Chazael and the Tel Dan Stele/0

Chazael and the Tel Dan Stele

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Overview

The Tel Dan Stele is most well known for its mention of the "House of David," considered by many to be the earliest extra-Biblical reference to the Davidic dynasty yet discovered.  The Aramaic inscription describes the triumph of Aram over Israel and Yehuda and is believed to speak of Chazael's war against Yehoram and Achazyah, discussed briefly in Melakhim II 8.

Biblical Sources

Chazael is first mentioned in Melakhim I 19, where Hashem tells Eliyahu to anoint him as king over Aram, declaring that he will decimate the nation for their sins. The appointment is first fulfilled in the time of Elisha, who reaffirms the prophecy, telling Chazael not only that he is to be king, but that "יָדַעְתִּי אֵת אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂה לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל רָעָה מִבְצְרֵיהֶם תְּשַׁלַּח בָּאֵשׁ וּבַחֻרֵיהֶם בַּחֶרֶב תַּהֲרֹג וְעֹלְלֵיהֶם תְּרַטֵּשׁ וְהָרֹתֵיהֶם תְּבַקֵּעַ" (Melakhim II 8:12). The words come true as Chazael usurps the throne and proceeds to attack Yisrael and Yehuda.¹

Chazael's first battle is described almost tangentially in Melakhim II 8:26-29 and Melakhim II 9:15. We are told only that Achazyahu of Yehuda  joined Yehoram of Yisrael to fight Aram in Ramot Gilad. Though not explicit, it is possible that the war was initiated by Yehoram when he saw Chazael usurp the throne in Aram. He hoped to take advantage of the relatively unstable situation in Aram so as to retrieve Ramot Gilad. No details of the battle itself are given and only the outcome is relayed: Aram smote Yehoram, wounding Yehoram who was forced to return to Yizrael to recuperate. Soon after, Achazyahu came to visit, but unfortunately for him, his visit coincided with Yehu's revolt and overtaking of the throne.² Yehu, thus kills both Yehoram and Achazyahu.

Tel Dan Inscription

The Tel Dan Stele was discovered in 1993 during excavations led by Avraham Biran in Tel Dan in Northern Israel. It contains an inscription written in Aramaic which commemorates the victory of an Aramean king over his southern neighbors, the "king of Israel" and king of the "House of David."³ Due to the fragmentary nature of the stele and inscription, the name of the Aramean king is missing entirely and the names of the others are only partially legible.⁴  A. Biran and Y. Naveh have reconstructed the latter names as Yehoram and Achazyah, leading to the assumption that the Aramean king who commissioned the stele was Chazael. In the opening of the inscription (most of which is missing) the king alludes to a conflict that had existed between his father and Israel .  He then describes how after the god Hadad made him king, he slew thousands of chariots and horsemen, turned towns into ruins, and killed both enemy kings.

Relationship to Tanakh

Due to the small amount of data preserved in the inscription, it does not add much to our understanding of Melakhim 8, though it does provides further attestation of the desolation wrought by Chazael. There is one point, however, about which Tanakh and the stele disagree.  Tanakh attributes the murder of Yehoram and Achazyahu to Yehu, while in the inscription Chazael (the unnamed king) takes credit. How is the contradiction to be understood?

• Hyperbole – D. Bienenfeld suggests that it is possible that the king of the stele simply exaggerated his deeds, a phenomenon seen often in victory monuments and inscriptions.  Though he only wounded Yehoram, he boasts of killing him.  Since the inscription alludes to a longer standing feud between Chazael's family and the House of Omri, he would have every reason to want to take credit for Yehoram's murder. Moreover, since Chazael had wounded Yehoram enough that the king was forced to retreat to Yizrael, he might even have somewhat legitimately viewed himself as the cause of the kings' ultimate deaths.
• Mistaken reconstruction – D. Moshe Levy

¹ He does so throughout his reign, attacking during the rule of the Israelite kings Yehoram, Yehu and Yehoachaz, and the corresponding Judean kings, Achazyahu and Yoash.

² See Melakhim II 9:14-28.

³ See discussion below.

⁴ Just the ending "רם" of the first name has been preserved, while only the theophoric ending "י-הו" has survived of the second name.