Zobah was an Aramean kingdom northeast of Israel, conquered by David and later a source of opposition to Solomon .
Also known as Zoba · Zobah-Hamath · Zobah, in the vicinity of Hamath · Zobah unto Hamath · Hamath-zobah · Hamath Zobah
Zobah, also referred to as Zobah-Hamath or Hamath-zobah, was an Aramean kingdom located northeast of Israel, in the region of modern-day Syria. During the reigns of Saul and David, the kings of Zobah were enemies of Israel (1Sa.14.47; 2Sa.8.3). David defeated Hadadezer, king of Zobah, and his Aramean allies (2Sa.8.5,12; 10:6,8; 1Ch.18.5,9; 19:6). One of David's mighty men, Igal, was from Zobah (2Sa.23.36). During Solomon's reign, Rezon of Zobah established himself as king in Damascus and became an adversary to Israel (1Ki.11.23). Solomon later conquered Hamath-zobah (2Ch.8.3). The exact extent and location of Zobah are uncertain, but it was likely situated in the region between Hamath and Damascus, possibly centered around the modern-day city of Homs in Syria.
Approximate location: 34.313, 36.925 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
=Aram-Zobah, (Ps. 60, title), a Syrian province or kingdom to the south of Coele-Syria, and extending from the eastern slopes of Lebanon north and east toward the Euphrates. Saul and David had war with the kings of Zobah (1 Sam. 14:47; 2 Sam. 8:3; 10:6).
(station), the name of a portion of Syria which formed a separate kingdom in the time of the Jewish monarchs Saul, David and Solomon. It probably was eastward of Coele-Syria, and extended thence northeast and east toward, if not even to, the Euphrates. We first hear of Zobah in the time of Saul, when we find it mentioned as a separate country, governed apparently by a number of kings who owned no common head or chief. (1 Samuel 14:47) Some forty years later than this we find Zobah under a single ruler Hadadezer son of Rehob. He had wars with Toi king of Hamath, (2 Samuel 8:10) and held various petty Syrian princes as vassals under his yoke. (2 Samuel 10:19) David, (2 Samuel 8:3) attacked Hadadezer in the early part of his reign, defeated his army, and took from him a thousand chariots, seven hundred (seven thousand,) (1 Chronicles 18:4) horsemen and 20,000 footmen. Hadadezer’s allies, the Syrians of Damascus, were defeated in a great battle. The wealth of Zobah is very apparent in the narrative of this campaign. A man of Zobah, Rezon son of Eliadah, made himself master of Damascus where he proved a fierce adversary to Israel all through the reign of Solomon. (1 Kings 11:23-25) Solomon also was, it would seem engaged in a war with Zobah itself. (2 Chronicles 8:3) This is the last that we hear of Zobah in Scripture. The name however, is found at a later date in the inscriptions of Assyria, where the kingdom of Zobah seems to intervene between Hamath and Damascus.
Zobebah, an army; warring
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
13 verses in 5 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H6678
After Saul had assumed the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side—the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he routed them.
David also defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, who had marched out to restore his dominion along the Euphrates River.
When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of their men.
from Edom and Moab, from the Ammonites and Philistines and Amalekites, and from the spoil of Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth-rehob and Zoba, as well as a thousand men from the king of Maacah and twelve thousand men from Tob.
The Ammonites marched out and arrayed themselves for battle at the entrance of the city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.
Igal son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite,
And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah,
As far as Hamath, David also defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah, who had marched out to establish his dominion along the Euphrates River.
When the Arameans of Damascus came to help King Hadadezer of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of their men.
When King Tou of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer king of Zobah,
When the Ammonites realized that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent a thousand talents of silver to hire for themselves chariots and horsemen from Aram-naharaim, Aram-maacah, and Zobah.
Then Solomon went to Hamath-zobah and captured it.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.