Patronymically from Cheth; a Chittite, or descendant of Cheth -- Hittite, Hittities.
see HEBREW Cheth
H2850. Chitti
חִתִּי adjective and
name, of a people Hittite(s) (Egyptian –-tá, –etá W Max MüllAsien u. Europa, 319 ff.; Assyrian –atti, SchrKG 192 ff. COT on Genesis 10:19 DlPa, 269 ff.; Tel el-Amarna –atti, –atta BezTel el Amarn. Brit. Mus. 150) — masculine always with article הַחִתִּי 23:10; Exodus 3:8 +; feminine חִתִּית Ezekiel 16:3, 45; masculine plural הַחִתִּים Joshua 1:4 3t.; feminine plural חִתִּיֹּת 1 Kings 11:1; —
1. adjective , of seller of Machpelah to Abraham, הַחִתִּי עֶפְרוֺן Genesis 23:10; 49:29-30, 50:13; ׳הַח בֶּןצֹֿחַר עֶפְרֹן 25:9 (all P); of fathers of Esau's wives ׳הַח בְּאֵרִי 26:34; הַח ׳אֵילוֺן 26:34; 36:2 (all P); also of warriors of David, הַח ׳אֲחִימֶלֶךְ 1 Samuel 26:6, and especially הַח ׳אוּרִיָּה 2 Samuel 11:3, 6, 17, 21, 24; 12:9-10, 23:39; 1 Kings 15:5; 1 Chronicles 11:41; feminine singular = substantive, only of (religious) ancestry of Jerusalem Ezekiel 16:3 thy father was the Amorite, and thy mother was a Hittite woman חִתִּית, similarly 16:45; feminine plural = substantive of Solomon's foreign wives, חִתִּיֹּת 1 Kings 11:1 Hittite women (+ צֵדְנִיֹּת אֲדֹמִיֹּת, עַמּוֺנִיּוֺת, מוֺאֲבִיּוֺת,).
2. n. usually
a. collective הַחִתִּי the Hittites: in lists of Canaanitish peoples Genesis 15:20 (JE), Exodus 3:8, 11 (both J), 13:5; 23:23, 28; 33:2; 34:11; Numbers 13:29; Joshua 3:10 (all J E), Deuteronomy 7:1; 20:17; Joshua 9:1; 12:8; 24:11 (all D); read also for הַחִוִּי Judges 3:3 (so We Mey BuUrg 350); in Joshua 11:3 (D) strike out הַחִתִּי We Mey Bul.c., and read then הַחִתִּי for הַחִוִּי vb (so ᵐ5, not ᵐ5L); further 1 Kings 9:20 2 Chronicles 8:7; Ezra 9:1; Nehemiah 9:8.
b. plural הַחִתִּים אֶרֶץ כֹּל ׃הַחִתִּים Joshua 1:4 (D) nearly = land of Canaanites; הַח ׳ארץ specifically of northern home of Hittites Judges 1:26; so also 2 Samuel 24:6 where read קֵ֫דְשָׁה הַחִתִּים אֶרֶץ (for חָדְשִׁי תחתים ᵑ0, see קֵדֶשׁ חָדְשִׁי,); הַחִתִּים מַלְכֵי 1 Kings 10:29 2 Chronicles 1:17 (both + אֲרָם מַלְכֵי), 2 Kings 7:6 (+ מִצְרַיִם מַלְכֵי, both feared by אֲרָם). Hence it appears that (םׅ הַחִתִּי had their proper seat in the north — where also they were encountered by Assyrians from time of Tiglath-Pileser I (see Schr Dl1. c.), and by Egyptians from time of Tutmes III (see W Max Müll.l.c.) — (compare also Judges 3:3; Joshua 11:3 above), but that individual Hittites were known in Israel (compare, besides 1 Samuel 2:6; 2 Samuel 11:3 etc., 1 Kings 9:20 above); that the Hittites were regarded (by J E D) as one of the peoples of Canaan, and that the name even came to be used in more General sense for Canaanites. Only in P do they appear as having a definite settlement in the south, and are designated by בְּנֵיחֵֿת (see חֵת), as well as by the adjective הַחִתִּי.