NAAMAN.) (3) ECazael. After the death of Benhadad, Jo ram found a new and active enemy in his mur derer and successor Hazael. During the illness of Benhadad, the king of Israel seems to have em ployed himself in strengthening his eastern fron tier against the Syrians, and in fortifying Ra moth-Gilead, which had fallen into his hands, and in the attempt to recover which from the Syrians his father had perished. This strong fortress thenceforth became the headquarters of the oper ations beyond the river. Hazael was scarcely set tled on the throne before he took arms and marched against Ramoth, in the environs of which the Israelites sustained a defeat, and the king was wounded. He returned to Jezreel to be healed of his wounds, leaving the army in charge of Jehu, one of his ablest and most active generals. It was in this interval that Jehu was anointed king of Israel by the messenger of Elisha, and immediately proceeded to Jezreel to fulfill his commission to exterminate the house of Ahab.
The king, who went forth from the city to meet him when the watchman on the tower of Jezreel announced his approach, was slain under the cir rimstances describcd in the article JEllu; and Ahaziah, the king of Judah, who was at Jezreel on a visit to his sick cousin, shared his fate (13. C. 884). With Joram ended the dynasty of Ahab, which reigned forty-four years in Israel (2 Kings viii :25-29 ; ix :i-2o).
2. King of Judah (2 Kings viii :21, 23, 24 ; Chron. :it ; 2 Chron. xxii :5, 7 ; Matt. i :8).
(See JEHORAM.) .3. One of the priests sent by Jehoshaphat to instruct the cities of Judah in the law of Moses (2 Chron. xvii :8).
4. A Levite, ancestor of Shelomith, who lived in the time of David (i Chron. xxvi :25).
5. A messenger sent by his father, King Toi, of Hamath, to congratulate David on his victory over Hadadezer (2 Sam. viii :to), B. C. about 986. (See HADORAM, 2.)