Hamath-zobah

Hamath-zobah ("Hamath of Zobah") was a city or district in the northern Aramean kingdom of Zobah that King Solomon captured and fortified during his great northern campaign (2 Chronicles 8:3-6). The verse pairs naturally with Solomon's building of Tadmor in the wilderness and his strengthening of the store-cities of Hamath. The compound name "Hamath-zobah" most likely refers to a southern district of Hamath that had come under the control of the Aramean kingdom of Zobah — which David had defeated a generation earlier (2 Samuel 8:3-12). Solomon reasserted Davidic dominion over the entire northern corridor as far as the Euphrates. The exact location is debated, but it lay between the great northern cities of Hamath on the Orontes and Damascus on the desert frontier. The campaign demonstrates that Solomon's power extended deep into modern Syria during his peak years.