Meaning of HAZOR

"closed place".
(a) Capital of the Canaanite kingdom that occupied northern Palestine; In the time of Joshua its ruler was Jabin. According to Josephus, this kingdom was above the waters of Merom (Ant. 5:5, 1), and Joshua seized Hazor and burned it (Josh. 11:1-13; 12:19).

This city was rebuilt and fell to the tribe of Naphtali (Josh. 19:36). In the time of Deborah and Barak, another king named Jabin reigned in Hazor. After the defeat of Sisera, his general, Jabin tried to continue the fight against Israel, but was ultimately defeated and killed (Judg. 4:1-24; 1 Sam. 12:9).

There is doubt as to whether this is the Hazor fortified by Solomon, or whether it was another city of the same name (1 Kings 9:15). The truth is that the inhabitants of Hazor rebuilt by Solomon were deported to Assyria by Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings 15:29).

It is on the neighboring plain that Jonathan defeated Demetrius (1 Mac. 11:67; Ant 13:5, 7). Hazor is mentioned in the El-Amarna letters (see AMARNA). It is identified with Tell elMakkas (Gedeh), 6 km west of the Daughters of Zion bridge. In 1955 the Hebrew University of Jerusalem began excavations.

It has been discovered that the city was strongly fortified, and with an ingenious water supply system thanks to which they were fully self-sufficient in the event of a siege (Biblical Archeology Review, March/April 1980, vol. VI, n. 2, PP. 8 -29).

(b) Another city at the southern tip of Judah, near Kadesh (Josh. 15:23). Plausible identification: el-Jebariyeh, near Bir el-Hãfir, about 14 km southeast of el-'Aujã.

(c) Hezron (Josh. 15:25), generally identified with Khirbet el-Karyathein, about 7 km south of Tell Mã'în.

(d) People of Benjamin (Neh. 11:33). Conder identifies it with Khirbet Hazzur, about 6.5 km north-northwest of Jerusalem, between Beit Hanîna and Nebi Samwîl, 31° 50' N, 35° 12' E.

(e) Region in the Arabian Desert, east of Palestine. Jeremiah prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would plunder it (Jer. 49:28-33). Berossus claims that Nebuchadnezzar conquered Arabia (Josephus, Against Apion, 1:19). It is possible that Hazor has a collective meaning, referring to a sedentary existence as opposed to a nomadic life.