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en-haim, paul
Ben-Hadad again opened hostilities against Ahab, but was
defeated a second time at *Aphek and taken prisoner (I Kings
20:26ff.). By the terms of the friendly alliance that he subsequently
concluded with Israel, Ben-Hadad undertook to return
the Israelite towns under his dominion and to put bazaars
in Damascus at the disposal of the merchants of Israel. After
three years of peace, Ahab, with the assistance of *Jehoshaphat,
the king of Judah, embarked on a new war against Aram in
Ramoth-Gilead, during which he met his death (I Kings 22,
where the king of Aram is referred to only by his title). It seems
that between the second and the last war against Ahab, Ben-
Hadad (who is referred to in Assyrian inscriptions as Adad-
Idri, i.e., Hadadezer, perhaps his personal name as distinct
from his throne name; but cf. Pitard in Bibliography) led an
alliance consisting of the kings of Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine
(including Ahab) in a war against Shalmaneser III, king
of Assyria, near *Qarqar in 853 B.C.E. After the war of Qarqar
the coalition split up and the last war with Israel took place.
Afterward Ben-Hadad resumed the leadership in an alliance
against Assyria and thus succeeded in temporarily removing
the Assyrian threat (848, 845 B.C.E.). Shortly after *Jehu’s accession
to the throne of Israel, Ben-Hadad was assassinated
on his sickbed by Hazael (II Kings 8:15), who seized the throne
of Aram (II Kings 8:7–15; cf. I Kings 19:15). The biblical depiction
of Hazael as a usurper appears to be reflected in an
Assyrian inscription of Shalmaneser III (858–24 B.C.E.) that
describes him as “son of a nobody.” (See Cogan and Tadmor
in Bibliography.)
BEN-HADAD III. Ben-Hadad III, son of Hazael, was the contemporary
of *Jehoahaz and *Joash, kings of Israel (814–800
and 800–784 B.C.E.). During the early years of his reign the
greater part of the kingdom of Israel was occupied by Aram.
It is also possible that Ben-Hadad added to the conquests
of his father because he headed an alliance of north Syrian
and neo-Hittite kingdoms (e.g., *Que, *Sam’al) that attacked
Zakkur, king of Hamath and Luath, and besieged Hadrach,
though without success (COS II, 155). In 806–805, Adad-Nirari
III, king of Assyria (810–782), renewed the war against
Aram, besieged Damascus in 802, and imposed a heavy tribute
on Ben-Hadad (whom the Assyrian inscriptions refer to
by the Aramean title of Mari, “Lord”). It was this setback of
Aram that enabled Israel to throw off the Aramean yoke. In
the reign of this Ben-Hadad, Damascus lost its dominant position
in Syria, and for a generation after, the kings of Israel
and Judah were the predominant force there.
[Isaiah Gafni]
H. Winckler and E. Meyer (followed in the 1940s by W.F. Albright)
believe that there were only two kings of Aram by the
name of Ben-Hadad, the Aramean contemporary of Baasha
being identical with that of Ahab.
Moreover, while the chronology of the books of Kings has
been followed above, H.L. Ginsberg has suggested that, though
there are bound to be differences as to just what adjustments
need to be made, the distribution of the incidents during the
Aramean wars among the various kings of Israel cannot be
correct in all respects. If the Aramean incident of I Kings 20
took place under the dynasty of Jehu, the above Ben-Hadad
II is identical not with the above Ben-Hadad I but with the
above Ben-Hadad III, and Ahab’s Aramean ally had only the
one name Adad-Idri / Hadadezer, for there is no difficulty in
assuming that this legend in II Kings 8:15 is in error regarding
the name of Hazael’s predecessor. Also, the elaborate story in
I Kings 20:1–35 about the anonymous king of Israel who dies
in his chariot of an arrow wound sustained in a battle with the
Arameans, in which he was assisted by King Jehoshaphat of
Judah, at Ramoth-Gilead, bears a strong resemblance to the
palpably historical account in II Kings 8:25–9:24. This tells
of how King Jehoram of Israel, while recuperating (at Jezreel)
from wounds sustained in a battle with the Arameans,
in which he was assisted by King Ahaziah of Judah, at Ramoth-Gilead,
is shot dead in his chariot with an arrow from
the bow of Jehu, who follows him (to Jezreel) from the camp
at Ramoth-Gilead. Thus one wonders if the suspicion that the
former is a legendary parallel to the latter and has nothing to
do with Ahab has not been voiced before. (The incident in the
former, with the various prophets, probably contains a core
of history, but also pertains to Jehoram and Ahaziah, not to
“Ahab” and Jehoshaphat.)
See also *Ahab, *Jehoahaz, *Joash, *Jehoram, and *Jehu,
and the bibliography below under Jepsen.
[Harold Louis Ginsberg]
Bibliography: Bright, Hist, 215, 221, 223–4, 228, 235, 237; A.
Dupont-Sommer, Les araméens (1949); E. Kraeling, Aram and Israel
(1918); M.F. Unger, Israel and the Arameans of Damascus (1957); A. Jepsen,
in: AFO, 14 (1941–4), 153–72; W.F. Albright, in: BASOR, 87 (1942),
23–40; 90 (1943), 32; 100 (1945), 10–22. Add. Bibliography: W.
Pitard, ABD I, 663–65; M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (1988), 92;
M. Cogan, I Kings (AB; 2000) 471–74.
BEN-HAIM (Frankenburger), PAUL (1897–1984), Israeli
composer, one of the leading founders of Israeli art music.
Ben-Haim was born in Munich. His father, Heinrich, was a
respected professor of law. In 1920 Ben-Haim graduated from
the Munich Academy of Music as conductor, composer, and
pianist, and then was assistant to Bruno *Walter at the Munich
Opera. In 1924 he became Kapellmeister of the Augsburg
Opera. While in Germany he composed about 80 lieder as
well as chamber and orchestral works (e.g., Concerto Grosso,
1931) which were very well received. In 1929 he met the Jewish
composer Heinrich Schalit (1886–1976), who encouraged
him to write a series of Jewish-oriented choral works to biblical
verses. In October 1933 he settled in Tel Aviv and changed
his name to Ben-Haim. He dedicated himself to composition
and to teaching at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and at
the Music Teachers Training College in Tel Aviv. Some of Israel’s
best composers were his private composition students.
As a highly prolific and inspired composer, Ben-Haim found
the way to retain his cherished European heritage, with his
admiration for J.S. Bach (as in his Metamorphosis on a Bach
350 ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 3