KING OF SYRIA (ARAM), SON OF HAZAEL · TWO KINGDOMS

Ben-hadad. Three times beaten by Jehoash of Israel.

REIGNEDi

Not given c. 798 BC

CAPITAL

Damascus

HOUSE

House of Hazael 4th of 5 in Aram

SCRIPTURE SAYS

“The LORD delivered Israel “into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael, all their days”.”

PROPHETS

Elisha · Amos

ARAM (SYRIA): 5 RULERS BEN-HADAD → REZIN

ON THE WORLD STAGE

The powers of the day

ISRAEL

Jehoahaz · Jehoash (Joash)

ASSYRIA

Adad-nirari III

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE · ADAD-NIRARI III'S REIGN; THE STELE SPEAKS OF HIS FIFTH YEAR

Adad-nirari III's inscriptions (Saba’a stele; Nimrud slab)

SUCCESSION

Before and after

THE REALM

Damascus and the places of the account

Aram (Syria). Only places Scripture names are shown, each where the Atlas puts it.

WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS

What Scripture says of him

  • The LORD delivered Israel “into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael, all their days”. 2 Kings 13:3
  • “So Hazael king of Syria died; and Ben-hadad his son reigned in his stead.” 2 Kings 13:24
  • “Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael the cities, which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash beat him.” 2 Kings 13:25
  • Amos: “I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.” Amos 1:4

DEALINGS

Dealings with God's people

  • Israel's cities taken in Jehoahaz's days were recovered from him by Jehoash. 2 Kings 13:25
  • “The children of Israel dwelt in their tents, as beforetime.” 2 Kings 13:5

EVENTS

Wars, works and turning points

UNDATED IN SCRIPTURE

PROPHETS

The prophets who spoke about him

  • El Elisha “thou shalt smite Syria but thrice”
  • Am Amos “which shall devour the palaces of Ben-hadad”

DATES DIFFER

When was it?

FROM SCRIPTURE, ON THE MAIN SYSTEM'S DATES

c. 798 BC[1]

He followed Hazael, who oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz (died 798 BC on Thiele, McFall and Young); Jehoash of Israel (798–782 BC) beat him three times. When his reign ended is not known.

Adad-nirari III of Assyria

T. Nicol, ISBE (1915), “Benhadad” and “Hazael”

Nicol takes the saviour to be the Assyrian king whose capture of Damascus crippled Syria, so that Jehoash could recover Israel's cities. 2 Kings 13:5 [15][16]

Jehoash and Jeroboam II

C. F. Keil (tr. 1872), pp. 375–376

Keil finds the saviour in Jehoahaz's two successors: Jehoash, who took back the cities, and Jeroboam, who restored Israel's borders. He reports and rejects other answers: an angel, Elisha, one of Joash's captains, and Jeroboam alone (Thenius). 2 Kings 13:25 2 Kings 14:25 [22]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 3

2 Kings 13 2 Kings 14 Amos 1

PASSAGES · 4

2 Kings 13:3–7 2 Kings 13:14–25 2 Kings 14:28 Amos 1:3–5

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture gives no length of reign and does not tell how his reign ended.
  • Scripture does not name Adad-nirari III or any “Mari’”; the identification is a modern one.
  • Kings says Jeroboam son of Joash later “recovered Damascus” (2 Kings 14:28) but names no king of Damascus.

IDENTIFICATIONS THIS PAGE RELIES ON

  • From the textBen-hadad the son of Hazael (2 Kings 13:3, 24–25); not the earlier Ben-hadads of Asa's and Elisha's days. 2 Kings 13:3 2 Kings 13:24
  • Scholars' viewT. Nicol (ISBE, 1915) identifies him with “Mari’”, the king of Damascus in Adad-nirari III's inscriptions, and says this “is now generally believed”; Mari’ “means in Aramaic ‘lord’”.[15]

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

  • Rodger C. Young, Chronological tables: Table 1, Chronology of the Kings of Israel; Table 2, Chronology of the Kings of Judah (Thiele's system as revised by McFall and Young; dates cited as facts only) (undated web tables, read 2026-10-07), Tables 1 and 2.
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 1 (Shalmaneser III to Tiglath-pileser III) (1926), §553 (Shalmaneser III, 858–824 BC), §§568, 571, 575, 578 (Black Obelisk, years 11, 14, 18 and 21), pp. 199–206.
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 1 (Shalmaneser III to Tiglath-pileser III) (1926), §611, p. 223 (Monolith Inscription from Kurkh, the battle of Karkar).
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 1 (Shalmaneser III to Tiglath-pileser III) (1926), §§658–659 and 663, pp. 240–241 (annals from Calah, years 14 and 18).
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 1 (Shalmaneser III to Tiglath-pileser III) (1926), §§679–681, pp. 245–246 (the statue inscription from Assur).
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 1 (Shalmaneser III to Tiglath-pileser III) (1926), §735, p. 261 (the Saba’a stele) and §740, pp. 262–263 (the Nimrud slab) of Adad-nirari III.
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 1 (Shalmaneser III to Tiglath-pileser III) (1926), §761, p. 269 (on the order of the annal fragments); §769, p. 273; §772, p. 276 (Tiglath-pileser III's tribute lists).
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 1 (Shalmaneser III to Tiglath-pileser III) (1926), §§776–779, pp. 278–280 (Tiglath-pileser III's annals: the war on Aram; Samsi, queen of Arabia).
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 2 (Sargon to the end) (1927), §1198, p. 436 (the eponym list with notes, 733 and 732 BC).
  • R. W. Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament (1912), p. 296, note 1 (the reading “Bir-idri”); p. 299 with note 1 (the statue inscription); pp. 305–306 (Adad-nirari III and Mari’).
  • A. Biran and J. Naveh, “An Aramaic Stele Fragment from Tel Dan” (1993) and “The Tel Dan Inscription: A New Fragment” (1995), Israel Exploration Journal 43 and 45 (facts only; copyrighted) (1993, 1995), IEJ 43 (1993) 81–98; IEJ 45 (1995) 1–18 (the articles were not read; facts taken from published summaries).
  • S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Books of Samuel (Appendix: the Inscription of Mesha) (1890), pp. lxxxv–lxxxvi (introduction), lxxxvii–lxxxviii (translation), lxxxviii–xcii and xciv (Driver's notes).
  • A. H. Sayce, “Moabite Stone”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. 3 (1915), pp. 2071–2072 (discovery of the stone; “forty” and the date of the revolt on p. 2072).
  • W. Ewing, “Mesha”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. 3 (1915), pp. 2037–2038, section (3).
  • T. Nicol, “Benhadad”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. 1 (1915), pp. 435–437.
  • T. Nicol, “Hazael”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. 2 (1915), pp. 1345–1346.
  • T. Nicol, “Rezin”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. 4 (1915), p. 2588.
  • David Francis Roberts, “Queen of Sheba”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. 4 (1915), s.v. (sections 1 and 4).
  • Thomas Hunter Weir, “Sheba” (1), International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. 4 (1915), p. 2752, sections 1 and 3.
  • (unsigned article), “Candace”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. 1 (1915), p. 552.
  • Edward Mack, “Chronology of the Old Testament”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. 1 (1915), pp. 639–640 (Menahem's tribute in 738 BC).
  • C. F. Keil, tr. J. Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Books of the Kings (Keil and Delitzsch) (1872), pp. 221 (1 Kgs 15:18), 259–260 (1 Kgs 19:15), 261 and 266–267 (1 Kgs 20), 307 (2 Kgs 3:27), 334–336 (2 Kgs 8:10–15), 402–403 (2 Kgs 16:6); read in the archive.org scan text.
  • C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, tr. James Martin, Biblical Commentary on the Books of Samuel (Clark's Foreign Theological Library; translation first published 1866, this printing 1876) (1866), pp. 318–321 (Hiram).
  • John Gill, An Exposition of the Old Testament (1748–1763), note on 2 Kgs 3:27 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1897), note on 2 Kgs 3:27 (read on Bible Hub).
  • J. R. Lumby, The Second Book of the Kings (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1887), note on 2 Kgs 3:27 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), A Bible Commentary for English Readers (c. 1878–1884), note on 2 Kgs 3:27 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1897), note on 2 Kgs 8:15 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), A Bible Commentary for English Readers (c. 1878–1884), note on 2 Kgs 8:15 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), A Bible Commentary for English Readers (c. 1878–1884), note on 2 Kgs 16:6 (read on Bible Hub).
  • John Gill, An Exposition of the Old Testament (1748–1763), note on 2 Kgs 16:6 (read on Bible Hub).
  • E. A. Wallis Budge (tr.), The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek (the Kebra Nagast) (1922), Introduction, pp. xxx (the colophons date the Arabic version AD 1314–1344) and xxxiv (the names Makeda and Balkis; Saba “far more probable”).
  • Pliny the Elder, tr. John Bostock and H. T. Riley, The Natural History (1855), book 6, chapter 35 (Bostock and Riley's numbering; 6.29 in older editions).
  • Strabo, tr. H. C. Hamilton and W. Falconer, The Geography of Strabo (1854–1857), book 17, chapter 1, section 54.
  • Eusebius, tr. A. C. McGiffert, Church History (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1) (1890), book 2, chapter 1, section 13.
  • Irenaeus, tr. A. Roberts and W. H. Rambaut, Against Heresies (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1) (1885), book 3, chapter 12, section 8.
  • Geneva Bible translators, Geneva Bible marginal notes (1599), note on 2 Chr 8:2 (read on Bible Hub).
  • H. D. M. Spence and J. S. Exell (eds.), The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1897), note on 2 Chr 8:2 (read on Bible Hub).
  • W. E. Barnes, The Books of Chronicles (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges) (1899), note on 2 Chr 8:2 (read on Bible Hub).
  • C. J. Ellicott (ed.), A Bible Commentary for English Readers (c. 1878–1884), note on 2 Chr 8:2 (read on Bible Hub).

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