ADARÉZER. - Aramean king of Soba. The Hebrew name is Hadad'ezer and Hadar'ezer: the latter form, found in Paralipomeni and the Septuagint (Ἀδραχάς), the Vulgate, and the Syriac version, is less correct. Hadad (v.), an Aramean divinity, enters into the composition of the name, which is identified with Adad-idri (inscription of Salmanasar III), II (v.), Aramean king of Damascus.
David conducted two campaigns against this warlike prince. In one (II Sam. 8, 1-14; I Par. 18, 1-13), A. was defeated near Harnat, close to Hermon, and David adorned the sanctuary with the “golden shields” taken from his officers; the Arameans of Damascus who had come to his aid were subsequently defeated. In the second, in which A. apparently did not take part personally (II Sam. 10, 6-19; I Par. 19, 6-19), he was defeated together with the Ammonites and their Aramean allies of Rohob, Tob, and Maacha; but the Aramean troops, commanded by his general Sobac and hastily assembled in the eastern regions, renewed the battle and were definitively defeated at Helam, in the basin of the Yarmuk, where Sobac was killed. A few exegetes, among them Fillion, identify the two wars.
BIBLI: R. Kittel, Geschichte des Volkes Israel, II, 7ª ed., Stoccarda 1925, pp. 253-55; L. Desnoyers, Histoire du peuple hébron, II, Parigi 1930, pp. 204-23. Francesco Spadafora