ZOBAH . An Aramæan community, the most powerful of the coalition of ‘Syrian’ States which made war upon king David while he was engaged with the Ammonites ( 2 Samuel 8:10 ff.). The exact location is uncertain; but this whole group of Aramæan settlements lay between Damascus and the entrance to CÅ“le-Syria. Zobah was certainly east of Jordan, and probably the most southerly of the kindred peoples. 1 Samuel 14:47 , which states that Saul fought against Zobah, is probably based on a confusion with the wars of David.

J. F. McCurdy.