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Hadad

HADAD (hā'dăd, sharpness, fierceness)

A grandson of Abraham through Ishmael (Gen.25.15; 1Chr.1.30).An early king of Edom, whose capital was at Pau or Pai (1Chr.1.50). In Gen.36.39 most manuscripts read “Hadar.”An earlier king of Edom, a son of Bedad, who defeated Midian in the country of Moab (Gen.36.35; 1Chr.1.46).An Edomite of royal descent whose life had been saved in his early childhood by flight from David’s devastating attacks. Hadad went to Egypt, where Pharaoh received him and his men, gave him a house, and highly favored him. Hadad became brother-in-law to Tahpenes, queen of Egypt, but later when he learned that David’s general, Joab, had died, he went back to Edom and became an adversary to Solomon (1Kgs.11.14-1Kgs.11.25).The supreme god of Syria, whose name is found in proper names like Ben-Hadad and Hadadezer. In Assyrian inscriptions he is identified with their air-god Ramman, i.e., Rimmon.


HADAD hā’ dăd (חֲדַ֣ד, prob. thunderer). 1. An ancient Sem. god worshiped in Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia from about the time of Abraham on. He is frequently mentioned in the Ras Shamra texts as the proper name of the Sanaanite Baal, a storm-god who manifests himself in thunder, lightning, and rain. Since storms are often destructive, he is asked in prayers and hymns to restrain his destructive propensities; but since storms are also bringers of beneficial rains, he is looked upon as a principle of life and fertility. He is the Baal of the fertility cults of Ugarit and Canaan. The thunder is his voice. He is the dying and rising god, like Tammuz of Mesopotamia. He is also a warrior god and is represented as a warrior standing on a bull, carrying a mace and a thunderbolt, with the horns of a bull on his helmet. He was worshiped as a warrior god particularly by the Assyrians.

The name Hadad and its variant Hadar are prob. abbreviations of names compounded with this divine element (see Hadadezer, Benhadad, Hadadrimmon). The monolith of Shalmaneser calls him “the god of Aleppo.” He is not mentioned in the OT.

2. A grandson of Abraham, and the eighth of the twelve sons of Ishmael (Gen 25:15; 1 Chron 1:30). The KJV has “Hadar” in Genesis 25:15, but “Hadad” in the parallel passage 1 Chron 1:30). The ASV and RSV have “Hadad” in both places.

3. A king of Edom who was the son of Bedad (Gen 36:35, 36; 1 Chron 1:46, 47). He overcame the Midianites in the plain of Moab. His capital was Avith.

4. Another king of Edom. His capital was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel (Gen 36:39; 1 Chron 1:50, 51).

5. An Edomite prince who, after Joab defeated the Edomites and occupied their country, was taken to Egypt as a young boy. There the Pharaoh welcomed him and later gave him a sister-in-law to wife. His son was brought up in the court of Egypt. After the death of David he returned to Edom and attempted to stir up the Edomites against the rule of Solomon, apparently with some success (1 Kings 11:14-22, 25).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

ha’-dad:

(1) (chadhadh, "sharpness"): One of the twelve sons of Ishmael (Ge 25:15, where the King James Version, following a mistake in Hebrew text, has "Hadar"; but "Hadad" is found in parallel passage 1Ch 1:30; the Revised Version (British and American) reads "Hadad" in both places).

(2) (hadhadh): A king of Edom, son of Bedad (Ge 36:35,36 parallel 1Ch 1:46,47), "who smote Midian in the field of Moab," and whose "city was Avith."

(3) Another king of Edom, written "Hadar" in Ge 36:39 by a copyist’s mistake, but "Hadad" in the parallel passage 1Ch 1:50,51. His city was Pau or Palestine.

(4) A member of the royal family of Edom in David’s time, who as a child escaped Joab’s slaughter of the Edomites, and fled to Egypt. On David’s death he returned to Edom, where he made trouble for Solomon by stirring up the Edomites against the rule of Israel (1Ki 11:14-22,25).

(5) The supreme god of Syria, whose name is found in Scripture in the names of Syrian kings, Benhadad, Hadadezer. The god Hadad (= perhaps, "maker of loud noise") is mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions, and called on the monolith of Shalmaneser "the god of Aleppo." In the Assyrian inscriptions he is identified with the air-god Rammon or Rimmon. The union of the two names in Zec 12:11 suggests this identity, though the reference is uncertain, some regarding Hadadrimmon as the name of a place, others as the name of the god--"Hadad (is) Rimmon." The name "Hadad" is found in various other forms: Adad, Dadu, and Dadda. See A. H. Sayce in HDB under the word "Hadad."