KING OF SYRIA (ARAM) AT DAMASCUS · TWO KINGDOMS

Rezin. With Pekah against Ahaz; slain when Assyria took Damascus.

REIGNEDi

Not given c. 738–732 BC

CAPITAL

Damascus

HOUSE

Not stated 5th of 5 in Aram

SCRIPTURE SAYS

“In those days the LORD began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.”

PROPHETS

Isaiah

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

ON THE WORLD STAGE

The powers of the day

ISRAEL

Pekah son of Remaliah

JUDAH

Ahaz

ASSYRIA

Tiglath-pileser

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE · UNDATED IN THE ANNALS; MACK (1915) PUT MENAHEM'S TRIBUTE IN 738 BC

Tiglath-pileser III's tribute lists

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE · 733–732 BC (THE EPONYM LIST)

Tiglath-pileser III's annals: the war on Aram

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE · 733 AND 732 BC

The Assyrian eponym list

OUTSIDE THE BIBLE · REPORTED 1915

A lost tablet

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

  • “In those days the LORD began to send against Judah Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah.” 2 Kings 15:37
  • With Pekah he besieged Ahaz in Jerusalem, “but could not overcome him”. 2 Kings 16:5
  • “Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath.” 2 Kings 16:6
  • Isaiah to Ahaz: “fear not … for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah”. Isaiah 7:4
  • “For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin.” Isaiah 7:8
  • “The king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.” 2 Kings 16:9

DEALINGS

Dealings with God's people

  • Chronicles: after his defeat Ahaz “sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him”. 2 Chronicles 28:23
  • Alliance with Pekah of Israel against Ahaz: “Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee”. Isaiah 7:5
  • Their plan: a king of their own choosing in Judah, “the son of Tabeal”. Isaiah 7:6
  • When the alliance was reported, Ahaz's heart “was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind”. Isaiah 7:2
  • He drove the Jews from Elath. 2 Kings 16:6
  • Chronicles: the king of Syria carried “a great multitude” of Judah captive to Damascus. 2 Chronicles 28:5

EVENTS

Wars, works and turning points

UNDATED IN SCRIPTURE

PROPHETS

The prophets who spoke about him

  • Is Isaiah “For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin”

TWO ACCOUNTS

Where the accounts differ

The war on Ahaz

2 KINGS

2 CHRONICLES

Assyria's help

2 KINGS

2 CHRONICLES

DATES DIFFER

When was it?

FROM THE ASSYRIAN RECORDS: KING BY ABOUT 738 BC

c. 738–732 BC[7][21][9]

His accession is not dated. He is named in Tiglath-pileser III's tribute list beside Menahem of Samaria, whose tribute Mack (1915) dates to 738 BC; the Assyrian eponym list sends the army “against Damascus” in 733 and 732 BC, and Kings says the king of Assyria took Damascus and slew Rezin.

To Edom

T. Nicol, ISBE (1915); Ellicott's Commentary

“Syria” and “Edom” look alike in Hebrew writing. Ellicott notes that the Hebrew margin, many manuscripts, the Greek and the Latin read “Edomites”; Nicol writes that “it is agreed” to read Edom. 2 Kings 16:6 [17][30]

Both: Syria took it, Edom returned

David Kimchi, as reported by John Gill (1748–1763)

Kimchi explains that the word is written “Syrians” because the king of Syria took the city, and read “Edomites” because by his means the Edomites returned to it. 2 Kings 16:6 [31]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 6

2 Kings 15 2 Kings 16 2 Chronicles 28 Isaiah 7 Isaiah 8 Isaiah 9

PASSAGES · 7

2 Kings 15:37 2 Kings 16:5–10 2 Chronicles 28:5 2 Chronicles 28:16–23 Isaiah 7:1–9 Isaiah 8:4–8 Isaiah 9:11–12

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture does not name Rezin's father or say how he came to the throne.
  • Scripture gives no length of reign; it says only that the king of Assyria “slew Rezin” (2 Kings 16:9), not how.
  • Isaiah's “burden of Damascus” (Isaiah 17:1–3) does not name him.
  • No Assyrian text used here describes his death; the tablet said to record it is lost.

IDENTIFICATIONS THIS PAGE RELIES ON

  • From the textRezin king of Syria in the days of Ahaz; not the Rezin whose “children” were among the Nethinim who returned from exile (Ezra 2:48; Nehemiah 7:50). 2 Kings 16:5 Ezra 2:48

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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