HAZOR (ha'zor), (Hcb. khaw-lsore', vil lage, enclosure or castle).
1. A chief city of north Palestine (Josh. xi no), near Lakc Merom (Huleh), the seat of Jabin, a powerful Canaanitish king, as appears from the summons sent by him to all the neighboring kings to assist him against the Israelites. He and his confederates were, however, defeated and slain by Joshua, and the city burnt to the ground (Josh. xi :1, to-13 ; Joseph. /Wig. v. 5, 1). But by the time of Deborah and Barak the Canaanites had re covered part of the territory then lost, had rebuilt Hazor, and were ruled by a king with the ancient royal name of Jabin, under whose power the Is raelites were, in punishment for their sins, re duced. From this yoke they were delivered by Deborah and Barak, after which Hazor remained in quiet possession of the Israelites, and belonged to the tribe of Naplitali (Josh. xix :36; Judg. : 2). Hazor was one of the towns rebuilt or much improved by Solomon (/ Kings ix :15), and was one of the fortified places of Galilee which the Assyrians under Tiglath-pileser first took, on in vading Palestine from the north (2 Kings xv : 29). Several places have been suggested as the site : Tell Khureibelt, a rocky peak near Kedesh, by Robinson ; and Conder points out the name Ifadirelt, the Arabic equivalent of Hazor, near this; modern Hazere, where are ruins, by Thom son ; but doubtless it is to be found at khzirbet Harrah, two and a half miles southeast of Kedesh, as proposed by the Palestine Memoirs. Remains
of ancient walls, towers, and a fortress are to be found, and also broken glass and pottery.
C. R. Condcr, Hastings' Bib. Dict., says : From Hazor two letters of the Tel el-Amarna collection were written in the 15th century B. C. to the king of Egypt. They arc much damaged, but they speak of an attack on thc place, and ask for aid. In one of them the king's natne is given ; and though the first syllable is damaged, it may be rcad I-eba-enu, e., 'Jabin.' Hazor is also noticed, with places ir Upper and Lower Galilee, by the Mohar (an Egyptian traveler of the i4th sentury B. C.) on his way from the seacoast to the Lake of Tibe rias. (See Memoirs of Sur. of IV. Pal. vol. i. ch. iv.) 2. A city in the extreme south of Judah (Josh. xv :23).
3. (Josh. xv :25) "Hezron which is Hazor" prob ably means that the name had been changed.
4. Thc residence of the Bcnjamites after the re turn from captivity (Neh. xi:33), probably north of Jerusalem.
5. Apparently a region of Arabia (Jer. xlix :28 33)•