• Havvoth-jair
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • all of Israel’s land E of the Jordan (Josh. 22:9), this may explain why the Havvoth-jair are spoken of as being in Gilead (Num. 32:40, 41), although other texts locate the villages in Bashan.—Deut. 3:14; Josh. 13:29, 30.

      Jair (a descendant of Judah through Hezron, but also reckoned as a descendant of Manasseh), a contemporary of Moses, is credited with capturing these “tent villages,” evidently twenty-three in number, and naming them after himself, Havvoth-jair. (Num. 32:39-41; Deut. 3:14; 1 Chron. 2:3, 21-23; see JAIR No. 1.) Years later, thirty cities in the possession of Judge Jair’s thirty sons were known as Havvoth-jair. Some critics view this as a contradictory explanation about the origin of the name “Havvoth-jair.” However, the Judges account does not state that the name “Havvoth-jair” was first used in this later period. It simply indicates that at the time of writing the name still was in use and was applied to these thirty cities.—Judg. 10:3, 4.

      During the reign of Solomon the tent villages of Jair were included in one of the districts placed under a deputy. (1 Ki. 4:7, 13) As indicated by the context, the sixty cities mentioned in 1 Kings 4:13 and other texts (Josh. 13:30; 1 Chron. 2:23) were fortified cities of the Argob region in Bashan and apparently did not include the numerous rural towns. (Compare Deuteronomy 3:4, 5.) Hence, the “tent villages” of Jair should likely be regarded as distinct from these sixty cities.

      At an unspecified time in Israel’s history, Geshur and Syria captured the Havvoth-jair.—1 Chron. 2:23.

  • Hazael
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • HAZAEL

      (Hazʹa·el) [God sees].

      A notable king of Syria, Hazael apparently began to rule during the reign of King Jehoram of Israel (c. 917-905 B.C.E.). (2 Ki. 8:7-16) He died during the reign of King Jehoash of Israel (c. 859-844 B.C.E.). (2 Ki. 13:24, 25) Hazael was not of royal lineage, but had been merely a high officer in the service of his predecessor, King Ben-hadad of Syria.—2 Ki. 13:7-9.

      Years prior to Hazael’s reign, Jehovah had instructed Elijah to “anoint Hazael as king over Syria.” The reason for the appointment was that Israel had sinned against God and Hazael was to execute punishment upon the nation.—1 Ki. 19:15-18.

      Hazael was never literally anointed with oil, but the commission given to Elijah was nevertheless fulfilled by his successor Elisha the prophet. This occurred when Syrian King Ben-hadad, who had fallen sick, sent Hazael to Elisha, then in Syria’s principal city, Damascus, with a gift and an inquiry as to whether or not he would survive his sickness. Elisha said to Hazael: “Go, say to [Ben-hadad], ‘You will positively recover,’” but the prophet continued, saying: “And Jehovah has shown me that he will positively die.” He further said to Hazael: “Jehovah has shown me you as king over Syria.” On Hazael’s return, in reply to the king’s question as to Elisha’s answer, Hazael said: “He said to me, ‘You will positively revive’”; but then, on the next day, Hazael suffocated the king with a wet coverlet, and began to rule in his place.—2 Ki. 8:7-15.

      The words of Elisha to Hazael have been the subject of considerable conjecture. According to the margin of the Masoretic text, as well as the Septuagint, the Vulgate, the Syriac Peshitta Version and eighteen Hebrew manuscripts, the text reads: “Say to him, ‘You will positively revive,’” whereas the main body of the Masoretic text says, “Say, ‘You will not.’”

      If the reading is taken that Hazael was told to tell Ben-hadad “‘You will positively recover,’” Elisha’s answer to Ben-hadad’s inquiry may have been in the form of a riddle, meaning that Ben-hadad’s sickness itself would not kill him, but that he would nevertheless die (as he did, by the hand of Hazael). At any rate, Hazael verbally gave the king the first part of Elisha’s answer: “You will positively recover,” but the rest of the answer Hazael carried out in violent action.

      HAZAEL OPPRESSES ISRAEL

      Shortly after becoming king, Hazael engaged in a war with the kings of Israel and Judah at Ramoth-gilead. At that time, King Jehoram of Israel was wounded at Ramah, but the outcome of the battle itself is not stated in the account. (2 Ki. 8:25-29; 2 Chron. 22:1-6) In the days of Jehoram’s successor King Jehu of Israel, Hazael began to take Israel’s land piece by piece, capturing Gilead and Bashan, E of the Jordan. (2 Ki. 10:32, 33) This apparently opened the way for his later invasion of the kingdom of Judah. Hazael took the city of Gath in Philistia, and then set his face to go up against Jerusalem. King Jehoash of Judah, however, bought Hazael off by giving him valuable things from the temple and palace, so that Hazael withdrew, sparing Jerusalem.—2 Ki. 12:17, 18.

      Particularly during the reign of Jehu’s son Jehoahaz of Israel, Hazael became a great oppressor of Israel, fulfilling what the prophet Elisha had foreseen—that Hazael would consign Israel’s fortified places to the fire, kill their choice men with the sword, dash to pieces their children and rip up their pregnant women. (2 Ki. 13:3, 22; 8:12) Yet, God did not allow Syria to crush Israel completely. (2 Ki. 13:4, 5) After Hazael’s death, King Jehoash of Israel, in three victories, recaptured from Hazael’s son Ben-hadad the cities that Hazael had taken from King Jehoahaz, his father. (2 Ki. 13:23-25) Later King Jeroboam II of Israel “restored Damascus and Hamath to Judah in Israel.”—2 Ki. 14:28.

      IN ANCIENT INSCRIPTIONS

      Hazael is mentioned in a historical inscription found in 1904 at a place now called Afis, about twenty-five miles (40 kilometers) SE of Aleppo. The inscription calls Hazael “king of Aram.” This inscription agrees with the Bible, that Hazael’s son Ben-hadad, here called “Barhadad,” succeeded him as king of Syria.

      The campaigns of Shalmaneser III against Syria are recorded in his annals, in which he recounts his victories over Hazael. In these annals, Hazael is called a “commoner” (literally, a “son of nobody”), doubtless because he was not of royal descent, but took the throne of Damascus by assassinating King Ben-hadad. One of these inscriptions reads: “In the eighteenth year of my rule I crossed the Euphrates for the sixteenth time. Hazael of Damascus (Imerisu) put his trust upon his numerous army and called up his troops in great number, making the mountain Senir (Sa-ni-ru), a mountain, facing the Lebanon, to his fortress. I fought with him and inflicted a defeat upon him, killing with the sword 16,000 of his experienced soldiers. I took away from him 1,121 chariots, 470 riding horses as well as his camp. He disappeared to save his life (but) I followed him and besieged him in Damascus (Di-mas-qi), his royal residence. (There) I cut down his gardens (outside of the city, and departed). I marched as far as the mountains of Hauran (sadee mat Ha-u-ra-ni), destroying, tearing down and burning innumerable towns, carrying booty away from them which was beyond counting.”

      However, Shalmaneser evidently failed to take Damascus itself. This was apparently left for Tiglath-pileser III to accomplish, in the days of Syrian King Rezin. This fulfilled Jehovah’s prophecy through Amos: “I will send a fire onto the house of Hazael, and it must devour the dwelling towers of Ben-hadad. And I will break the bar of Damascus.”—Amos 1:4, 5; 2 Ki. 16:9.

  • Hazar-enan
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • HAZAR-ENAN

      (Haʹzar-eʹnan), Hazar-enon (Haʹzar-eʹnon).

      A site on the northern boundary of “the land of Canaan.” (Num. 34:2, 7-10) Ezekiel referred to Hazar-enon (Hazar-enan), along with Damascus and Hamath, in his forevision of the territory of Israel. (Ezek. 47:13, 17; 48:1) A positive identification of the site cannot be made at this time. However, most authorities tentatively locate it at Kiryatein, about seventy miles (112.6 kilometers) E-NE of Damascus on the road to Palmyra.

  • Hazarmaveth
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • HAZARMAVETH

      (Ha·zar·maʹveth).

      A descendant of Noah through Shem and Joktan. (Gen. 10:1, 21, 25, 26; 1 Chron. 1:20) It is generally believed that Hazarmaveth’s descendants settled the Hadhramaut region in S Arabia. A connection between Hadhramaut and Hazarmaveth is suggested by the similarity of the consonants in the original Hebrew and Arabic names. The geographical limits of the Hadhramaut are not closely defined. It is approximately 550 miles (c. 880 kilometers) long and 150 miles (c. 240 kilometers) wide. The coastal plain is rather narrow, and then the land rises steeply, forming a stony plateau with an average elevation of between 3,000 and 4,000 feet (c. 900 and 1,200 meters). Many deep, cliff-lined torrent valleys cut through the high plateau. These valleys are very fertile. Palms and dates thrive; sheep, camels, asses and cattle find pasture, and millet, alfalfa, indigo, cotton and corn are among the crops grown there. Chief of the torrent valleys is the Wadi Hadhramaut. This stream begins its course some 300 miles (c. 480 kilometers) inland from the W coast of the Arabian Peninsula and gradually curves eastward for about 400 miles (c. 640 kilometers), finally emptying into the Arabian Sea as the Wadi Masila (the name applied to its lower course). The Hadhramaut region anciently played an important role because of its incense trade. But frankincense trees, once abundant, are now scarce there.

  • Hazar-susah
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • HAZAR-SUSAH

      (Haʹzar-suʹsah) [village of the mare].

      A Simeonite enclave city in the southern part of Judah (Josh. 19:1, 2, 5), also called Hazar-susim. (1 Chron. 4:31) A similar list of cities originally assigned to Judah has “Sansannah” in place of Hazar-susah. (Josh. 15:21, 31) Some view them as separate locations, placing Sansannah to the N-NE of Beer-sheba and Hazar-susah about sixteen miles (26 kilometers) to the W of Beer-sheba at Sbalat Abu Susein, near the Plains of Philistia. A number of scholars, however, view it as probable that Hazar-susah is simply a secondary name for Sansannah, such secondary name, by its meaning, describing a notable function of the place. If it is the same as Sansannah, Hazar-susah may tentatively be identified with Khirbet esh-Shamsaniyat to the N-NE of Beer-sheba, a short distance from the suggested site of Madmannah (likely Beth-marcaboth), mentioned before (Hazar-susah, Hazar-susim or Sansannah) in the foregoing texts.—See BETH-MARCABOTH.

  • Hazazon-tamar
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • HAZAZON-TAMAR

      (Hazʹa·zon-taʹmar) [Hazazon of the palm trees].

      A city inhabited by Amorites and apparently located in the vicinity of the Low Plain of Siddim. King Chedorlaomer and his allies defeated the Amorites dwelling in Hazazon-tamar. (Gen. 14:5-8) Centuries later the combined forces of Moab, Ammon and the mountainous region of Seir came against Judah by way of “Hazazon-tamar, that is to say, En-gedi.” (2 Chron. 20:2, 10, 11) Many scholars believe that the Genesis reference points to a location some distance S of En-gedi and therefore regard the words “that is to say, En-gedi,” as a late addition. The name “Hazazon-tamar,” however, appears to be preserved in the Wadi Hasasa about seven miles (11 kilometers) NW of the suggested site of En-gedi. Also, the meaning of Hazazon-tamar would fit the En-gedi region, described by Josephus as a place where “the best kind of palm trees” thrive. (Antiquities of the Jews, Book IX, chap. I, par. 2) So if the Genesis passage refers to a more southerly location, possibly there were two places called Hazazon-tamar: the one linked with En-gedi; the other perhaps the site SW of the Dead Sea that is called simply Tamar.—Ezek. 47:19; 48:28.

  • Hazor
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • HAZOR

      (Haʹzor) [an enclosure].

      1. The chief city of northern Canaan at the time of Israel’s conquest under Joshua. (Josh. 11:10) Hazor has been identified with Tell el-Qedah located about four miles (6.4 kilometers) SW of Lake Huleh (now mostly drained). According to archaeologist Yigael Yadin, under whose direction excavations were carried out at the site from 1955 to 1958, the Hazor of Joshua’s time covered an area of approximately 150 acres (61 hectares) and could have accommodated from 25,000 to 30,000 inhabitants.

      Jabin the king of Hazor led the united forces of northern Canaan against Joshua, but suffered a humiliating defeat. Hazor itself was burned, the only city in that area built on a mound to be so treated. (Josh. 11:1-13) Although later assigned to the tribe of Naphtali (Josh. 19:32, 35, 36), Hazor, in the time of Deborah and Barak, was the seat of another powerful Canaanite king, also called Jabin.—Judg. 4:2, 17; 1 Sam. 12:9.

      At a later period, Hazar, like Gezer and Megiddo, was fortified by King Solomon. (1 Ki. 9:15) Archaeological finds indicate that the gates of these three cities were of similar construction. Reporting on the excavations at Hazor, Yadin, in his work The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands (Vol. II, p. 288), writes: “As the first sign of the gate of this wall began to emerge from the dust and earth that were gently being scooped away, we were struck by its similarity to the ‘Gate of Solomon’ which had been discovered at Megiddo. Before proceeding further with the excavation, we made tentative markings of the ground following our estimate of the plan of the gate on the basis of the Megiddo gate. And then we told the laborers to go ahead and continue removing the debris.