Person Old Testament
Hadadezer
Also known as Hadadezer =ESV, NIV; Hadarezer =KJV
Hadadezer, king of Zobah, was defeated by King David in battle, and his allies, the Arameans, became subject to Israel. Mentioned in 18 verses across 3 books, first at 2 Samuel 8:3.
Why it matters. King of Zobah, defeated by David.
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Hadadezer
Hadadezer was the king of Zobah, an Aramean kingdom, during the reign of King David of Israel. He is mentioned in 2Samuel 8, 10, and 1Chronicles 18, 19. Hadadezer went to restore his control along the Euphrates River, but David defeated him, capturing many of his chariots, horsemen, and foot soldiers (2Sa.8.3-4, 1 Chronicles 2Sa.18.3-4). David also took gold shields from Hadadezer's officers and brought them to Jerusalem (2Sa.8.7, 1 Chronicles 2Sa.18.7). When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, David defeated them as well, and they became subject to Israel (2Sa.8.5-6, 1 Chronicles 2Sa.18.5-6). Later, when David's messengers were mistreated by the Ammonites, Hadadezer sent his army to help the Ammonites fight against Israel (2Sa.10.16, 1 Chronicles 2Sa.19.16). However, Joab and Abishai, David's commanders, defeated the Arameans and the Ammonites. After this defeat, Hadadezer's allies made peace with Israel and became subject to them (2Sa.10.19, 1 Chronicles 2Sa.19.19). The biblical account portrays Hadadezer as a powerful king who posed a significant threat to Israel, but was ultimately defeated by David and his army.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
- Parents
- Rehob
Appears in Scripture
Named in 18 verses across 3 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.