1 Kings 11:23-25

C. THE REBELLION OF REZON 11:23-25

TRANSLATION

(23) And God raised up to him an adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, who had fled from Hadadezer king of Zobah, his lord. (24) And he gathered around him men and became captain of a band, after David slew them (of Zobah); and they fled to Damascus, and dwelled therein, and they ruled over Damas cus. (25) And he became an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, besides the evil which Hadad did; and he loathed Israel and ruled over Aram.

COMMENTS

The second adversary raised up by God against Solomon was Rezon,[308] an Aramean who established himself in Damascus. It would appear that during the reign of David, Damascus was part of the Aramean kingdom of Zobah. The city fell under Israelite control when David inflicted a crushing defeat on Hadadezer of Zobah (2 Samuel 8:3-12; 2 Samuel 10:6-19). Either just before or just after this battle with David, Rezon deserted his master Hadadezer (1 Kings 11:23). The stages of Rezon's rise to power are indicated in 1 Kings 11:24. From being the adventurous chief of a roving gang, he rose to the position of leader of a group of warriors who advanced on Damascus, captured and settled in that city, and finally established themselves as the ruling power. According to 1 Kings 11:25, the entire country of Aram eventually recognized Rezon as their king.

[308] Some scholars feel that Rezon is a variant of Hezion who appears to be the founder of the Damascus dynasty in IS: 18. Others think Hezion was the proper name of this king and Rezon was his title. Still others assume that after Rezon, Hezion founded a new dynasty in Damascus. See Unger, IA, p. 57; and Mazar, BAR, II, 133-34.

It is not certain at what point in the reign of Solomon Rezon took control of Damascus. On the whole it seems best to assign this event to the late period of Solomon's reign when his rule weakened and the state was disintegrating internally and externally.[309] In any case, the text gives no indication that the pacific Solomon made any attempt to thwart Rezon. Thus Solomon was faced with opposition simultaneously on the northern and southern frontiers of his empire (1 Kings 11:25). The phrase all the days of Solomon may refer to the time after the king had sinned and set up gods for his foreign wives. On the other hand, the author may mean that even before Rezon became king of Damascus he was a dangerous adversary as a roving bandit on the borders of Israel.

[309] Mazar, BAR, II, 133.

What is recorded here appears to be nothing less than the founding of the powerful Aramean kingdom of Damascus, which was destined to be the most formidable rival and enemy of Israel during the next two centuries. Rezon's continued harassments and his increasing power toward the later years of Solomon's reign threatened to disrupt Israelite control of the Aramean states. Shortly after the close of Solomon's reign, probably in conjunction with Jeroboam's revolt and the invasion of Pharaoh Shishak, Israel lost all control of these northern territories.[310]

[310] Bright, HI, p. 211.