the Third Week after Easter
Bible Dictionaries
Hamath
Holman Bible Dictionary
The southern boundary of Hamath served as the northern boundary of Israel during the reigns of Solomon (1 Kings 8:65; 2 Chronicles 8:4 ) and Jeroboam II (2Kings 14:25,2 Kings 14:28 ). The “entrance of Hamath” was treated as the northern border of Israel (Numbers 34:8; Joshua 13:5; Ezekiel 47:15-17 ,Ezekiel 47:15-17,47:20; Ezekiel 48:1 ) and served as an accepted geographical expression (Numbers 13:21; Judges 3:3 ).
Toi, king of Hamath, sent his son to congratulate David after David defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah. Toi had frequently fought with Hadadezer (2 Samuel 8:9-10; 1Chronicles 18:3,1 Chronicles 18:9-10 ). See Toi . In 853 B.C. King Irhuleni of Hamath joined a coalition including Ben-hadad II of Damascus and Ahab of Israel which successfully thwarted the advance of Shalmaneser II of Assyria into northern Syria. In about 802 B.C. Adad-nirari III of Assyria crushed Damascus and levied a heavy tax upon it. During the following decades, the king of Hamath, probably named Zakir, waged a successful rivalry with Damascus. Hamath reached the zenith of its power between 800,750 B.C.
In 738 B.C. Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria exacted tribute from Hamath together with other states including Israel. Following the fall of Samaria in 722-721 B.C., Hamath was devastated in 720 B.C. by Sargon II of Assyria (Amos 6:2 ). Refugees from Samaria may have been exiled to Hamath by the Assyrians, while refugees from Hamath were brought to Samaria along with their god, Ashima (2Kings 17:24,2 Kings 17:30; Isaiah 11:11 ). From this time, Hamath's history seems to merge with that of Damascus (Jeremiah 49:23 ).
In the Hellenistic period, Antiochus
These dictionary topics are from the Holman Bible Dictionary, published by Broadman & Holman, 1991. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Broadman & Holman.
Butler, Trent C. Editor. Entry for 'Hamath'. Holman Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​hbd/​h/hamath.html. 1991.