Abiram (Son of Hiel)

Biblical Account

Abiram is mentioned only once, in 1 Kings 16:34. According to this verse, Hiel of Bethel built Jericho during the reign of Ahab. Hiel lost his firstborn son Abiram when he laid the city's foundation, and his youngest son, Segub, when he set up its gates. Scripture records that this happened "according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun." The text does not say how Abiram died or how old he was.

He should be distinguished from another Abiram, the son of Eliab, of the tribe of Reuben, who joined Korah and Dathan in rebelling against Moses (Numbers 16; Numbers 26:9; Deuteronomy 11:6; Psalm 106:17).

Significance in Scripture

After the fall of Jericho, Joshua pronounced a solemn oath that whoever rebuilt Jericho would lose his firstborn son when he laid its foundation and his youngest son when he set up its gates (Joshua 6:26). First Kings 16:34 shows that these words were fulfilled exactly, several centuries later. The verse comes at the end of the passage recounting Ahab's evil deeds, immediately before Elijah appears. It is therefore read as a portrait of an age that treated the word of God lightly. The New Testament does not mention Abiram.

Interpretations and Questions

• Manner of death: The text says only that Hiel "lost" his sons. The traditional interpretation understands this as a judgment sent directly by God. Some scholars, pointing to the ancient Near Eastern practice of offering human sacrifices in building foundations, suggest that Hiel may have sacrificed his sons. The text itself, however, does not say this.
• Did only two sons die?: Jewish tradition reportedly preserves an interpretation holding that the sons born between the firstborn and the youngest also died, one after another, during the construction. This too, however, is not found in the text.
• The meaning of "built": Scripture portrays the Jericho area as inhabited in the intervening period (Judges 3:13; 2 Samuel 10:5). Some therefore understand Hiel's building as the reconstruction of Jericho as a fortified city with walls and gates.

In the Korean Church

In Korean church preaching, this passage is often cited together with Joshua 6:26 as an illustration that the word of God is surely fulfilled, even after many years have passed. Hymns and Sunday school materials devoted specifically to Abiram are rare.