Rezin (Hastings' Dictionary)

No doubt the name was oriCTn- ally spelled jisi, i.e. Rczon or Rnzon. The LXX 'Vaacaiiiv (in Kings, but in Isaiah 'Vaach or 'Paalp disputes the place) points to the 0 sound ; so does p 9 the Assyrian Ra-sun-nu and the Pesh. , }• 1. From 2 K 16' and Is 7''° we leara that Rezin, king of Damascus, and Pekah, king of Israel, planned an attack on_Judah. This was in the year B.C. 734. Damascus and Israel were vassal States, subject to the suzerainty of Assyria. In IU Raw. 9, No. 3, Tiglath-pile.

ser (see Winckler, Keilinsch. Textb. p. 17) enumerates the articles paid him in tribute by i?a-*«n-H?J of Damascus and Menahem pf Samaria. Tiie two tributaries were now anxious to throw ofl' the yoke. Naturally they sought to enlist the aid of their neighbour Judah, which, for all that appears, was at this time noiuinally independent of '.he great king. Meeting with a refusal, the comoderates moved forwards against Ahaz.

We have no reliable in- formation as to the earlier events of the campaign. The assertion in 2 K 16* that Rezin ' recovered Elath to Syria, and drove the Jews from Elatli ; and the Syrians came to Elath and dwelt there unto this day,' is obviously an error. The Sj'riana had nothing to do with tliat district, which came rather within the sphere of Edom. The original oiiN (Edom) of the text has been corrupted into DIN (Aram), d'diin (Edomites) into d-diin (Ar.

tma-ans, Syrians), and when once this was done the iiser- * Probably there should bo a vowel at the end('^itfau, or perhaps, Abda'C). Cf. tf^^y and its variant ■'^;'^3i'. REZON RHEGIUM 267 tion of the king's name, Rezin, easily followed. It sliould be noted that according to '2 Ch 2G" the Edoniites were actively hostile to Aliaz.

All, then, that we really know of the beginning of the campaign is that the two kings, of whom Rezin was the more active and powerful, advanced with their troops against Jerusalem and besieged it. Isaiah endeavoured to allay the intense alarm which this caused amongst the citizens, but his eflbrts did not meet with much success. Ahaz, at all events, put morf confidence in foreign intervention than in the prophet's assurance of Divine protec- tion.

He 'took the silver and the gold that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and sent it for a present,' i.e. as tribute, to Tiglath-pileser, entreat- ing his immediate help. The Assyrian was only too delighted with the pretext for interference. His apiiroach was the signal for the murder of Pekah by his own subjects (2 K 15*), who then accepted the great king's nominee, HosilEA, as their sovereign : ' I took the land of Bit-Chumria [Beth-Omri] . .

the whole of its people. I carried away their possessions to Assyria. Pekah their king did they dethrone, and I set Hosliea to rule over them' (III Raw. 10, No. 2, in Winckler). Turning ajjainst Damascus, he encountered a more determined resistance. 2 K 16^ states that he ' took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.' But the Assyrian monarch himself informs us that the siege lasted more than a year. It ended in B.C. 7.^2. bchrader (COT i.

257) saj's that Rawlinson found the slaying of Rezin mentioned on a block, which was unfortunately left behind in Asia and has since disappeared. \\inck\eT (AUtest, Untersuch. pp. 74, 75) identifies 'the son of Tabeel' (Is 7*) with Kezin. He ex- plains la-hbeXCfdh-El) as meaning ' El is wise,' and argues from the equivalent name Eliada ( 1 K 1 1'-^) and from the fab-rimmon of 1 K 15" that such a name as J'&h-El was not uncommon amongst the kings of this dynasty.

And since ' the son of Remaliah' in 18 7'' means Pekah, he holds that ' the son of TAb-El ' in Is V means Rezin. Dam- ascus, too, being the predominant partner, the chief profit of the expedition would fall to its king. The series of Damascene kings, therefore, accord- ing to him is as follows : — Circa 950 B.C. . Rezon. From about 885-844 . Bir-'idrl, the Ben-hadad of the Bible. From 844 to about 804 (7) \\-j.7m:\. 8O4(?)-744C0 . . Muri— in the Bible, Ben- liodod. 743{?>-? . . T:\hEl.

J-732 .... Itczin. But the identification on which this depends is precarious. Obviously the periphrasis, ' the son of Remaliah,' is intended to be contemptuous. It recalls the fact that Pekah was a usurper, entirely unconnected with the royal family. Probably, then, 'the son of fab-El' is also a scornful title, hurled at one who was a mere puppet in the hands of the two kings. If 'fab-El had been a king of Damiuicus, it would have been no derogation to Rezin's dignity to be entitled his son.

2. In Ezr 2« = Neh 7°" 'the children of Rezin' (pn ■;3) are mentioned amongst the Nethinim. The LXX has viol 'I'aauiv : the vloi Aaiffiv of 1 Es 5" is evidently a mere scribe's error, resulting from the common confusion of i and i. Gutlie, in Kautzsch's Apukr., unhcsiUitingly restores the * Rezin ' in this passage. J. Taylok.

REZON (I^l^ 'prince'), son of Eliada, was one of the gi'nerals of that lladadezer, king of Zobali, whom David ov(>rtlire\v (2 S S'"-)- Falling into disfavour with his master, as David had done with Saul, h« fled from him. A band of freebooters attached themselves to his standard ; and, begin- ning in this feeble fashion, he eventually became strong enough to seize Damascus, where he founded a dynasty.

During his own lifetime he proved a thorn in the side of Solomon (1 K 11-"), and the kings who traced their descent from him were amongst the most persistent and troublesome of Israel s adversaries. The question has been raised whether Rezon is the correct name. LX.\ A, it is true, supports that form with 'Pafiii' ; but B has 'Etr/xi/i 1 K 1 1 '^i^i), which apparently corresponds to jiijin, to which also the «. * Pesh. OJJCTI niay jjoint.

Moreover, the I^'I5 of 1 K 15'^ seems to occupy much the same position in the genealogy as the [ifi of 1 K ll-^. Hence the conjecture that [iiin (llczron) should be substituted for the pn (Kezun) and the p'ln [Hezlon) of these two passages respectively. Ou the other hand, it must be remembered that the Greek for p[n would most likely have been 'Efpti/x rather than "ISir. ; of. 'Affiv for l^'in and 'Paath for \T\.

The three kings, Hezron (our Rezon), Tab-rimmon, and Bcn-liadad, must also have enjoyed very long reigns if they occupied the entire interval from David to Asa. In the absence, therefore, of absolutely conclusive evidence, we are not at liberty to alter the form of the name or to assume the identity of Rezon and Hezion. The integrity of the text and the reliableness of the statements in 1 K 1 1^"-', the only passage where this prince is named, are also disputed.

Internal eWdence, coupled with the fact that LXX (B, Luc.) omit the words, proves that ' when David slew them of Zobah ' is no part of the original text. Kittel (Hist, uf the Uebrews, ii. 53) points out that even in the ^IT it looks as though vv., '-^" had been in- terpolated between v.*^ and v.■•^^ and that in the LXX (B, Luc.) the whole ei)isude is connected with v." But the connexion with v." is as unsuitable as that with v.^.

In either case it interrupts the Iladad narrative, and gives the impression of a gloss. This, however, is not to say that it is un- historical. J. Taylor. RHEGIUM (V-fiytof), the modern Reggio, was an important and ancient Greek colony near the south-western extremity of Italy, and close to the narrowest point of tlie straits separating that country from Sicily, op[)oslte Messana (Messina) and about 6 to 7 miles distant from it.

It was a much more important place in the ancient system of coasting navigation than it is in modern tunes. The whirlpool of Charybdis near Messana, and the rock of Scylla some miles from Rliegium round the promontory north of the town, were reckoned much more dangerous then ; and ships had often to lie at Rliegium waiting for a suitable wind, and avoiding the currents which in certain circumstances run very strong in the straits.

Hence the Dioscuri, the patrons and protectors of sailors, were much worshipped at Rhcgiiim, and are represented on its coins : tiio m.iriners of the ships tliat put in at Rliegium would often make or dis- charge their vows to the 'Twin Gods' in the town. Rliegium occupied not merely an important but also a dangerous and exjjoscd situation. A great city in the Gth and 5th cents. B.C., it was totally destroyed, and its inhabitants sold as slaves, by Dionysius of Syracuse in 387.

Again in 2S0-270 it was destroyed. Campanian troops, received aa a garrison into the city, murdered the male popu- lation and made themselves masters of the place, till they were captured and exterminated by a RoiiKiii army, and the town was given back tu the scanty rciiiiiant of its former piijiulation. Hence- forth it was in alliance with Rome as a civitat 268 RHEIMS VERSION RHODES fmdernta. After this it is mentioned only inciden- tally amid the Roman wara.

It narrowly escaped the forfeiture of its territory to the soldiers of tlie triumvirs after the battle oi Philippi, beinj; si)ared by Augustus probably from a desire to keep at this ini]>ortant harbour a population accustomed to navigation and friendly to himself ; and in the Sicilian War (B.C. 38-36) it rendered good service both to his fleet and his army, and was rewarded with the title of Julium Rhegium and an increase of popidation (with other accompanying advan- tages).

Strabo mentions it as a flourishmg town about A.D. 20. It presented a curious mixture of Greek and Roman population and life, shown in its mixed Greek and Latin inscriptions. It was the terminus of one of the great Roman roads, a branch of the Appian Way, diverging from it at Capua, built probably bj' the praetor Popilius in B.C. 134 and called Via Popilia. The actual point of cross- ing to Sicily was at the Columna or Statua, 6 miles or more north of Rhegium. Tlie ship in which St.

Paul sailed from Malta to Puteoli, the 'Dioscuri'* (a name of good omen), lay for a day in the harbour of Rhegium, waiting till a south wind arose, which carried it to Puteoli on the morrow after it saUed (5ei/repoioi). Probably some of the sailors on the ' Dioscuri ' took the opportunity of thanking the Twin Gods in the city for their successful voyage at that early season of the year, and praying for equal luck to tlieir destination.

The manoeuvre by which the ship reached Rhegium seems quite clear ; and yet has caused much trouble and variety of opinion. The ship must have had a favourable wind from Malta, otherwise it would not have attempted the crossing over the open sea so early in the year. This wind carried it to Syracuse, but there it had to lie for three days, which proves that the wind nad shifted and was then against it.

It then sailed to Rhegium ; and, as it had to wait in Rhegium till a south wind set in, the wind with which it reached Rhegium cannot have been south. The expression irepieXBbvT^^, which Luke uses, shows that the wind was so far unfavourable that the ship could not run a straight course (£ii0vBpoij.iXv, Ac 16" 21'), but had to tack, running out nortli-eastwards towards Italy and then back to the Sicilian coast.

This is the explanation of a practical yachtsman, James Smith, m his Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul. The explanation of TrepifXSwres as 'sailing round the Sicilian coast' seems certainly wrong.

The reading irepieXofTes in X* B seems to be a corruption, accepted through failure to understand the true text ; it can hardly be rendered ' weighing anchor' (which is the suggested rendering), for in Ac 27'"' it has an accusative following it in tliat sense, as Blass points out ; moreover, it is of great consequence in Ac 27'"' to give that information (see Smith, op. cit., on the passage), but here it is unnecessary. W. M. Ramsay.