Hur
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- This article is about biblical persons. For Ukraine's military intelligence service, see HUR. For Pakistani Sufi moverment see Hurs
Hur (חור) is the name of several persons in the Bible. There are sixteen mentions of the name "Hur" in the Bible[1]
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The most prominent of these persons is mentioned in the Book of Exodus of the Hebrew Bible. He was a member of the Tribe of Judah. He was evidently an important individual, as he was chosen to go with Moses and Aaron to the top of a mountain during the war against Amalek. He, with Aaron, was left to answer any questions from the Israelite elders while Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the tablets (Exodus 17:10-12;24:14).
According to Flavius Josephus, he was the husband of Miriam, which would explain his close working relationship with Moses and Aaron (see Flavius Josephus's Antiquities of the Jews, Book III, Chapter II, Paragraph 4).
According to the Midrash, Hur tried to stop the Children of Israel from committing the sin of the Golden Calf. He was then killed.
Sometimes, it is named al Hur, found in countries in the Middle East.
A member of the Tribe of Judah, he was the father of Uri, the father of Bezaleel (Ex. 31:2; 35:30; 38:22; 1 Chron. 2:19-20; 2 Chron. 1:5). This may be the same person as Moses's aide, but currently is uncertain.
He was killed with four other Midianite kings during the time of Moses by an Israelite expedition led by Phinehas, son of Eleazar. Baalam, son of Beor, was also slain by the Israelites in this expedition (Num. 31:8; Joshua 13:21).
He is only mentioned in this verse, and the name of his son is not mentioned (1 Kings 4:8); there is no other biographical data regarding him. While it is possible it could refer to one of the other persons by the name of Hur (other than the King of Midian) if "The son of Hur" means Hur was an ancestor and not a biological father, it is extremely unlikely.
He is only mentioned in his relationship to Rephaiah (Nehemiah 3:9); there is no other biographical data regarding him. While it is possible it could refer to one of the other persons by the name of Hur (other than the King of Midian) if "Rephaiah the son of Hur" means Hur was an ancestor and not a biological father, it is extremely unlikely.
Some of the passages in 1 Chronicles are difficult to interpret. Such mentions are 1 Chronicles 2:50; 4:1,4. There is a good possibility that these mentions may refer to one of the forementioned persons (especially Moses's aide or Bezaleel's grandfather), but this is currently uncertain.
- Jewish translations and sources
- Exodus 17 Living Torah (translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan)
- Exodus 17 English-Hebrew at mechon-mamre (Jewish Publication Society)
- Exodus 17 Judaica Press at Chabad.org (with Rashi's commentary in English)
- Christian translations and sources
- Exodus 17:8-16 at BibleGateway.com - the war against Amalek