and forced him to make " streets" in Samaria for Syrian residents. — Kitto ; Smith. See Ahab.
2. Another king of Syria, son of the preceding. Some authors call him grandson, on the ground that it was unusual in antiquity for the son to inherit the fa- ther's name. But Ben-hadad seems to have been a religious title of the Syrian kings, as we see by its re- appearance as the name of Hazael's son, Ben-hadad III. Long wars with Israel characterized the reign of Ben-hadad II, of which the earlier campaigns are de- scribed under Ahab. His power and the extent of his dominion are proved by the thirty-two vassal kings who accompanied him to his first siege of Samaria. B.C. cir. 906. He owed the signal defeat in which that war terminated to the vain notion which assimi- lated Jehovah to the local deities worshipped by the nations of Syria, deeming Him "a God of the hills," but impotent to defend his votaries in "the plains" (1 Kings xx, 1-30). Instead of pursuing his victory, Ahab concluded a peace with the defeated Ben-hadad. Some time after the death of Ahab, probably owing to the diffiulties in which Jehoram of Israel was involved by the rebellion of Moab, Ben-hadad renewed the war with Israel ; but all his plans and operations were frustrated, being made known to Jehoram by the prophet Elisha (2 Kings vi, 8). B.C. cir. 894. After some years, however, he renewed the war, and be- sieged Jehoram in his capital, Samaria, until the in- habitants were reduced to the last extremities and most revolting resources by famine. The siege was then unexpectedly raised, according to a prediction of Elisha, through a panic infused into the besiegers, who, concluding that a noise which they seemed to hear portended the advance upon them of a foreign host procured by Jehoram from Egypt or some Canaan- itish cities, as Tyre of Ramoth, thought only of saving themselves by flight. Jehoram seems to have follow- ed up this unhoped-for deliverance by successful of- fensive operations, since we find from 2 Kings ix, 1 that Ramoth in Gilead was once more an Israelitish town. See Ahab. The next year Ben-hadad, learn- ing that Elisha, through whom so many of his designs had been brought to naught, had arrived at Damascus, sent an officer of distinction, named Hazael, with pres- ents, to consult him as to his recovery from an illness under which he then suffered. The prophet answered that his disease was not mortal, but that he would nevertheless certainly die, and he announced to Haza- el that he would be his successor, with tears at the thought of the misery which he would bring on Israel. On the day after Hazael's return Ben-hadad was mur- dered, as is commonly thought, by this very Hazael, who smothered the sick monarch in his bed, and mount- ed the throne in his stead (2 Kings viii, 7-15). See j Elisha ; Jehoram. The attributing of this murder to Hazael himself has been imagined by some to be inconsistent with his character and with Elisha's sug- gestion of the act. Ewald, from the Hebrew text and a general consideration of the chapter (Gesch. des V. I. iii, 523, note"), thinks that one or more of Ben-hadad's own servants were the murderers : Taylor (Fragm. in Calmet) believes that the wet cloth which caused his death was intended to effect his cure, a view which he supports by a reference to Bruce's Travels, iii, 33. There appears, however, to be no good reason for de- parting from the usual and more natural interpretation (so Josephus, "AcaPoc, Ant. ix, 4, 6) which assigns the deed to Hazael himself. See Hazael. Hazael suc- ceeded him perhaps because he had no natural heirs, and with him expired the dynasty founded by Rezon. Ben-hadad's death was about B.C. 890, and he must have reigned some thirty years. See Syria. The Scriptural notices of this king are strikingly confirm- ed by the cuneiform inscriptions (q. v.) on the black obelisk found among the Assyrian monuments atNim- rtul (see Rawlinson's Hist. Evidences, p. 113), and translated by Dr. Hincks {Dublin Univ. Magaz ne, Oct.
BEN-HAIL
Vol
BENJAMIN
1853). According to these annals, the Assyrian king | Shalmanubar (reigned apparently B.C. cir. 900-8G0 or 850) had several campaigns against the nations of Pal- estine and its vicinity (in his Gth, 11th, 14th, and 18th years), among which the Hittites (Khatti) and Ben- idri (i. e. Ben-hader; comp. the Sept. uioc "Afiep, for Ben-hadad), king of Damascus, are particularly named, the latter being represented as defeated, although al- lied with at least twelve neighboring princes, and at the head of an immense army, consisting largely of cavalry and chariots (Rawlinson's Herodotus, i, 371).
3. A third king of Damascus, son of the above-men- tioned Hazael, and his successor on the throne of Syr- ia. His reign was disastrous for Damascus, and the j vast power wielded by his father sank into insignifi- cance. In the striking language of Scripture, " Jeho- , ahaz (the son of Jehu) besought the Lord, and the Lord hearkened unto him, for He saw the oppression of Is- | rael, because the King of Syria oppressed them ; and i the Lord gave Israel a saviour" (2 Kings xiii, 4, 5). This saviour was Jeroboam II (comp. 2 Kings xiv, 27); hut the prosper^ of Israel began to revive in the reign of his father Jehoash, the son of Jehoahaz. When Ben-hadad succeeded to the throne of Hazael, Jehoash, in accordance with a prophecy of the dying Elisha, re- ■ covered the cities which Jehoahaz had lost to the Syr- ans, and beat him in Aphek (2 Kings viii, 17), in the ! plain of Esdraelon, where Ahab had already defeated j Ben-hadad II. B.C. 835. Jehoash gained two more | victories, but did not restore the dominion of Israel on j the east of Jordan. This glory was reserved for his successor Jeroboam. The misfortunes of Ben-hadad III in war are noticed by Amos (i, 4) — Smith, s. v.