sharing in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.—Neh. 3:21.

HAKUPHA

(Ha·kuʹpha) [crooked].

Head of a family of Nethinim temple slaves. “The sons of Hakupha” are listed among those returning from Babylonian captivity.—Ezra 2:1, 43, 51; Neh. 7:6, 46, 53.

HALAH

(Haʹlah).

A place to which Assyrian monarchs transported Israelite captives. (2 Ki. 17:6; 18:11; 1 Chron. 5:26) Certain scholars believe that Obadiah 20 perhaps should read “exiles in Halah” rather than “exiles of this [army (JB), force (Ro, Yg), host (AS, AV), rampart (NW)] .” Whereas various identifications have been suggested, Halah’s exact location remains unknown. Some associate it with the Hallahu mentioned in Akkadian texts.

HALAK

(Haʹlak), Mount [the bald mountain].

A mountain marking the southern geographical limit of Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua. (Josh. 11:16, 17; 12:7) Halak is generally identified with Jebel Halaq, the last W Palestinian height on the road from Beer-sheba to the Arabah. The range that begins with Jebel Halaq divides the pastureland on the E from the sandy desert on the W. If this identification is correct, then the Biblical description of Halak as ‘going up’ or ‘rising’ toward Seir may mean that the broad side of this mountain, running from SW to NE, faces Seir.

HALHUL

(Halʹhul).

A city in the mountainous region of Judah. (Josh. 15:20, 48, 58) The same name is still attached to a village and a conspicuous hill, a little more than three and a half miles (5.6 kilometers) N of Hebron.

HALI

(Haʹli) [ornament].

A town on the boundary of Asher, named between Helkath and Beten. (Josh. 19:24, 25) While the location is uncertain, the site of Tell el-ʽAly, about ten miles (16 kilometers) E-SE of Haifa, is suggested. This would place it on the eastern edge of the Plain of Acco.

HALLEL

(Hal·lelʹ) [praise].

A song of praise to Jehovah. Psalms 113 to 118 constitute what is known in Jewish writings as the “Egyptian Hallel.” According to the Mishnah, this Hallel was sung at the temple and in the synagogues on the occasion of the Passover and the festivals of Pentecost, Booths and Dedication. At the celebration of the Passover in the home, the first part of this Hallel (either Psalm 113 [according to the School of Shammai] or Psalms 113 and 114 [School of Hillel]) was recited after the second cup of wine had been poured and the significance of the Passover explained. The Hallel was brought to a conclusion over the fourth cup of wine. The “Great Hallel” (variously considered to be Psalm 136 only, Psalms 120-136, or Psalm 135:4–136:26) is said to have been sung on joyful occasions and by those who used a fifth cup of wine at the celebration of the Passover.

HALLELUJAH

(Hal·le·luʹjah) [praise Jah, you people].

A transliteration of the Hebrew expression hal·lu-Yahʹ, appearing first at Psalm 104:35. In the New World Translation it is nearly always translated “praise Jah, you people.” With the exception of Psalm 135:3 (“praise Jah,” NW), hal·lu-Yahʹ introduces and/or concludes certain Psalms. (See Psalm 112:1; 115:18; 146:1, 10; 147:1, 20; 148:1, 14; 149:1, 9; 150:1, 6.) This expression stands alongside “Amen” at the close of Book Four of Psalms (Ps. 106:48), and a Greek form of it appears four times at Revelation 19:1-6, where the reference is to the joy experienced over the destruction of Babylon the Great and that associated with Jehovah’s beginning to rule as King.—See JAH.

HALLOHESH

(Hal·loʹhesh) [the whisperer].

1. Father of Shallum. Hallohesh’s son Shallum was “a prince of half the district of Jerusalem” who, with his daughters, did repair work on the wall of Jerusalem in 455 B.C.E.—Neh. 3:12.

2. One of the headmen of the people whose descendant, if not himself, attested to the confession contract drawn up in the days of Nehemiah; possibly the same as No. 1 above.—Neh. 9:38; 10:1, 14, 24.

HAM

[swarthy, sun-burnt, hot].

1. One of Noah’s three sons, born after 2470 B.C.E. (Gen. 5:32; 7:6; 11:10) He was possibly the youngest son (Gen. 9:24); however, he is listed in second place at Genesis 5:32; 6:10 and elsewhere. At Genesis 10:21 Shem is called “the brother of Japheth the oldest” (or, “the oldest brother of Japheth,” NW, 1953 ed., ftn.), which indicates that Ham definitely was not the oldest of Noah’s sons. Some believe that the expression “youngest son” at Genesis 9:24 refers to Noah’s grandson Canaan.—See CANAAN, CANAANITE.

Ham was the father of four sons, Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan. (Gen. 10:6; 1 Chron. 1:8) From these sons descended the Ethiopians, Egyptians, some Arabian and African tribes, and the Canaanites. While it is claimed that some of the Hamitic tribes and nations listed in Genesis chapter 10 spoke a Semitic language, this does not weigh against their being of Hamitic descent, or having originally spoken a Hamitic tongue. Many peoples adopted the language of their conquerors or of other peoples with whom they associated, or of the land to which they migrated.

Ham married before the Flood and survived the Flood, along with his wife, his father and mother and his two brothers and their wives. (Gen. 6:18; 7:13; 8:15, 16, 18; 1 Pet. 3:19, 20) Ham’s sons were born after the Flood. Sometime later he became involved in an incident that brought a curse on his son Canaan. Noah had become intoxicated with wine and had uncovered himself in his tent. Ham saw his father’s nakedness, and instead of showing the proper respect for Noah, the family head and the servant and prophet whom God had made an instrument in the preservation of the human race, Ham told his two brothers of his discovery. Shem and Japheth exhibited the proper respect by walking backwards with a mantle to cover Noah, so that they would not bring reproach by looking on their father’s nakedness. Noah, on awaking, uttered a curse, not on Ham, but on Ham’s son Canaan. In the accompanying blessing of Shem, which included a blessing for Japheth, Ham was passed over and ignored; only Canaan was mentioned as cursed and was prophetically foretold to become a slave to Shem and Japheth.—Gen. 9:20-27.

Possibly Canaan himself had been involved directly in the incident, his father Ham failing to correct him. Or, Noah, speaking prophetically by inspiration, foresaw that the bad tendency in Ham, perhaps already manifest in his son Canaan, would be inherited by Canaan’s offspring. The curse was partly fulfilled when the Semitic Israelites subjugated the Canaanites. Those who were not destroyed (for example, the Gibeonites [Josh. chap. 9]) were made slaves to Israel. Centuries later, the curse was further fulfilled when descendants of Ham’s son Canaan came under the domination of the Japhetic world powers of Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome.

Some persons have incorrectly held that the black race and enslavement of members of that race resulted from the curse pronounced upon Canaan. To the contrary, the descendants of Canaan, the cursed one, were not of the black race. The black race descended from Cush and possibly from Put, other sons of Ham who were not involved in the incident or the curse.

2. A city of the Zuzim E of the Jordan. (Gen. 14:5) Defeat was inflicted on the city by the four kings from the region of Mesopotamia at the time they crushed the rebellion of the “cities of the District” S of the Dead Sea. (Gen. 14:1-12) The order of the