Chapter 31. The Hivvim
Nelson’s assertion that Hivites were a kin branch of Horim/Hurrian likely derives from Zibeon, the son of Seir the Horim Genesis in 36:20. Zibeon was also classified as Hivite/Chivviy in 36:2. Horim and Hivvim were Rephaim tribes that produced hybrid humans, the Hivites and Horites. (In this book I reference Rephaim tribes with the same im Hebrew suffix as Rephaim, Nephilim, and Gibborim, as seraphim and perhaps cherubim offspring, but for biblically named hybrid Rephaim/human nations and human nations I utilize the “-ite(s)” suffix.) It follows that the eponymous Hivite name was received from the singular Chivvy, a Rephaim patriarch and tribe, and somewhat distinct from Chori/Horim and Chirriy/Chuwriy/Hurrian.
Hivvim, according to Unger’s Bible Dictionary,was identified or conflated with the Avvim by church father Jerome, who concluded that the city of Ha-Avvim (the Avvim) in the north was the Hivite city populated by Canaanite Hivites. The Septuagint translation seems to conclude that Avvim were Hivvim or Hivites, translating `Avviym/Avvim as Evites, just as the Septuaginttranslates Hivites as “Evites” in Genesis 10’s Canaanite clans. Hivvim/Chivviy were indeed related to Horim and Avvim, but because Hivvim/Chivviy is a distinct Hebrew word from Horim/Choriy and distinct Avvim/`Avviym, and because the Hivvim dwelled both with and in separate areas from Horim and Avvim, it follows that the Hivvim were a distinct Rephaim tribe. Further, the Hivvim do not appear to be the Ivvim recorded in Jewish legends. The Ivvim seem more likely to be the Avvim that is patrial of Ivvah/Ava, a city that was in Assyria.
As noted previously, Nelson’s Dictionary states that Hivites (at least in part) were akin to or a branch of Horites/Horim, the ancient people secular history records as the Hurrians. The Hurrians dwelled mostly in Mesopotamia, in the Mari region along the Euphrates River, established the Mitanni dynasty, and were a kin branch of Horim.
