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Bible Dictionaries
Shobach
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or SHOBACH . The captain of the host of Hadarezer, the Aramæan king of Zobah (wh. see), who commanded the forces of that king when he aided the Ammonites in their war with king David. David defeated him, and Shobach lost his life ( 2 Samuel 10:13-18 ). In 1 Chronicles 19:16 the name is spelled Shophach .
Perhaps because so little was known of Shobach, he played an important part in later imaginative tradition. The Mishna ( Sotah , viii. 1) makes him a giant of the Ammonites equal to Goliath, while the Samaritan Chronicle, sometimes called ‘the book of Joshua.’ tells a long tale concerning him (chs. 26 38), making him the son of Haman, a king of Persia whom Joshua had killed, and who stirred up a great coalition to avenge the death of his father I All authentic information concerning Shobach is contained in 2 Samuel 10:16-18 , which 1 Chronicles 19:16 repeats.
George A. Barton.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Shobach'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/s/shobach.html. 1909.
