1 Kings 11:23

And God stirred him up another adversary,.... One from the north, as the other was from the south: Rezon, the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah: when David fought with

And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah: God stirred ... up another adverse, Rezon the son of Eliadah, ... This man, who

When David had defeated him: see , &c. Zobah; a part of Syria between Damascus and Euphrates; of which see .

1 Kings 11:23 And God stirred him up [another] adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah:Ver. 23. And God stirred him up, &c.] See on 1 Kings 11:14. Which fled from his lord Hadadezer.] Whom David had beaten. False friends will be the causes, but not companions of calamity.

(23) Rezon the son of Eliadah.—The name Rezon, which is not unlike the “Rezin” of 2 Kings 16, appears to signify “prince,” and might naturally mark the founder of a new power. In 1 Kings 20:18 we read of a Hezion, king of Damascus, who would belong to this generation, and may be identical with Rezon. The tradition quoted by Josephus (Ant. vii. 5, 2) from Nicolaus of Damascus, that for ten generations from the days of David, all the kings of Syria bore the name of Hadad, probably means only that the title Hadad was the official title of the monarchy.

Verse 23. Rezon the son of Eliadah] Thus God fulfilled his threatening by the prophet Nathan: If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; 2 Samuel 7:14.

23–25. Another adversary raised up against Solomon (Not in Chronicles) 23. And God stirred him up another adversary] R.V. raised up, as in 1 Kings 11:14. There it is said ‘the Lord (i.e. Jehovah)’ raised up the adversary; here it is ‘God (Elohim)’ who does it. There are some who see in this variation an indication of two different sources for the text, the earlier using ‘Elohim,’ the later ‘Jehovah.’ Such an interchange might well be found in a text written even in the days of Solomon, much more so, at the date when this narrative was set down, and is much too slender a thread of evidence to hang so serious a judgement upon. Rezon the son of Eliadah] The latter name should be written Eliada (as R.V.). There is nothing more known with certainty about this Rezon. The events to which allusion is made in this verse are related 2 Samuel 8:3-8. There Hadadezer is called ‘the son of Rehob.’ He was thoroughly defeated by David, who thereupon put garrisons in Syria of Damascus. It cannot therefore have been immediately after the overthrow of Hadadezer that Rezon and his party established themselves in Damascus. For a time, at all events (2 Samuel 8:6), ‘the Syrians became servants to David and brought gifts.’ Rezon most likely escaped when his master was defeated, and waited till a convenient opportunity offered, and then tried, as here narrated, to establish himself as king over Syria. Henceforth for centuries Syria was the determined foe of Israel. In a later chapter (1 Kings 15:18) Benhadad, a subsequent king of Syria, in Asa’s time, is described as a grandson of Hezion. The name Hezion ηζιεο is not very unlike Rezon ψζεο in the characters of the original. Hence some have conjectured that they are the same person. But there seems no sufficient foundation for the opinion. fled from his lord] This flight may have taken place before David’s attack on Hadadezer, though what has been said in the previous note seems more probable. king of Zobah] This kingdom is mentioned in the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon, but then is heard of no more. It comprised the country east of C�le-Syria, and extended northward and eastward towards the Euphrates. See 1 Samuel 14:47; 2 Samuel 8:3; 2 Samuel 23:36; 1 Chronicles 18:3; 1 Chronicles 19:6; 2 Chronicles 8:3.

Rezon - Possibly the same as the Hezion of 1 Kings 15:18; but probably one who interrupted the royal line of the Damascene Hadads, which was restored after his death.

23. Rezon — What office or position under Hadadezer he held, to what particular part of his dominions he belonged, or what instigated his revolt from his lord, does not clearly appear.