Archite

(Heb., with the art., ha-Arki’, הָאִרְכִּי, as if from a place named Erech, אֶרֶךְ; Sept. οΑ῾᾿ραχί, Vulg. Arachites), the usual designation of David’s friend Hushai (2Sa 15:32; 2Sa 17:5; 2Sa 17:14; 1Ch 27:33). The word also appears (somewhat disguised, it is true, in the Auth. Vers.) in Jos 16:2, where “the borders of Archi” (i.e. “the Archite”) are named as on the boundary of the “children of Joseph,” somewhere in the neighborhood of Bethel. No town of the name of Erech appears in Palestine: it is possible that, as in the case of the Gerizi, the Zemarites, and the Jebusites, we have here the last faint trace of one of the original tribes of the country. SEE ARCHI.

[Ar’chite]

The designation of Hushai, David’s friend. 2Sa 15:32; 2Sa 16:16; 2Sa 17:5; 2Sa 17:14; 1Ch 27:33.

By: Crawford Howell Toy, Joseph Jacobs

Inhabitant of a town or district on the southern border of Judah probably connected with the Erech (A. V. Archi) of Josh. xvi. 2. Hushai, David's friend, was from that region (II Sam. xv. 32). It would appear to be somewhere in the neighborhood of Ataroth, but has not been identified with any certainty.

ARCHITE.—The native of a town [in Jos 16:2 read ‘the Archites,’ not ‘Archi’ as in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ] situated on the north border of Benjamin, possibly the modern ‘Ain ‘Arik, west of Bethel. Hushai, David’s friend (2Sa 15:32), belonged to this town.