Tabrimmon

Biblical Record

Tabrimmon's name appears only once in the Bible. According to 1 Kings 15:18, when King Asa of Judah came under pressure from King Baasha of Israel, he sent the silver and gold from the treasuries of the temple and the royal palace to "Benhadad, the son of Tabrimon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, that dwelt at Damascus," seeking his help. The text records nothing of Tabrimmon's own deeds; it mentions him only to establish the lineage of Ben-hadad, king of Aram.

In the following verse, 1 Kings 15:19, Asa says, "There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father." Since Ben-hadad's father was Tabrimmon, this is understood to mean that Tabrimmon had made a league (treaty) with Judah in the time of Asa's father. The parallel account in 2 Chronicles 16:2–3 also mentions this league but does not name Tabrimmon.

Significance Within the Bible

Tabrimmon appears as a link in the genealogy of the Aramean royal house. His name points to the background against which Aram intervened in the conflict between the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel. The text does not explicitly call him "king." However, because his son Ben-hadad was king and Tabrimmon is portrayed as a party to a league with Judah, he is generally regarded as having ruled Aram as king as well. His name does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretation and Issues

• Meaning of the name: The Hebrew name is commonly interpreted as "Rimmon is good." Rimmon is known to have been a name for Hadad, the storm god worshiped by the Arameans. The "house of Rimmon" mentioned by the Aramean commander Naaman in 2 Kings 5:18 refers to the same deity.
• Identity of Hezion: Some scholars identify Hezion, Tabrimmon's father, with Rezon of Damascus, mentioned in 1 Kings 11:23. Since the Bible does not state that the two are the same person, however, this remains a hypothesis.
• Extrabiblical sources: The so-called Melqart Stele, discovered in Syria, records the genealogy of an Aramean king named Ben-hadad. Some scholars have believed they could read the names of Tabrimmon and Hezion in it, but because the reading of the text is uncertain, scholarly opinion is divided.
• Dating: Because scholars calculate the dates of Asa's reign in different ways, Tabrimmon's dates can be estimated only approximately.

In the Korean Church

Because Tabrimmon is known only by name, he is rarely treated on his own in sermons or Sunday school. When he is mentioned, it is usually only in passing, as part of Ben-hadad's lineage, in discussions of how Asa relied on an alliance with Aram rather than on God (2 Chronicles 16:7–9).