Hebrew word · H757

אַרְכִּי

ha'arki

Archite

A word for membership of a group: 'Archite', i.e. belonging to the clan or town of Erek/Arki. It is used of Hushai, David's friend and adviser (2 Samuel 15:32; 16:16; 17:5, 14; 1 Chronicles 27:33).

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Someone from Arach(?), first mentioned at Jos.16.2

§ Archite or Archi = "lengthy"

referring to the home city of Hushai

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Joshua 16:2

Range of meaning

A word for membership of a group: 'Archite', i.e. belonging to the clan or town of Erek/Arki. It is used of Hushai, David's friend and adviser (2 Samuel 15:32; 16:16; 17:5, 14; 1 Chronicles 27:33).

Against the English

KJV and YLT write 'Archi', which looks like a place name. BSB and WEB correctly say 'the Archites', a people group. The Hebrew is literally singular, 'the Archite', standing for the clan.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hushai the Archite is the only individual known by this name. Scholars commonly treat the Archites as a non-Israelite clan, perhaps Canaanite, living near Ataroth and Bethel and later absorbed into Benjamin or Ephraim. That last point is an inference, not something the text states.

Similar words

Where it appears

Joshua · 1

  1. Joshua 16:2 הָאַרְכִּ֖י the Arkite[s]

    It went on from Bethel (that is, Luz) and proceeded to the border of the Archites in Ataroth.

    Here: A clan name: 'the Archite', singular with 'the', standing for the whole group. This is the clan that David's adviser Hushai 'the Archite' later came from (2 Samuel 15:32). It names a local, probably non-Israelite, group whose land formed a landmark.

2 Samuel · 4

  1. 2 Samuel 15:32 הָאַרְכִּ֔י the Arkite

    When David came to the summit, where he used to worship God, Hushai the Archite was there to meet him with his robe torn and dust on his head.

  2. 2 Samuel 16:16 הָאַרְכִּ֛י the Arkite

    And David’s friend Hushai the Archite went to Absalom and said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”

  3. 2 Samuel 17:5 הָאַרְכִּ֑י the Arkite

    Then Absalom said, “Summon Hushai the Archite as well, and let us hear what he too has to say.”

  4. 2 Samuel 17:14 הָאַרְכִּ֔י the Arkite

    Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Archite is better than that of Ahithophel.” For the LORD had purposed to thwart the good counsel of Ahithophel in order to bring disaster on Absalom.

    Here: His clan name. It ties him to the Archites, who lived on the border between Ephraim and Benjamin (Joshua 16:2). It marks him as a man of standing from the tribal heartland, which made his advice believable to 'Israel'.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 27:33 הָאַרְכִּ֖י the Arkite

    Ahithophel was the king’s counselor. Hushai the Archite was the king’s friend.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.