HADAD

(Haʹdad).

1. One of the 12 sons of Ishmael the son of Abraham and his concubine Hagar.​—Ge 25:12-15; 1Ch 1:28-30.

2. Successor to the kingship of Edom after the death of Husham. “Hadad son of Bedad, who defeated the Midianites in the field of Moab,” apparently ruled from the city of Avith.​—Ge 36:31, 35, 36; 1Ch 1:46, 47.

3. Another king of Edom; husband of Mehetabel. Hadad succeeded Baal-hanan to the kingship, and “the name of his city was Pau.” (1Ch 1:43, 50, 51) He is called Hadar at Genesis 36:39, which may be due to a scribal error, since the Hebrew letters corresponding to “r” (ר) and “d” (ד) are very similar.

4. An Edomite of the royal offspring and a troublemaker for Israel during Solomon’s reign. While yet a child, Hadad, along with some of his father’s servants, fled down to Egypt by way of Paran to escape Joab’s slaughter of all the males of Edom. In Egypt, Hadad and those with him were kindly received, Pharaoh giving Hadad a house as well as food and land, and later even his own sister-in-law as a wife. By this woman, Hadad had a son named Genubath, who lived right in Pharaoh’s house among the sons of Pharaoh. Upon learning that King David and Joab had died, Hadad returned to Edom and proved to be a resister to Solomon.​—1Ki 11:14-22, 25.

5. Hadad (Adad in Akkadian) is considered to be the chief deity of ancient Syria and is generally identified with Rimmon. The name Hadad appears as part of the names of certain Syrian kings, such as Ben-hadad (1Ki 15:18) and Hadadezer (1Ki 11:23), and also occurs in the name Hadadrimmon.​—Zec 12:11; see HADADRIMMON.