Hamath-zobah

Hamath-zobah ("Hamath of Zobah") was a city or district in the northern Aramean kingdom of Zobah that King Solomon captured and fortified during his great northern campaign (2 Chronicles 8:3-6). The verse pairs naturally with Solomon's building of Tadmor in the wilderness and his strengthening of the store-cities of Hamath. The compound name "Hamath-zobah" most likely refers to a southern district of Hamath that had come under the control of the Aramean kingdom of Zobah — which David had defeated a generation earlier (2 Samuel 8:3-12). Solomon reasserted Davidic dominion over the entire northern corridor as far as the Euphrates.