Heap When Joshua took the city of Ai (Josh. 8), he burned it and "made it an heap [Heb. tel ] for ever" (Jos 8:28). The ruins of this city were for a long time sought for in vain. It has been at length, however, identified with the mound which simply bears the name of "Tel." "There are many Tels in modern Palestine, that land of Tels, each Tel with some other name attached to it to mark the former site. But the site of Ai has no other name 'unto this day.' It is simply et-Tel, 'the heap' par excellence."
Heart According to the Bible, the heart is the centre not only of spiritual activity, but of all the operations of human life. "Heart" and "soul" are often used interchangeably (Deu 6:5; Deu 26:16; compare Mat 22:37; Mar 12:30, Mar 12:33), but this is not generally the case. The heart is the "home of the personal life," and hence a man is designated, according to his heart, wise (Kg1 3:12, etc.), pure (Psa 24:4; Mat 5:8, etc.), upright and righteous (Gen 20:5, Gen 20:6; Psa 11:2; Psa 78:72), pious and good (Luk 8:15), etc. In these and such passages the word "soul" could not be substituted for "heart." The heart is also the seat of the conscience (Rom 2:15). It is naturally wicked (Gen 8:21), and hence it contaminates the whole life and character (Mat 12:34; Mat 15:18; compare Ecc 8:11; Psa 73:7). Hence the heart must be changed, regenerated (Eze 36:26; Eze 11:19; Psa 51:10), before a man can willingly obey God. The process of salvation begins in the heart by the believing reception of the testimony of God, while the rejection of that testimony hardens the heart (Psa 95:8; Pro 28:14; Ch2 36:13). "Hardness of heart evidences itself by light views of sin; partial acknowledgment and confession of it; pride and conceit; ingratitude; unconcern about the word and ordinances of God; inattention to divine providences; stifling convictions of conscience; shunning reproof; presumption, and general ignorance of divine things."
Hearth Heb. ah (Jer 36:22, Jer 36:23; R.V., "brazier"), meaning a large pot like a brazier, a portable furnace in which fire was kept in the king's winter apartment. Heb. kiyor (Zac 12:6; R.V., "pan"), a fire-pan. Heb. moqed (Psa 102:3; R.V., "fire-brand"), properly a fagot. Heb. yaqud (Isa 30:14), a burning mass on a hearth.
He-ass Heb. hamor , (Gen 12:16), the general designation of the donkey used for carrying burdens (Gen 42:26) and for ploughing (Isa 30:24). It is described in Gen 49:14, Sa2 19:26. (See ASS.)
Heath Heb. 'arar , (Jer 17:6; Jer 48:6), a species of juniper called by the Arabs by the same name ( 'arar ), the Juniperus sabina or savin. "Its gloomy, stunted appearance, with its scale-like leaves pressed close to its gnarled stem, and cropped close by the wild goats, as it clings to the rocks about Petra, gives great force to the contrast suggested by the prophet, between him that trusteth in man, naked and destitute, and the man that trusteth in the Lord, flourishing as a tree planted by the waters" (Tristram, Natural History of the Bible).
Heathen (Heb. plural goyum ). At first the word goyim denoted generally all the nations of the world (Gen 18:18; compare Gal 3:8). The Jews afterwards became a people distinguished in a marked manner from the other goyim. They were a separate people (Lev 20:23; 26:14-45; Deut. 28), and the other nations, the Amorites, Hittites, etc., were the goyim, the heathen, with whom the Jews were forbidden to be associated in any way (Jos 23:7; Kg1 11:2). The practice of idolatry was the characteristic of these nations, and hence the word came to designate idolaters (Psa 106:47; Jer 46:28; Lam 1:3; Isa 36:18), the wicked (Psa 9:5, Psa 9:15, Psa 9:17). The corresponding Greek word in the New Testament, ethne , has similar shades of meaning. In Act 22:21, Gal 3:14, it denotes the people of the earth generally; and in Mat 6:7, an idolater. In modern usage the word denotes all nations that are strangers to revealed religion.
Heaven (1.) Definitions., The phrase "heaven and earth" is used to indicate the whole universe (Gen 1:1; Jer 23:24; Act 17:24). According to the Jewish notion there were three heavens, (a) The firmament, as "fowls of the heaven" (Gen 2:19; Gen 7:3, Gen 7:23; Psa 8:8, etc.), "the eagles of heaven" (Lam 4:19), etc. (b) The starry heavens (Deu 17:3; Jer 8:2; Mat 24:29). (c) "The heaven of heavens," or "the third heaven" (Deu 10:14; Kg1 8:27; Psa 115:16; Psa 148:4; Co2 12:2). (2.) Meaning of words in the original, (a) The usual Hebrew word for "heavens" is shamayim, a plural form meaning "heights," "elevations" (Gen 1:1; Gen 2:1). (b) The Hebrew word marom is also used (Psa 68:18; Psa 93:4; Psa 102:19, etc.) as equivalent to shamayim, "high places," "heights." (c) Heb. galgal , literally a "wheel," is rendered "heaven" in Psa 77:18 (R.V., "whirlwind"). (d) Heb. shahak , rendered "sky" (Deu 33:26; Job 37:18; Psa 18:11), plural "clouds" (Job 35:5; Job 36:28; Psa 68:34, marg. "heavens"), means probably the firmament. (e) Heb. rakia is closely connected with (d), and is rendered "firmamentum" in the Vulgate, whence our "firmament" (Gen 1:6; Deu 33:26, etc.), regarded as a solid expanse. (3.) Metaphorical meaning of term. Isa 14:13, Isa 14:14; "doors of heaven" (Psa 78:23); heaven "shut" (Kg1 8:35); "opened" (Eze 1:1). (See Ch1 21:16.) (4.) Spiritual meaning. The place of the everlasting blessedness of the righteous; the abode of departed spirits. (a) Christ calls it his "Father's house" (Joh 14:2). (b) It is called "paradise" (Luk 23:43; Co2 12:4; Rev 2:7). (c) "The heavenly Jerusalem" (Gal 4:26; Heb 12:22; Rev 3:12). (d) The "kingdom of heaven" (Mat 25:1; Jam 2:5). (e) The "eternal kingdom" (Pe2 1:11). (f) The "eternal inheritance" (Pe1 1:4; Heb 9:15). (g) The "better country" (Heb 11:14, Heb 11:16). (h) The blessed are said to "sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," and to be "in Abraham's bosom" (Luk 16:22; Mat 8:11); to "reign with Christ" (Ti2 2:12); and to enjoy "rest" (Heb 4:10, Heb 4:11). In heaven the blessedness of the righteous consists in the possession of "life everlasting," "an eternal weight of glory" (Co2 4:17), an exemption from all sufferings forever, a deliverance from all evils (Co2 5:1, Co2 5:2) and from the society of the wicked (Ti2 4:18), bliss without termination, the "fulness of joy" for ever (Luk 20:36; Co2 4:16, Co2 4:18; Pe1 1:4; Pe1 5:10; Jo1 3:2). The believer's heaven is not only a state of everlasting blessedness, but also a "place", a place "prepared" for them (Joh 14:2).
Heave Offering Heb. terumah , (Exo 29:27) means simply an offering, a present, including all the offerings made by the Israelites as a present. This Hebrew word is frequently employed. Some of the rabbis attach to the word the meaning of elevation, and refer it to the heave offering, which consisted in presenting the offering by a motion up and down, distinguished from the wave offering, which consisted in a repeated movement in a horizontal direction, a "wave offering to the Lord as ruler of earth, a heave offering to the Lord as ruler of heaven." The right shoulder, which fell to the priests in presenting thank offerings, was called the heave shoulder (Lev 7:34; Num 6:20). The first fruits offered in harvest-time (Num 15:20, Num 15:21) were heave offerings.
Heber Passing over. (1.) Son of Beriah and grandson of Asher (Gen 46:17; Ch1 7:31, Ch1 7:32). (2.) The Kenite (Jdg 4:11, Jdg 4:17; Jdg 5:24), a descendant of Hobab. His wife Jael received Sisera (q.v.) into her tent and then killed him. (3.) Ch1 4:18. (4.) A Benjamite (Ch1 8:17). (5.) A Gadite (Ch1 5:13). (See EBER.)
Hebrew A name applied to the Israelites in Scripture only by one who is a foreigner (Gen 39:14, Gen 39:17; Gen 41:12, etc.), or by the Israelites when they speak of themselves to foreigners (Gen 40:15; Exo 1:19), or when spoken of an contrasted with other peoples (Gen 43:32; Exo 1:3, Exo 1:7, Exo 1:15; Deu 15:12). In the New Testament there is the same contrast between Hebrews and foreigners (Act 6:1; Phi 3:5). Derivation. (1.) The name is derived, according to some, from Eber (Gen 10:24), the ancestor of Abraham. The Hebrews are "sons of Eber" (Gen 10:21). (2.) Others trace the name of a Hebrew root-word signifying "to pass over," and hence regard it as meaning "the man who passed over," viz., the Euphrates; or to the Hebrew word meaning "the region" or "country beyond," viz., the land of Chaldea. This latter view is preferred. It is the more probable origin of the designation given to Abraham coming among the Canaanites as a man from beyond the Euphrates (Gen 14:13). (3.) A third derivation of the word has been suggested, viz., that it is from the Hebrew word 'abhar , "to pass over," whence 'ebher, in the sense of a "sojourner" or "passer through" as distinct from a "settler" in the land, and thus applies to the condition of Abraham (Heb 11:13).