Rezin

REZIN (Heb. רְצִין), properly Raṣyān, the Hebrew form of Aramaic Raʿyān, "the man of favor," in cuneiform transcription Raḥianu, the last king of *Aram-Damascus (II Kings 15:37; 16:5; Isa. 7:1ff.). His name is attested in a tribute list of Tiglath-Pileser III dating from 734 B.C.E. Shortly after, in alliance with *Pekah of Israel, he attempted to depose *Ahaz of Judah and enthrone a rival candidate. This pressure from the north compelled Judah to evacuate definitively the port of Elath in the far south (II Kings 16:6). However, Tiglath-Pileser, being solicited with an enormous payment by Ahaz, attacked Aram and Israel. Upon the capture of Damascus, in 732 B.C.E., Rezin was killed (II Kings 16:9) and his former kingdom annexed to the Assyrian Empire.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

P. Rost, Tiglat-Pileser (1893), 144; B. Landsberger, Sam'al (1948), 66 n. 169; H. Tadmor, in: Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 12 (1958), 40; idem, in: H.H. Ben-Sasson (ed.), Toledot Am Yisrael bi-Ymei Kedem (1969), 134.