ZOBAH (t.42.1V and rdrY ; Zoupct ; Saba), one of the ancient kingdoms Of Syria, first mentioned as having been conquered by Saul after his eleva tion to the throne of Israel (I Sam. xiv. 47). King David also turned his victorious arms against Ha dadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobak, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates ' (2 Sam. viii. 3, 5, 12). From the sacred narrative we learn that it was one of the great provinces or kingdoms of Aram ; that its people were rich and warlike ; and that it embraced that section of northern Syria which lies between Hamath and the Euphrates (cf. Chron. xviii. 3-9 ; xix. 6). It was so closely connected with Harnath, that that great city was sometimes distinguished as Hamath Zobah (2 Chron. viii. 3). The people of Zobah were among the most troublesome and determined enemies of Israel during the reigns of David and Solomon. They seem to have lost no opportu nity of joining confederacies to restrain the rising power of the Jewish nation. Solomon was especi ally hamssed by the intrigues of Rezon, a refugee from Zobah, who collected a band of followers, seized the cily of Damascus, and became for a time its real or virtual monarch. It is emphatically said
of him, He was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon and he abhorred Israel and reigned over Syria ' (i Kings xi. 23-25).
The Syriac interpreters take Zobah to be Nisi bis, in Mesopotamia, and they have been followed by Michaelis' (Gesenius, s. v.) Others would iden tify it with the classic Chalcis. These, however, are mere conjectures. There are no data to fix definitely the site of the city. The kingdom mani festly lay north of Damascus, and east of Hamath. It was a wide arid plain intersected by several ranges of bleak white mountains ; but having also r. few fertile valleys. The inhabitants were pro bably semi-nomads, and chiefly shepherds. Like the modem Bedawin of that regkm they were rich in horses (Ritter, Pal. und Sy,.. iv. i7o0 ; Hand book, 614).—J. L. P.