Zobah or Aram-Zobah () was an early Aramean state and former vassal kingdom of Israel mentioned in the Hebrew Bible that extended northeast of David's realm according to the Hebrew Bible.
Alexander Kirkpatrick, in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (1896), places it broadly between Damascus and the Euphrates.[Kirkpatrick, A. F., Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on 1 Samuel 14, accessed 26 July 2019] It is thought by some to have extended from the Beqaa Valley along the eastern side of the Anti-Lebanon mountains, reaching Hama to the north and Damascus to the south, making it at one time a state of considerable importance.
In the Hebrew Bible
In 1 Samuel 14:47, the kings of Zobah were said to have fought with the Israelite king
Saul. Kirkpatrick suggests that "the 'kings' were independent chiefs", but by the time of David, there was a single king, Hadadezer bar Rehob.
Later, King Hadadezer bar Rehob allied with
Ammon against King David, who defeated Zobah and made the kingdom tributary to
United Monarchy (). In this war, Arameans from across the Euphrates came to Hadadezer's aid (). Upon the accession of
Solomon, Zobah became independent of Israel (compare et seq.).
The chapter-heading of Psalm 60 in the New King James Version refers to Zobah.[: NKJV] In the Revised Standard Version and the New American Bible (Revised Edition), the reference is to Aram-Zobah.[: RSV][: NABRE]
In Mesopotamian sources
The earliest extrabiblical attestation of Zobah occurs in an Old Babylonian
cuneiform unearthed at Mari (M. 5423) that describes the campaign of the troops of Mari, led by
Ishi-Addu, king of
Qatna, to the Beqaa Valley. The tablet describes the city of Ṣîbat (probably identical to biblical Zobah and the Neo-Assyrian city of Ṣubat) as among the cities conquered by the king's troops.
During the Neo-Assyrian period, Ṣubat is mentioned in the annals of Tiglath-Pileser III as the capital of a province following his conquests in the region. The Assyrian records also name two local governors: Šamaš-aḫu-iddina and Bēl-liqbi.
Zobah is also attested as Ṣbh in Aramaic graffiti from the 8th century BC that were found in Hama.
Medieval Rabbinical sources
From the 11th century, it was common
Rabbinic Judaism usage to apply the term "Aram-Zobah" to the area of
Aleppo, and this is perpetuated by
Syrian Jews to this day.
[ World Center for Aleppo (Halab) Jews Traditional Culture, המרכז העולמי למורשת יהדות ארם-צובא (הלב).] However,
Saadia Gaon (882‒942 CE), in his
Judeo-Arabic translation (
tafsīr) of the
Psalms identified Aram-zobah with
Nusaybin.
[ The Book of Psalms (with Rabbi Saadia Gaon's Translation and Commentary), editor: Yosef Qafih, Machon Moshe: 2nd edition, Jerusalem 2010, s.v. Psalm 60:2.]
Identification attempts
Based on the biblical narrative, primarily from the Books of Kings and 2 Samuel,
Berothai, a city belonging to Hadadezer () is identified by many with
Berothah (), which was between
Hamath and
Damascus. Zobah was probably located near this city, though Joseph Halévy claims to have identified Zobah with Chalcis. On the later view, the area in question would be found in the far north of
Syria and parts of
Turkey.
Some sources indicate that Zobah city is the modern city of Homs in Syria, or Anjar in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.[ كتاب صوبا - تاريخ وطن وحياة قرية ]
According to Edward Lipiński, the location of the capital city of Ṣoba corresponds to the present archaeological site of Tell Deir in the Beqaa Valley of modern-day Lebanon. Gaby Abousamra connects Zobah with the modern-day village of Zabbud, also in Lebanon. Nadav Na'aman suggests Al-Qusayr north of Riblah as one possible candidate for the biblical city.
See also
Bibliography
