1 Kings 11:23

And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah:

God stirred ... up another adverse, Rezon the son of Eliadah, ... This man, who had probably been general of Hadadezer, and on the defeat of that great king (2 Samuel 8:3) had successfully withdrawn a large force, went into the wilderness, led a predatory life, like Jephthah, David, and others, on the borders of the Syrian and Arabian deserts, and having acquired great power though the aid of the marauding party that followed him, at length became king in Damascus, threw off the yoke, and was 'the adversary of Israel all the days of Solomon.' According to the tenor of the context, the concluding clause of 1 Kings 11:25 must refer to this chief, and be considered as describing the full extent of the kingdom which he had acquired.

Josephus ('Antiquities,' b. 8:, ch. 7:, sec. 6), apparently following the version of the Septuagint, gives a different account. According to him, Hadad finding all his attempts to recover his hereditary kingdom defeated by the numerous and powerful garrisons which the Hebrews had planted throughout the Edomite territory, turned his views northward, and joining with Rezon, a leader of banditti, found in the unprotected state of Syria, a country open to the incursions of a bold and powerful invader. He became king of that extensive region, giving a roving commission to Rezon in the outlying district of Syria, and he was the first Hadad, his successors taking the official title of Benhadad from him, the illustrious founder of the powerful kingdom of Damascene Syria. These hostile neighbours, who had been long kept in check by the traditional fame of David's victories, took courage, and breaking out toward the latter end of Solomon's reign, must have not only disturbed his kingdom by their inroads, but greatly crippled his revenue, by stopping his lucrative traffic with Tadmor and the Euphrates.

[The following is the text of the Septuagint, from which Josephus drew his account: Kai eegeire kurios Satan too Saloomoon, ton Ader ton Idoumaion, kai ton Esram huion Eliadae ton en Raema Adadezer basilea Souba kurion autou, kai suneethroistheesan ep' auton andres, kai een archoon sustremmatos, kai prokatelabeto teen Damasek; kai eesan Satan too Israeel pasas tas heemeras Saloomoon, kai Ader ho Idoumaios ek tou spermatos tees basileias en Idoumaia-And the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Adar the Idumean, and Esrom, son of Eliadah (who fled from) the Syrian, Hadadezer, king of Zobah, his master. They collected a body of men against him (Solomon), and he (Hadad) was leader of the tumultuary band, and seized upon Damascus, and they were adversaries to Israel all the days of Solomon. And Adar the Idumean was of the royal family of Edom.] This was in various respects a severe blow to Solomon; because 'the revolt of the Damascenes in the north must have been followed not only by the removal of his garrisons from that city, but by the evacuation of those desert fortresses which he had built for the security of his northeastern territories. Nor were these the only results of that revolt. There was an immediate reduction of his revenues from this source, in consequence of the establishment of the new power at Damascus; and now the wealthy graziers of the Gaulan and Bashan plains were no longer protected from invasion. Their estates, their flocks, their encampments, were continually liable to loss and damage' (Drew's 'Scripture Lands,' p. 163).