Uriah the Hittite (mentioned in 2 Shmuel 11 and various other places) seems to be Jewish based on his name (Light of God). So why was he called "the Hittite"? Is there any opinion that he was not Jewish?
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Try looking him up in אישי התנ"ך– MTLCommented Jul 21, 2014 at 13:51
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5 Answers
Kli Yakar - Shmuel 2 says he was called Hachiti, either because he was a convert from Chais or he lived amongst the Bnei Chais. Either way he was a Jew.
answered Jul 21, 2014 at 13:53
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2were the hittite's allowed to convert? weren't they part of the 7 cannanite nations? Is there any record of other hittites living in eretz yisrael at that time?– user6641Commented Jul 21, 2014 at 14:05
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2@user6641: To the best of my knowledge there is no issue with converts from the seven nations of Canaan or from Amalek. There is issues with converts from Amon, Moav, Mitzrayim. Commented Jul 21, 2014 at 14:11
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1Similar treatment is given to the father of Hiram, who is listed as Tyrian in Kings and Chronicles. Commented Jul 31, 2014 at 15:11
The Gemara in Kiddushin says that he was Jewish - Kiddush 76b:
אמר רב יהודה אמר רב כדי שתהא זכותן וזכות אבותם מסייעתן והאיכא (שמואל ב כג, לז) צלק העמוני מאי לאו דאתי מעמון לא דיתיב בעמון והאיכא (שמואל ב כג, לט) אוריה החתי מאי לאו דאתי מחת לא דיתיב בחת
(Summary) As a member of Dovid's army, Uriah had impeccable lineage. He was called "Hachiti" because he lived in Cheis.
I recall hearing a recording from R' Yisroel Reisman in which he quoted a Medrash that said that Uriel had a questionable conversion, and the Medrash actually explains with that idea how Batsheva came to marry Uriah and how Dovid was involved. Not the place for it here.
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See Ben Yehoyada on that gemarah who indicates that he was a convert– user6641Commented Jul 31, 2014 at 17:41
...there is an amazing Midrash [Cite by the Rif on Ein Yaakov Sanhedrin 107a, Me’am Lo’ez on Shmuel beis perek 11 and the Alshich on Shmuel beis perek 13] which reveals that Uriyah was the arms-bearer of Goliath. After Dovid struck Goliath down with his Divinely-guided slingshot, Dovid could not draw Goliath’s sword to chop off his head. Amazingly, Uriyah, Goliath’s arms-bearer, helped Dovid finish off the job.
It would appear from here that Uriah was at one point not Jewish. Based on the other answer it would seem he converted.
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It's brought Uriya helped dovid on condition he can marry a jewish girl.. and dovid accepted, which was a mistake, so he ended up converting and marrying bas sheva..– ShlomyCommented Dec 4, 2022 at 3:34
In shut Avraham ben Harambam 25 the author states that Uriah was a Jewish convert from Hittite origin. He adds that the Rambam his father maintained that Uriah was not even a full fledged convert but a גר תושב, meaning that he accepted the seven Noahide laws only (perhaps the rambam was trying to explain how David was able to take Batsheba. Indeed if Uriah was still a gentile she wasn't halachically married to Uriah the Hittite and David's act would not constitute adultery).
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"David's act would not constitute adultery" Doesn't sound like it solves much since is it not problematic to hold that Batsheva, the mother of the line of kings, was married to a non-Jew?– Double AA ♦Commented Jul 18, 2017 at 16:37
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1@DoubleAA - What's troubling about that? Ruth was a Moabite convert who merited to be in the family tree of Mashiach. Batsheva being married to a non-Jew at some point doesn't disqualify her.– ezraCommented Jul 18, 2017 at 16:50
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@ezra Did Batsheba suddenly do Teshuva at coincidentally the same time the king murdered her husband and took her as a wife? (Besides if we're willing to allow for Teshuva to not think less of someone, just agree that David did Teshuva afterwards, and we're all set.)– Double AA ♦Commented Jul 18, 2017 at 16:50
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@DoubleAA - What about the fact that (I don't remember where) soldiers divorced their wives before going to war so that if they went missing and never came back, their wives didn't have to live as agunot for the rest of their lives?– ezraCommented Jul 18, 2017 at 16:53
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2@ezra What about it? The approach the OP ascribes to the Rambam isn't using that to get David out of adultery.– Double AA ♦Commented Jul 18, 2017 at 16:54
Uriah the Hittite was a character in the Hebrew Bible, and his name is indeed derived from the Hebrew word "light" (אור) and the name of God (יְהֹוָה). However, this does not necessarily mean that he was Jewish. In the Hebrew Bible, the Hittites were a group of people who lived in the area of modern-day Turkey, and Uriah the Hittite was likely a member of this group. It is possible that he had converted to Judaism at some point, but this is not mentioned in the text and is purely speculation. There is no evidence to suggest that Uriah the Hittite was not Jewish, but without further information it is impossible to say for certain.
