What is…
Aram-zobah

also known as: Aramzobah, Zobah, Zoba, or Aram-Zoba

Hebrew: “Aram Tsobah” (Aram of Tsoba or Zobah).

This name combination is mentioned only once in the Bible, in Psalm 60, in some versions.

“A Mikhtam of David. For teaching. When he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.” —Psalm 60 introduction

The name Aram-zobah combines Aram (the biblical term for the Arameans/Syria) with Zobah. The exact meaning of Zobah is uncertain; suggestions include associations with “army/host,” “beauty,” or a non-Hebrew root. It is usually just called Zobah in Biblical text.

It was one of several Aramean political entities in the region, alongside Aram-Damascus, Beth-Rehob, Maacah, and others.

This was an Aramean (Syrian) kingdom in the northern Levant during the early 1st millennium BC. It appears in the Bible mainly in connection with the wars of King Saul and especially David.

Saul fought “the kings of Zobah” as part of his campaigns against surrounding enemies (1 Samuel 14:47). By David’s time a single powerful king, Hadadezer son of Rehob, ruled it. David captured large numbers of chariots, horsemen, and infantry, hamstrung most of the chariot horses, and took bronze from Zobahite cities such as Betah/Tibhath and Berothai. Later the Ammonites hired Aramean troops from Zobah, Beth-Rehob, and other groups. Joab and David defeated this coalition.

One of David’s mighty men, Igal son of Nathan, was from Zobah (2 Samuel 23:36).

Location

Scholars generally place it north of Damascus, in or near the Beqaa Valley of modern Lebanon, along the eastern slopes of the Anti-Lebanon mountains. It sat between Hamath (near modern Hama, Syria) to the north and Damascus to the south, with influence that at times reached toward the Euphrates River.

Exact borders and the capital city are debated. Proposed identifications include sites in the northern Beqaa (such as Tell Deir or near Labweh), the area of Homs, or other locations in the region. Later Assyrian sources mention a related place called Ṣubat/Subiti in the same general area.