HIEL hī’ əl (חִיאֵ֛ל, God lives). A Bethelite who in the days of King Ahab rebuilt the city of Jericho, and the loss of whose sons was interpreted as the fulfillment of a curse uttered by Joshua (Josh 6:26; 1 Kings 16:34). When Joshua destroyed Jericho, he pronounced a curse upon any one who rebuilt it. It is uncertain whether Hiel sacrificed his sons or whether they died a natural death; but prob. the former.