[510] 



THE HORITES. 



BY THE REV. JOHN CAMPBELL, M.A., TORONTO. 



Tlie student of Biblical History cannot fail to notice the remark- 

 able prominence given to one supposed Canaanitisb people over all 

 others mentioned in the Pentateuch. This is the tribe of the 

 Horites, who dwelt in their mount Seir. The first mention of this 

 family is in Genesis xiv. 6, where they are numbered among the 

 peoples defeated by Chedorlaomer and his associates. In Deuteronomy 

 ii. 12, 22, they are again spoken of as the ancient possessors of the 

 land occupied by the descendants of Esau. Bishop Patrick supposed 

 that the Horites had dwelt in that region since the days of the 

 Deluge, although he did not suggest a line of Noah's descendants 

 with whom they might have been connected.^ In Genesis xxxvi. a 

 singularly minute and full account is given of the families of this 

 people, the only apparent reason for it being that Esau and his son 

 Eliphaz married women of their race, and that the Edomites dwelt 

 with them in the land of Seir. The genealogies of the Horites there 

 given are as follow : 



" These are the sons of Seir the Horite, who inhabited the land ; 

 Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah, and Dishon, and Ezer, and 

 Dishan : these are the dukes of the Horites, the children of Seir, in 

 the land of Edom. And the children of Lotan were Hori and 

 Homam ; and Lotan's sister was Timna. And the children of 

 Shobal were these ; Alvan, and Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho and 

 Onam. And these are the children of Zibeon ; both Ajah, and 

 Anah : this was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness, 

 as he fed the asses of Zibeon his father. And the children of Anah 

 were these ; Dishon, and Aholibamah the daughter of Anah. And 

 these are the children of Dishon ; Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, 

 and Cheran. The children of Ezar are these ; Bilhan, and Zaavan, 

 and Akan. The children of Dishan are these ; Uz, and Aran. 

 These are the dukes that came of the Horites; duke Lotan, duke 

 Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah, duke Dishon, duke Ezar, duke 



1 Commentary oa Genesis. Ch. xxxvi. 



