HAMATH-ZOBAH

(Haʹmath-zoʹbah).

This place was apparently conquered by Solomon and thus figuring in his only military engagement alluded to in Scripture. (2Ch 8:3) The exact identity of Hamath-zobah is uncertain. Hamath and Zobah may have been adjoining kingdoms (compare 1Ch 18:9; 2Ch 8:4), whence the compound name “Hamath-zobah.” That two neighboring geographic locations may be joined in this way is illustrated by 1 Chronicles 6:78. The literal Hebrew of this text reads “the Jordan Jericho,” or “the Jordan of Jericho,” and is usually rendered “the Jordan at [by] Jericho.”​—NW, RS, KJ.