Hezion was a king of
Aram Damascus
The Kingdom of Aram-Damascus () was an Aramean polity that existed from the late-12th century BCE until 732 BCE, and was centred around the city of Damascus in the Southern Levant. Alongside various tribal lands, it was bounded in its later ye ...
according to the genealogy given in the
Books of Kings
The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the books ...
(), where
Ben-Hadad I
Ben-Hadad I ( he, בן הדד, translit=bn hdd; arc, בר הדד, translit=br hdd), son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion, was king of Aram-Damascus between 885 BC and 865 BC. Ben-Hadad I was reportedly a contemporary of kings Baasha of the ...
is said to be the “son of
Tabrimmon
Tabrimmon ( he, ''Ṭaḇrīmmon''), also as Tabrimon, also as Tabremon in Douay–Rheims, was an Aramaean king, but there is little known about him. According to the Bible, he is the son of Hezion and the father of Ben-Hadad I:I Kings 15:1 ...
, the son of Hezion, king of Aram, who lived in Damascus."
Shamshi-ilu
Shamshi-ilu (Šamši-ilu) was an influential court dignitary and commander in chief (turtanu) of the Assyrian army who rose in high prominence.
He was active during the reigns of Assyrian kings Adad-nirari III (810–782 BC), Shalmaneser IV (782 ...
fought against Hezion of Damascus in 773-2 BCE and extracted tribute from him. It appears unlikely that the Hezion in this later reference is the same as the one referred to above in , since the passage refers to King
Asa of Judah
Asa (; el, Ασά; la, Asa) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the third king of the Kingdom of Judah and the fifth king of the Davidic line, House of David. The Hebrew Bible gives the period of his reign between 40–41 years. His reign is da ...
, who is dated by several scholars
["On the reliability of the Old Testament K. A. Kitchen - 2003 p 8 and 30, dates Ben-Hadad I within 910-887, and "A Survey of the Old Testament", Hill and Walton provide a chart comparing various scholars with Asa's final dates no later than 866"] to not later than 866. In the 19th century many scholars equated him with
Rezon the Syrian, an enemy of
Solomon
Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...
.
See also
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List of Syrian monarchs
The title King of Syria appeared in the second century BC in referring to the Seleucid kings who ruled the entirety of the region of Syria. It was also used to refer to Aramean kings in the Greek translations of the Old Testament, mainly indicatin ...
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Timeline of Syrian history
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This is a timeline of Syrian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in Syria and its predecessor states. To read about the background to these events, see History of Syria.
Millennia: 1st ...
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Aramean kings
Aramean kings were kings of the ancient Arameans, and rulers of various Aramean states that existed throughout the Levant and Mesopotamia during the 14th and 13th centuries BC, before being absorbed by various other empires such as the Neo-Assy ...
References
{{Authority control
8th-century BC Kings of Syria
Aramean kings
Monarchs of the Hebrew Bible
Kings of Syria
Books of Kings people