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22 Hope of Israel Ministries BIBLE Correspondence Course Lesson 42

same Jabin defeated by Joshua. Besides the fact from Mari to “Ibni-Addad, king of Hazor”
that 170 years separated the two events, we are (Horowitz and Shaffer 1992: 166). The form of
told specifically that the Jabin of Joshua was the name in the texts is Accadian; the West Sem-
killed by the Israelites. itic form would be “Yabni-Haddad.” Biblical Ja-
7. Was the Jabin of Deborah and Barak bin (Yabin) is simply a shortened form of this
also put to the sword? Judges 4:24. same name.
COMMENT: Why two kings with the A clay tablet found at Hazor in 1992 also
name Jabin? Did the Bible writers get the two mentions a king named Jabin (Horowitz and
events mixed up and somehow use the name of Shaffer 1992; cf. Bible and Spade Autumn
the king from one story in the other? Could it be 1992, p. 122). Dating to the 18-17th centuries
that we have here two different versions of the B.C., it is addressed to “Ibni [...].” Again, the
SAME event, as some Bible scholars maintain? name “Ibni” corresponds to Jabin/Yabin in the
NO, on both accounts! Even though Bible critics Bible. It is possible that this is the same Ibni
have had a field day with the two Jabins over the referred to in the Mari tablets. This cannot be
years, archaeology has shown us that the Bible confirmed or denied, however, since the Hazor
HAS IT RIGHT. There were, in fact, several tablet is not precisely dated and, in addition, the
other Jabins at Hazor, since it was a DYNASTIC last part of the name is missing. The letter was
NAME. written by an appointee of the king and concerns
It was common practice in the ancient a disagreement over the transfer of a young wo-
Near East for kings to carry on the name of their man -- possibly a slave. Exhibiting a high-
forebears. There are many known examples of quality style of writing, the tablet unquestion-
this. For example, in 12th Dynasty Egypt there ably was a royal document executed by a skilled
were FOUR kings with the name Amenem-het. scribe.
In the 18th Dynasty, there were FOUR Thut- The Amarna Letters from the mid-14th
moses and FOUR Amenhoteps. The record, no century B.C. twice refer to an unnamed “king”
doubt, is the use of the name Ramesses. It was of Hazor (EA 148, EA 227). This is UNUSUAL
used by royalty ELEVEN times in the 19th and
20th Dynasties! Fragment of a royal letter found at Hazor in 1992.
In Assyria, we have FOUR kings named It is addressed to Jabin and dates to the
Shal-maneser, etc. This multiple use of royal 18th-17th centuries B.C.
names by nations of the ancient near east has
NEVER bothered scholars -- they merely give
them numbers: I, II, III, etc. (The ancients, them-
selves, however, did not use such numbers.)
When the Bible lists two kings with the SAME
name, such as Abimelech (Genesis 20-21; 26),
or Jabin, SUDDENLY we have a major textual
problem on our hands! In reality, the Bible is
ACCURATELY reflecting what was politically
correct in those days.
Although we do not have any references
outside the Bible to the two Biblical Jabins, we
DO have several references to other kings of
Hazor that bore that name. The first such refer-
ence comes from Mari. There, tablets dating to
the 18th century B.C. Record shipments of tin

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