THADAL (Hebr. Tidh'al, Septuagint Θαφγάλ). — King of the gōjīm, or "of the nations," who, together with Amraphel (v.) Arioch (v.) of Ellasar, under the leadership of Chedorlaomer (v.) of Elam, carried out military enterprises in Canaan with varying fortunes at the time of Abraham (Gen. 14).
The name is usually linked to that of
Tudhaliyas, borne by some Hittite sovereigns, who indeed several times held such vast empires under them as to be called "kings of the peoples": but the identification is even more difficult than for the related kings, especially Amraphel (v.).
BIBL.: F. T. Bohl, Tud'alia I, in Zeitschr. f. d. altt. Wissench., 42 (1934), pp. 148-53. Giovanni Rinaldi