Who was King Aretas in the Bible?

Aretas was a king of the Nabataean Arabs who governed the city of Damascus. He is mentioned in the New Testament because his ethnarch (governor) in Damascus tried to arrest the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 11:32-33).

Why did Aretas want to arrest Paul?

The Bible states the ethnarch under King Aretas was guarding the city of Damascus to seize Paul, likely because Paul's preaching caused controversy. This forced Paul to escape by being lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall (2 Corinthians 11:32-33).

What is the historical significance of Aretas in biblical events?

Aretas provides important historical context, confirming Damascus was under Nabataean control during Paul's early ministry. His mention helps date Paul's escape and demonstrates the political opposition the early church faced from local rulers.

Aretas

New TestamentNew TestamentMaleKing

Aretas, the king of the Nabataeans, governed Damascus and tried to arrest Paul.

Aretas

Biography

Aretas IV Philopatris was king of the Nabataean Arabs from approximately 9 BC to AD 40, ruling from the magnificent rock-hewn city of Petra. He is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11:32, where Paul recounts that the governor under Aretas kept watch over the city of Damascus in order to seize him, and Paul escaped by being lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall. This episode corresponds roughly with the early period following Paul's conversion (Acts 9:23–25). Aretas had strong political motivations to control Damascus and its surrounding region, and his conflict with the Herods, his daughter had been the first wife of Herod Antipas, who divorced her to marry Herodias, shaped the political landscape of the eastern Mediterranean in the New Testament period.

Significance

Aretas IV occupies a unique position in biblical history as a pagan king whose political machinations were unwittingly employed to test and strengthen the resolve of the apostle Paul. The escape from Damascus (2 Corinthians 11:32–33; Acts 9:24–25) came very early in Paul's apostolic career and illustrates the immediate and intense opposition that greeted his proclamation of Christ. Paul's willingness to catalogue this humiliating flight, lowered in a basket like a fugitive, as part of his apostolic "boasting in weakness" (2 Corinthians 11:30) turns a near-capture into a theological testimony: God's power is made perfect in human weakness. Aretas also appears in Josephus, grounding Paul's narrative in verifiable history and confirming the historical reliability of the New Testament's biographical details.

Verse Appearances (1)

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 11:32

References

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

View all sources & licensing →

See our editorial standards →

Content compiled from public domain scholarship, academic sources, and verified references. Editorial standards · View all sources