HADAD hā’ dăd (חֲדַ֣ד, prob. thunderer). 1. An ancient Sem. god worshiped in Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia from about the time of Abraham on. He is frequently mentioned in the Ras Shamra texts as the proper name of the Sanaanite Baal, a storm-god who manifests himself in thunder, lightning, and rain. Since storms are often destructive, he is asked in prayers and hymns to restrain his destructive propensities; but since storms are also bringers of beneficial rains, he is looked upon as a principle of life and fertility. He is the Baal of the fertility cults of Ugarit and Canaan. The thunder is his voice. He is the dying and rising god, like Tammuz of Mesopotamia. He is also a warrior god and is represented as a warrior standing on a bull, carrying a mace and a thunderbolt, with the horns of a bull on his helmet. He was worshiped as a warrior god particularly by the Assyrians.

The name Hadad and its variant Hadar are prob. abbreviations of names compounded with this divine element (see Hadadezer, Benhadad, Hadadrimmon). The monolith of Shalmaneser calls him “the god of Aleppo.” He is not mentioned in the OT.

2. A grandson of Abraham, and the eighth of the twelve sons of Ishmael (Gen 25:15; 1 Chron 1:30). The KJV has “Hadar” in Genesis 25:15, but “Hadad” in the parallel passage 1 Chron 1:30). The ASV and RSV have “Hadad” in both places.

3. A king of Edom who was the son of Bedad (Gen 36:35, 36; 1 Chron 1:46, 47). He overcame the Midianites in the plain of Moab. His capital was Avith.

4. Another king of Edom. His capital was Pau. His wife’s name was Mehetabel (Gen 36:39; 1 Chron 1:50, 51).

5. An Edomite prince who, after Joab defeated the Edomites and occupied their country, was taken to Egypt as a young boy. There the Pharaoh welcomed him and later gave him a sister-in-law to wife. His son was brought up in the court of Egypt. After the death of David he returned to Edom and attempted to stir up the Edomites against the rule of Solomon, apparently with some success (1 Kings 11:14-22, 25).