< Previous | Contents | Next >
•HARETH thicket, a wood in the mountains of Judah where David hid when pursued by Saul (1 Samuel 22:5). It was possibly while he was here that the memorable incident narrated in 2 Samuel 23:14-17, 1 Chronicles 11:16-19 occurred. This place has not been identified, but perhaps it may be the modern Kharas, on the borders of the chain of mountains some 3 miles east of Keilah.
•HARHAIAH zeal of Jehovah, (Nehemiah 3:8) “of the goldsmiths,” one whose son helped to repair the wall of Jerusalem.
•HARHUR fever, one of the Nethinim (Ezra 2:51).
•HARIM flat-nosed. (1.) The head of the second course of priests (1 Chronicles 24:8). (2.) Ezra 2:32, 39; Nehemiah 7:35, 42. (3.) Nehemiah 3:11. (4.) 12:3. (5.) 10:5
•HARIPH autumnal rain. (1.) Nehemiah 7:24. (2.) 10:19.
•HARLOT (1.) Hebrews zonah (Genesis 34:31; 38:15). In verses 21, 22 the Hebrew word used in kedeshah, i.e., a woman consecrated or devoted to prostitution in connection with the abominable worship of Asherah or Astarte, the Syrian Venus. This word is also used in Deuteronomy 23:17; Hos. 4:14. Thus Tamar sat by the wayside as a consecrated kedeshah.
It has been attempted to show that Rahab, usually called a “harlot” (Joshua 2:1; 6:17; Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25), was only an innkeeper. This interpretation, however, cannot be maintained.
Jephthah’s mother is called a “strange woman” (Judges 11:2). This, however, merely denotes that she was of foreign extraction.
In the time of Solomon harlots appeared openly in the streets, and he solemnly warns against association with them (Proverbs 7:12; 9:14. See also Jeremiah 3:2; Ezekiel 16:24, 25, 31). The Revised Version, following