חוים
From the same root as Chavah (חוה) = Eve comes Chivi, the Chivites, or Hivites in the usual English mispronunciation, or perhaps we should learn to call them the Beney Chavah; from the foot of Mount Chermon in the land of Mitspeh, according to Joshua 11:3 and Judges 3:3); also at Giv-On (Gibeon) in 1 Kings 9:20 and Joshua 11:19); while Genesis 10:17 has Ha Chivi for a general tribe of Kena'an.
Genesis 34:2 tells the story of Shechem, the son of Chamor of the Beney Chawa (I think that may be even more authentic than Beney Chavah), who seduced Dinah and was made to pay. Shechem was a Chivite city; Shim'on and Levi "ethnically cleansed" it. Shechem is modern Nablus.
Genesis 36:2 has Esav marrying Ahali-Vamah, daughter of Anah, son of Tsiv'on the Chorite or Chivite; suggesting that Chivite may be a synonym for Chorite, as elsewhere it appears to be a synonym for Hittite - this in fact is incorrect as you will discover if you click the links to either name.
Judges 3:3 places them on Mount Levanon, from Ba'al Chermon to Levo-Chamat (see also 3:6). This is interesting in making Chermon into Ba'al-Chermon and identifying it as Mount Levanon; cf Ya'akov and Lavan in Genesis 29 ff; Lavan is, after all, the "white god", and as such gives his name to both that mountain and country. Levo-Chamat suggests both the whiteness and the heat - another version of Banyas, the hot-water springs in much the same area.
2 Samuel 24:7 says they dwelt in the region of Tsur (Tyre).
1 Kings 9:20 states that Shelomoh (Solomon) used them as slaves, which has a certain illogic given his relationship with King Ashmun-Azar Hu-Ram (Hiram) of Tsur (Tyre). More likely the word "avadim" here means "workers", not "slaves", or at the very most "indentured servants". The word "avadim" presents a problem throughout the Tanach, because it can mean "workers", "slaves" or "worshippers". Modern Ivrit has partially resolved the problem by using the alternate root pa'al (פעל), which really means "to function" or "to operate", as its root for "workers", though it continues to use la'avod (לעבוד) for "to work".
Were they then a tribe (Chivim), or a sect (Beney Chavah)? The link to the name Chavah cannot be ignored. Was her shrine at Machpelah? Or at Nablus? Was the rape of Dinah by Shechem connected to the Chavah cult/take-over
Gesenius suggests that the name simply means "belonging to a village", but provides no evidence of this. Probably the Chivim were the worshippers of Chavah, that it was a cultic rather than an ethnic title, and that centres of the cult could be found in various places. If this is the case, the link of Giv'on with Sha'ul becomes more interesting, determining that the Beney Chet and the Beney Chavah were indeed different people, the Beney Chet linked to Chevron and Michal, the Beney Chavah to Chavah and various sites, especially Shechem. The Beney Chor (Horites) were probably a much older people, kicked out by the Edomites (Chori after all means "troglodyte" or "cave-dweller"; Genesis 14:6 places them in Mount Se'ir before the Edomites came; as do Deuteronomy 2:12/22 and Genesis 36:20 ff); though there are several men named Chori (e.g. Numbers 13:5 and Genesis 36:20).
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