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Ben-hadad

Old TestamentDivided MonarchyMaleKing

Ben-hadad I, king of Aram, made a treaty with Asa of Judah and attacked Israel during the reign of Baasha.

Ben-hadad illustration
Ben-hadad

Biography

Ben-hadad I was king of Aram-Damascus during the early period of the divided Israelite monarchy. When Baasha, king of Israel, began building the fortress of Ramah to blockade Judah, King Asa of Judah sent silver and gold from the temple and palace treasuries to Ben-hadad, appealing to him to break the treaty with Israel and attack instead (1 Kings 15:18-19; 2 Chronicles 16:2-4). Ben-hadad accepted the bribe and launched campaigns against northern Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and the cities of Naphtali. This military pressure forced Baasha to abandon the building of Ramah. Ben-hadad's intervention thus shaped the political geography of the northern kingdom during the ninth century BC and established Aram as a major power capable of intervening in Israelite affairs.

Significance

Ben-hadad I exemplifies the way God used foreign powers as instruments in Israel's inter-tribal conflicts, even when those conflicts arose from human political scheming rather than divine commission. The prophet Hanani rebuked Asa for relying on Ben-hadad rather than on the LORD (2 Chronicles 16:7-9), illustrating the biblical principle that seeking human military alliances in place of divine trust constitutes a failure of faith. Ben-hadad's intervention in Israelite politics, purchased with consecrated temple silver, points to the corrupting entanglement of politics and sacred resources. His story foreshadows a pattern repeated throughout the monarchy: Israel and Judah seeking Aramean, Egyptian, or Assyrian alliances rather than covenant faithfulness as their source of security.

Verse Appearances (17)

References

  1. Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
  2. Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Individualised Proper Names with all References (TIPNR). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
  3. Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
  4. Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]

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