Difference between revisions of "Rezin"

<p> <strong> [[Rezin]] </strong> . From the ancient versions and the cuneiform inscriptions it is clear that the form should be <em> Razon </em> or <em> Razin </em> . </p> <p> <strong> 1 </strong> . The last king of Damascus. Towards the close of the 8th cent. b.c. [[Damascus]] and [[Israel]] were under the suzerainty of Assyria. Tiglath-pileser iii. enumerates the articles paid him in tribute by <em> Ra-sun-nu </em> of Damascus and [[Menahem]] of Israel (b.c. 738). <strong> [[Pekah]] </strong> , one of Menahem’s successors, joined Rezin in the attempt to throw off the yoke. [[Failing]] to secure the co-operation of Ahaz, they turned their arms against Judah (b.c. 734). &nbsp; 2 Kings 16:6 mentions, among the incidents of the campaign, that Rezin ‘recovered [[Elath]] to Syria, and drave the [[Jews]] from Elath.’ [This statement originated in a scribal error, <strong> the </strong> r in <em> [[Aram]] </em> <em> [Note: ram Aramaic.] </em> (‘Syria’) having been accidentally substituted for the <em> d </em> of <em> [[Edom]] </em> , and Rezin’s name being added still later for the sake of completeness (cf. &nbsp; 2 Chronicles 28:17 ).] The two allies besieged Jerusalem, greatly to the alarm of the populace, and Isaiah strove in vain to allay the terror (&nbsp; Isaiah 7:1-25; &nbsp; Isaiah 8:1-22; &nbsp; Isaiah 9:1-21 ). [[Ahaz]] implored aid from Tiglath-pileser, to whom he became tributary (&nbsp; 2 Kings 16:8 ). On the approach of the Assyrians, Pekah was murdered by his own subjects. Damascus sustained a siege of more than a year’s duration, but was eventually taken (b.c. 732), and Rezin was slain (&nbsp; 2 Kings 16:9 ). Rawlinson found an inscription on which this was recorded, but the stone has unfortunately disappeared. It is not quite certain who ‘ <strong> the son of [[Tabeel]] </strong> ’ (&nbsp; Isaiah 7:6 ) is. Winckler ( <em> Alttest. Untersuch </em> ., p. 74f.) fails to carry conviction in his attempt to identify this man with Rezln. More probably he was the tool whom the confederates proposed to seat on the throne of Judah. </p> <p> <strong> 2 </strong> . The ‘children of Rezin’ are mentioned as a family of [[Nethinim]] (&nbsp; Ezra 2:48 , &nbsp; Nehemiah 7:50 ). Like the Nethinim generally, they were very likely of foreign descent. In 1Es 5:31 they are called ‘sons of <strong> [[Daisan]] </strong> ,’ another instance of the confusion of <em> r </em> and <em> d </em> . </p> <p> J. Taylor. </p>

<p> [[Rezin]] (''Rç'Zin'' ), ''Stable, Firm.'' 1. King of Damascus: allied himself with Pekah and defeated Ahaz, but was himself defeated by Tiglath-pileser II., his capital destroyed and his people carried away into captivity. &nbsp;2 Kings 15:37; &nbsp;2 Kings 16:5-9; &nbsp;Isaiah 7:1-8; &nbsp;Isaiah 8:6; &nbsp;Isaiah 9:11. 2. One whose descendants returned with Zerubbabel. &nbsp;Ezra 2:48; &nbsp;Nehemiah 7:50. </p>

<p> (Heb. Retsin', רְצַין ''',''' ''Firm,'' perhaps [[Prince]] )'','' the name of two men. </p> <p> '''1.''' (Sept. ῾Ρασίν, ῾Ραασσών ''.'' ) A king of Damascus, contemporary with Pekah in Israel, and with [[Jotham]] and Ahaz in Judaea. The policy of Rezin seems to have been to ally himself closely with the kingdom of Israel, and, thus strengthened, to carry on constant war against the kings of Judah. He attacked Jotham during the latter part of his reign (&nbsp;2 Kings 15:37); but his chief war was with Ahaz, whose territories he invaded, in company with Pekah, soon after Ahaz had mounted the throne (B.C. cir. 740). The combined army laid siege to Jerusalem, where Ahaz was, but "could not prevail against it" (&nbsp;Isaiah 7:1; &nbsp;2 Kings 16:5). Rezin, however, "recovered Elath to Syria" (&nbsp;2 Kings 16:6); that is, he conquered and held possession of the celebrated town of that name at the head of the [[Gulf]] of ‘ Akabah, which commanded one of the most important lines of trade in the East. Soon after this he was attacked by Tiglath-pileser II, king of Assyria, to whom Ahaz in his distress had made application. His armies were defeated by the [[Assyrian]] hosts; his city besieged and taken; his people carried away captive into Susiana; and he himself slain (&nbsp;2 Kings 16:9; comp. Tiglath-pileser's own inscriptions, where the defeat of Rezin and the destruction of Damascus are distinctly mentioned). This treatment was probably owing to his being regarded as a rebel, since Damascus had been taken and laid under tribute by the [[Assyrians]] some time previously (Rawlinson, Herodotus, 1, 467). </p> <p> '''2.''' The head of one of the families of the Nethinim who returned from [[Babylon]] (&nbsp;Ezra 2:48; &nbsp;Nehemiah 7:50). B.C. ante 536. </p>