Hiel

From Bible Exegesis

Life of (i.e., from) God, a native of Bethel, who built (i.e., fortified) Jericho some seven hundred years after its destruction by the Israelites. There fell on him for such an act the imprecation of Joshua (Jos_6:26). He laid the foundation in his first-born, and set up the gates in his youngest son (1Ki_16:34), i.e., during the progress of the work all his children died.

hī´el (חיאל, ḥī'ēl; Ἀχιήλ, Achiḗl):

A Bethelite who according to 1Ki_16:34 rebuilt Jericho, and in fulfillment of a curse pronounced by Joshua (Jos_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 (2Ki_3:27; compare Mic_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 1Ki_16:34 after 2Ki_10:33; Winckler explains as folklore.