Bethelite, who rebuilt Jericho in despite of the woe denounced five hundred years before,  Joshua 6:26 . The fulfillment of the curse by the death of his children, proves the truth which his name signified,  1 Kings 16:34 .

Holman Bible Dictionary

 1 Kings 16:34 Joshua 7:26

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Joshua 6:26 1 Kings 16:34

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Chiel', חַיאֵל , Life Of, i.e. From God, or perh. for יְחַיאֵל , God Shall Live; Sept. Ἀχιήλ ), a native of Bethel, who rebuilt Jericho (B.C. post 915), above 700 years after its destruction by the Israelites, and who, in so doing ( 1 Kings 16:34), incurred, in the death of his eldest son Abiram and his youngest son Segub, the effects of the imprecation pronounced by Joshua ( Joshua 6:26):

"Accursed the man in the sight of Jehovah, Who shall arise and build this city, even Jericho; With the loss of] his first-born shall he found it, And with [the loss of] his youngest shall he fix its gates." (See Jericho). Strabo speaks of such cursing of a destroyed city as an ancient custom, and instances the curses imprecated by Agamemnon and Croesus (Grotius, Asnnot. ad  Joshua 6:26); Masius compares the cursing of Carthage by the Romans (Poli Syn.). The term Bethelite ( בֵּית הָאֵַלי ) here only is by some rendered Fanily Of Cursing (Pet. Martyr), and also House Or Place Of Cursing (Ar., Syr., and Chald. verss.). qu. בֵּית אָלָה ; but there seems no reason for questioning the accuracy of the Sept. Ὁ Βαιθηλίτης ,- which is approved by most commentators, and sanctioned by Gesenius (Lex. s.v.). The rebuilding of Jericho was an intrusion upon the kingdom of Jehoshaphat, unless, with Peter Martyr, we suppose that Jericho had already been detached from it by the kings of Israel. (See Accursed).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hı̄´el ( חיאל , ḥı̄'ēl  ; Ἀχιήλ , Achiḗl ): A B ethelite who according to  1 Kings 16:34 rebuilt Jericho, and in fulfillment of a curse pronounced by Joshua (  Joshua 6:26 ) sacrificed his two sons. This seems to have been a custom prevalent among primitive peoples, the purpose being to ward off ill luck from the inhabitants, especially in a case where the destroyer had invoked a curse on him who presumed to rebuild. Numerous instances are brought to light in the excavations of Gezer (Macalister, Bible Side-Lights from the Mound of Gezer , chapter x). At first the very best was claimed as a gift to the deity, e.g. one's own sons; then some less valuable member of the community. When civilization prevented human sacrifice, animals were offered instead. The story of Abraham offering Isaac may be a trace of this old custom, the tenor of the story implying that at the time of the writing of the record, the custom was coming to be in disrepute. A similar instance is the offering of his eldest son by the king of Edom to appease the deity and win success in battle ( 2 Kings 3:27; compare  Micah 6:7 ). Various conjectures have been made as to the identity of this king. Ewald regarded him as a man of wealth and enterprise ( unternehmender reicher Mann ); Cheyne following Niebuhr makes it Jehu in disguise, putting  1 Kings 16:34 after   2 Kings 10:33; Winckler explains as folklore.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Hi´el (God liveth), a native of Bethel, who rebuilt Jericho, above 500 years after its destruction by the Israelites, and who, in so doing, incurred the effects of the imprecation pronounced by Joshua :

Accursed the man in the sight of Jehovah,

Who shall arise and build this city, even Jericho;

With the loss of his first-born shall he found it,

And with the loss of his youngest shall he fix its gates .