1 Kings 11:23-24

11:23 God also brought against Solomon ¹  another enemy, Rezon son of Eliada who had run away from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah. 11:24 He gathered some men and organized a raiding band. ²  When David tried to kill them, ³  they went to Damascus, where they settled down and gained control of the city.

Genesis 14:15

14:15 Then, during the night, ⁴  Abram ⁵  divided his forces ⁶  against them and defeated them. He chased them as far as Hobah, which is north ⁷  of Damascus.

Genesis 15:2

15:2 But Abram said, “O sovereign Lord, ⁸  what will you give me since ⁹  I continue to be ¹⁰  childless, and my heir ¹¹  is ¹²  Eliezer of Damascus?” ¹³ 

Jeremiah 49:27

49:27 “I will set fire to the walls of Damascus;

it will burn up the palaces of Ben Hadad.” ¹⁴ 

Amos 1:4

1:4 So I will set Hazael’s house ¹⁵  on fire;

fire ¹⁶  will consume Ben Hadad’s ¹⁷  fortresses.

¹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Solomon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “and he was the officer of a raiding band.”

³ tn The Hebrew text reads “when David killed them.” This phrase is traditionally joined with what precedes. The ancient Greek version does not reflect the phrase and some suggest that it has been misplaced from the end of v. 23.

⁴ tn The Hebrew text simply has “night” as an adverbial accusative.

⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abram) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “he divided himself…he and his servants.”

⁷ tn Heb “left.” Directions in ancient Israel were given in relation to the east rather than the north.

⁸ tn The Hebrew text has אֲדֹנָי יֱהוִה (’adonay yehvih, “Master, Lord”). Since the tetragrammaton (YHWH) usually is pointed with the vowels for the Hebrew word אֲדֹנָי (’adonay, “master”) to avoid pronouncing the divine name, that would lead in this place to a repetition of אֲדֹנָי. So the tetragrammaton is here pointed with the vowels for the word אֱלֹהִים (’elohim, “God”) instead. That would produce the reading of the Hebrew as “Master, God” in the Jewish textual tradition. But the presence of “Master” before the holy name is rather compelling evidence that the original would have been “Master, Lord,” which is rendered here “sovereign Lord.”

⁹ tn The vav (ו) disjunctive at the beginning of the clause is circumstantial, expressing the cause or reason.

¹⁰ tn Heb “I am going.”

¹¹ tn Heb “the son of the acquisition of my house.”

¹² tn The pronoun is anaphoric here, equivalent to the verb “to be” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 23, §115).

¹³ sn The sentence in the Hebrew text employs a very effective wordplay on the name Damascus: “The son of the acquisition (בֶּן־מֶשֶׁק, ben-mesheq) of my house is Eliezer of Damascus (דַּמֶּשֶׁק, dammesheq).” The words are not the same; they have different sibilants. But the sound play gives the impression that “in the nomen is the omen.” Eliezer the Damascene will be Abram’s heir if Abram dies childless because “Damascus” seems to mean that. See M. F. Unger, “Some Comments on the Text of Genesis 15:2-3,” JBL 72 (1953): 49-50; H. L. Ginsberg, “Abram’s ‘Damascene’ Steward,” BASOR 200 (1970): 31-32.

¹⁴ sn Ben-Hadad was a common name borne by a number of the kings of Damascus, e.g., one during the time of Asa around 900 b.c. (cf. 1 Kgs 15:18-20), one a little later during the time of Omri and Ahab around 850 (1 Kgs 20), and one during the time of Jehoash about 800 (2 Kgs 13:24-25).

¹⁵ tn “Hazael’s house” (“the house of Hazael”) refers to the dynasty of Hazael.

¹⁶ tn Heb “it”; the referent (the fire mentioned in the previous line) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ sn Ben-hadad may refer to Hazael’s son and successor (2 Kgs 13:3, 24) or to an earlier king (see 1 Kgs 20), perhaps the ruler whom Hazael assassinated when he assumed power.