Rezon

From Bible Encyclopedia

rē´zon (רזון, rezōn; Ῥάζων, Rházōn, "prince"):

Son of Eliadah, and a subject of Hadadezer, king of Zobah (1 Kings 11:23). The name appears to be given as חזיון, ḥezyōn; Ἁζείν, Hazeín (1 Kings 15:18; see Hezion), where he is the father of Tabrimmon, whose son Ben-hadad I is known through his league with Asa, king of Judah. When David conquered Zobah, Rezon renounced his allegiance to Hadadezer and became powerful as an independent chief, capturing Damascus and setting up as king. Along with Hadad, the noted Edomite patriot, he became a thorn in the side of Solomon, the one making himself obnoxious in the South, the other in the North, of the kingdom of Israel, both being animated with a bitter hatred of the common foe. It is said of Rezon that he “reigned over Syria” (1 Kings 11:25), and if the surmise adopted by many scholars is correct that he is the same as Hezion (1 Kings 15:18), then he was really the founder of the dynasty of Syrian kings so well known in the history of this period of Israel; and the line would run: Rezon, Tabrimmon, Ben-hadad I, and Ben-hadad II.

Abandoning the service of Hadadezer, the king of Zobah, on the occasion of his being defeated by David, he became the “captain over a band” of marauders, and took Damascus, and became king of Syria (1 Kings 11:23-25; 2 Samuel 8:3-8). For centuries after this the Syrians were the foes of Israel. He “became an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon.”

Literature

Burney on 1 Kings 11:23 and 1 Kings 15:18 in Notes on Hebrew Text of Books of Kings; Winckler, Alttest. Untersuchunaen, 60 ff.