Baal-hanan (Hebrew: בַּעַל חָנָן / בָּעַל חָנָן, Standard Baʿal Ḥanan Tiberian Baʿal Ḥānān / Bāʿal Ḥānān) means "Baal has been gracious".[1] There are two men by this name in the Hebrew Bible.
In Genesis 36:38–39, Baal-hanan is a King of Edom. He is also mentioned in the King List in 1 Chronicles 1:49–50. He succeeded Shaul and was himself succeeded by Hadad. He was the son of Achbor.
He is called the son of Achbor; but the name of his native city is not given. For this and other reasons, Marqaurt supposes that "son of Achbor" is a duplicate of "son of Beor" (Gen. 36:32), and that "Baal-hanan" in the original text is given as the name of the father of the next king, Hadar.[2]
The date and even historicity[3] of his reign are unknown, as he is not mentioned in any other surviving source.
In the Books of Chronicles there is also a second man by this name, from the city of Geder. In 1 Chronicles 27:28 he is described as being responsible to King David for the care of olive and sycamore trees.
References
edit- ^ William W. Hallo; K. Lawson Younger (1 January 2000). The Context of Scripture: Monumental inscriptions from the biblical world. Brill. p. 198. ISBN 978-90-04-10619-2.
- ^ Josef Markwart (Joseph Marquart), Fundamente Israelitischer und Jüdischer Gesch. 1896, pp. 10 et seq.
- ^ Joan E. Cook (1 December 2016). Genesis. Liturgical Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-8146-4768-4.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). "Baal-hanan". The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
