• 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.