Aretas

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agreeable, virtuous
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary


ARETAS.—This is the dynastic name (Aram. [Note: Aramaic.] Charethath) of several kings of the Nahatæan Arabs whose capital was Petra (Sela), and whose language for purposes of writing and commerce was an Aramaic dialect, as is seen from the existing inscriptions. (Cooke, N. Semitic Inscr. p. 214 ff.). The first of the line is mentioned in 2Ma_5:8; the fourth (whose personal name was Æneas) in 2Co_11:32, where his ‘ethnarch’ is said to have ‘guarded the city of the Damascenes in order to take’ St. Paul; but the Apostle escaped. This was within three years after his conversion (Gal_1:17 f., Act_9:23 ff.). There is a difficulty here, for Damascus was ordinarily in the Roman province of Syria. Aretas III. had held it in b.c. 85; the Roman coins of Damascus end a.d. 34 and begin again a.d. 62–3. It has been supposed that the Nabatæans held the city during this interval. Yet before the death of Tiberius (a.d. 37) there could hardly have been any regular occupancy by them, as Vitellius, proprætor of Syria, was sent by that emperor to punish Aretas IV. for the vengeance that the latter had taken on Herod Antipas for divorcing his sister in favour of Herodias. It has therefore been thought that a.d. 37 is the earliest possible date for St. Paul’s escape; and this will somewhat modify our view of Pauline chronology (see art. Paul the Apostle, § 4). Yet the allusion in 2Co_11:32 f. does not necessarily imply anything like a permanent tenure of Damascus by Aretas’ ethnarch. A temporary occupancy may well have taken place in Aretas’ war against Herod Antipas or afterwards; and it would be unsafe to build any chronological theory on this passage. The reign of Aretas IV. lasted from b.c. 9 to a.d. 40; inscriptions (at el-Hejra) and coins are dated in his 48th year (Cooke, l.c.).
A. J. Maclean.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

A common name of many Arabian kings. 2Co_11:32; "in Damascus the governor ethnarch) under Aretas the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me; and through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands." The ethnarch did it to please the Jews, who (Act_9:24) "watched the gates day and night to kill Paul." His office was to exercise authority under the king, over the many Jews in large cities: compare Act_9:25. Damascus had been a city of the Roman province, Syria; and we have Damascene coins of Augustus and Tiberius, and afterward of Nero, etc., but we have none of Caligula. This implies that some change in the government of Damascus took place under Caligula, Tiberius's successor. Moreover, Aretas, king of Arabia Nabataea dud its capital Petra, made war on Antipas for divorcing Aretas' daughter, and defeated him.
But Tiberius, at Antipas' entreaty, commanded Vitellius, governor of Syria, to take Aretas dead or alive. Before the order was executed Tiberius himself was dead. Then all was reversed. Antipas was banished by Caligula to Lyons, and his kingdom given to Agrippa, his nephew and his foe. It seems therefore to harmonize with history, as well as with Scripture, to assume that in A.D. 38 or 39, when Caligula made several changes in the E., he also granted Damascus to Aretas. The incidental way in which Paul alludes to Aretas' kingship over Damascus at the time of his escape from the ethnarch under him, by being let down in a basket from a house on the city wall (compare Act_9:23-25), is a strong presumption for the truth of the Acts and Second Epistle to Corinthians. This was three years after Paul's conversion; so that A. D. 36 will be the date of his conversion.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

Are'tas or Ar'etas. (graver).
1. A contemporary of Antiochus Epiphanes, B.C. 170, and Jason. 2Ma_5:8.
2. The Aretas alluded to by St. Paul, 2Co_11:32, was father-in-law of Herod Antipas.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863

ar?ē̇-tas (Ἀρέτας, Arétas): The name is a common one among Arabian princes and signifies ?virtuous or pleasing.?
1. 2 Macc 5:8
It is mentioned several times in Biblical literature and in Josephus. Here it refers to an Arabian king, who was a contemporary of Antiochus Epiphanes (circa 170 bc), before whom Jason the high priest was accused.
2. Obodas
Another Arabian prince of this name, surnamed Obodas (Ant., XIII, xv, 2; xvi, 2; XVI, ix, 4) defeated Antiochus Dionysius and reigned over Coele-Syria and Damascus. He participated with Hyrcanus in the war for the Jewish throne against his brother Aristobulus, but the allies were completely defeated at Papyron, by Aristobulus and Scaurus, the Roman general. The latter carried the war into Arabia and forced Aretas to make an ignominious peace, at the price of three hundred talents of silver. Of that event a memorial denarius still exists, with a Roman chariot in full charge on the one side and a camel on the other, by the side of which an Arab is kneeling, who holds out a branch of frankincense.
3. Aeneas
The successor of Obodas was apparently surnamed Aeneas and this is the Arabian king who figures in the New Testament (2Co_11:32; compare Act_9:24). The Aretas, here mentioned, is the father-in-law of Herod Antipas, who divorced his wife to marry Herodins, the wife of his brother Philip (Mat_14:3; Mar_6:17; Luk_3:19). Josephus (Ant., XVIII, v, 1, 3) gives us a circumstantial narration of the events leading up to and following the conduct of Antipas. Coupled with a boundary dispute, it occasioned a bitter w ar between the two princes, in which Antipas was completely overwhelmed, who thereupon invoked the aid of the Romans. Tiberius ordered Vitellius, proconsul of Syria, to make war on Aretas and to deliver him dead or alive into the hands of the emperor. On the way, at Jerusalem, Vitellius received intelligence of the death of Tiberius, March 16, 37 ad, and stopped all warlike proceedings (Ant., XVIII, v, 1, 3). According to 2Co_11:32, Damascus, which had formerly belonged to the Arabian princes, was again in the hands of Are tas, when Paul escaped from it, not immediately after his conversion, but on a subsequent visit, after his Arabian exile (Gal_1:16, Gal_1:17). It is inconceivable that Aretas should have taken Damascus by force, in the face of the almost omnipotent power of Rome. The picture moreover, which Josephus draws of the Herodian events, points to a passive rather than an active attitude on the part of Aretas. The probability is that Cajus Caligula, the new emperor, wishing to settle the affairs of Syria, freely gave Damascu s to Aretas, inasmuch as it had formerly belonged to his territory. As Tiberius died in 37 ad, and as the Arabian affair was completely settled in 39 ad, it is evident that the date of Paul's conversion must lie somewhere between 34 and 36 ad. This date is further fixed by a Damascus coin, with the image of King Aretas and the date 101. If that date points to the Pompeian era, it equals 37 ad, making the date of Paul's conversion 34 ad (Mionnet, Descript. des m?dailles antiques, V, 284-85).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
PRINTER 1915.

Are?tas, the common name of several Arabian kings.
1. The first of whom we have any notice was a contemporary of the Jewish high-priest Jason and of Antiochus Epiphanes about B.C. 170 (2Ma_5:8).
2. Josephus mentions an Aretas, king of the Arabians contemporary with Alexander Jann?us (died b.c 79) and his sons. After defeating Antiochus Dionysus, he reigned over C?le-Syria, 'being called to the government by those that held Damascus by reason of the hatred they bore to Ptolemy Menn?us.' He took part with Hyrcanus in his contest for the sovereignty with his brother Aristobulus, and laid siege to Jerusalem, but, on the approach of the Roman general Scaurus, he retreated to Philadelphia. Hyrcanus and Aretas were pursued and defeated by Aristobulus, at a place called Papyron, and lost above 6000 men. Three or four years after, Scaurus, to whom Pompey had committed the government of C?le-Syria, invaded Petr?a, but finding it difficult to obtain provisions for his army, he consented to withdraw on the offer of 300 talents from Aretas.

Fig. 47?Coin displaying the name Aretas
3. Aretas, whose name was originally ?neas, succeeded Obodas. He was the father-in-law of Herod Antipas. The latter made proposals of marriage to the wife of his half-brother Herod-Philip, Herodias, the daughter of Aristobulus their brother, and the sister of Agrippa the Great. In consequence of this, the daughter of Aretas returned to her father, and a war (which had been fomented by previous disputes about the limits of their respective countries) ensued between Aretas and Herod. The army of the latter was totally destroyed, and on his sending an account of his disaster to Rome, the emperor immediately ordered Vitellius to bring Aretas prisoner alive, or, if dead, to send his head. But while Vitellius was on his march to Petra, news arrived of the death of Tiberius, upon which, after administering the oath of allegiance to his troops, he dismissed them to winter-quarters and returned to Rome. It must have been at this juncture that Aretas took possession of Damascus, and placed a governor in it with a garrison. For a knowledge of this fact we are indebted to the apostle Paul.
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.

Aretas
(Α᾿ρέτας; Arab. charresh, Pococke, Spec. Hist. Arab. p. 58, or, in another form, c(haurish=חוֹרֵשׁ, graver, Pococke, 1:70, 76, 77, 89), the common name of several Arabian kings (see Diod. Sic. 14:70; comp. Wesseling; Michaelis, in Pott's Syllog. 3, 62 sq.).
1. The first of whom we have any notice was a contemporary of the Jewish high-priest Jason and of Antiochus Epiphanes, about B.C. 170 (2Ma_5:8): “In the end, therefore, he (Jason) had an unhappy return, being accused before Aretas, the king of the Arabians."
2. Josephus (Ant. 13, 13, 3) mentions an Aretas, king of the Arabians
(surnamed Obedas, Ο᾿βέδας, Ant. 13, 13, 5), contemporary with Alexander Jannaeus (died B.C. 79) and his sons. After defeating Antiochus Dionysus, he reigned over Coele-Syria, “being called to the government by those that held Damascus (κληθεὶς εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν ὑπὸ τῶν τὴν Δαμασκὸνἐχόντων) by reason of the hatred they bore to Ptolemy Mennaeus” (Ant. 13:15, 2). He took part with Hyrcanus, who had taken refuge with him (War, 1:6, 2), in his contest (Ant. 14:1, 4) for the sovereignty with his brother Aristobulus (q.v.), and laid siege to Jerusalem (B.C. 65), but, on the approach of the Roman general Scaurus, he retreated to Philadelphia (War, 1, 6, 3). Hyrcanus and Aretas were pursued and defeated by Aristobulus at a place called Papyron, and lost above 6000 men (Ant. 14, 2, 3). After Pompey had reduced Syria to a Roman province, Aretas submitted to him again, B.C. 64 (see Dion Cass. 37:15; Appian, Mithr. 166; Plut. Pomp. 39, 41). Three or four years after, Scaurus, to whom Pompey had committed the government of Coele-Syria, invaded Petraea, but, finding it difficult to obtain provisions for his army, he consented to withdraw on the offer of 300 talents from Aretas (Josephus, Ant. 14, 5, 1; War, 1, 8, 1). This expedition is commemorated on a coin. SEE SCAURUS. The successors of Scaurus in Syria also prosecuted the war with the Arabs (Appian, Syr. 50).
3. Aretas, whose name was originally AEneas (Αἰνείας), succeeded Obodas (Josephus, Ant. 16, 9, 4). He was the father-in-law of Herod Antipas. The latter made proposals of marriage to the wife of his half- brother Herod-Philip, Herodias, the daughter of Aristobulus, their brother, and the sister of Agrippa the Great. (On the apparent discrepancy between the Evangelists and Josephus, in reference to the name of the husband of Herodias, see Lardner's Credibility, etc., 2:5; Works, 1835, 1, 408-416.) In consequence of this the daughter of Aretas returned to her father, and a war (which had been fomented by previous disputes about the limits of their respective countries, see Joseph. Ant. 17, 10, 9) ensued between Aretas and Herod. The army of the latter was totally destroyed; and on his sending an account of his disaster to Rome the emperor immediately ordered Vitellius to bring Aretas prisoner alive, or, if dead, to send his head (Joseph. Ant. 18, 5, 1). But while Vitellius was on his march to Petra, news arrived of the death of Tiberius (A.D. 37), upon which, after administering the oath of allegiance to his troops, he dismissed them to winter-quarters and returned to Rome (Joseph. Ant. 18, 5, 3). The Aretas into whose dominions AElius Gellius came in the time of Augustus (Strabo, 16:781) is probably the same. There is another coin extant inscribed Φιλέλληνος, i, e. lover of the Greeks (Eckhel, Doctr. Num. 3, 330), that may have belonged to this Aretas.
It has been supposed by many that it was at the above juncture that Aretas took possession of Damascus, and placed a governor in it (ἐθνάρχης) with a garrison, as stated by the Apostle Paul: “In Damascus the governor under Aretas, the king, kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to apprehend me; and through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands” (2Co_11:32, compared with Act_9:24). In that case we are furnished with a chronological mark in the apostle's history. From Gal_1:18, it appears that Paul went up to Jerusalem from Damascus three years after his conversion. SEE PAUL. The Emperor Tiberius died March 16, A.D. 37; and, as the affairs of Arabia were settled in the second year of Caligula, Damascus was then most probably reoccupied by the Romans. The city under Augustus and Tiberius was attached to the province of Syria; and we have Damascene coins of both these emperors, and again of Nero and his successors. But we have none of Caligula and Claudius, and the following circumstances make it probable that the rulership of Damascus was changed after the death of Tiberius. By this occurrence at Rome a complete reversal took place in the situation of Antipas and his enemy. The former was ere long (A.D. 39) banished to Lyons, and his kingdom given to Agrippa, his foe (Ant. 18:7), who had been living in habits of intimacy with the new emperor (Ant. 18:6, 5). It would be natural that Aretas, who had been grossly injured by Antipas, should, by this change of affairs, be received into favor; and the more so as Vitellius had an old grudge against Antipas (Ant. 18:4, 5). Now in the year 38 Caligula made several changes in the East, granting Ituraea to Soanmus, Lesser Armenia and parts of Arabia to Cotys, the territory of Cotys to Rhaemetalces, and giving to Polemon, son of Polemon, his father's government. These facts, coupled with that of no Damascene coins of Caligula or Claudius existingr, make it probable that about this time Damascus, which belonged to the predecessor of Aretas (Ant. 13:5, 2), was granted to him by Caligula. The other hypotheses, that the ethnarch was only visiting the city (as if he could then have guarded the walls to prevent escape), that Aretas had seized Damascus on Vitellius giving up the expedition against him (as if a Roman governor of a province would allow one of its chief cities to be taken from him merely because he was in uncertainty about the policy of a new emperor), are very improbable (Wieseler, Chron. des apostolischen Zeitalters, p. 174). If, then, Paul's flight took place in A.D. 39, his conversion must have occurred in A.D. 36 (Neander's History of the Planting of the Christian Church, 1, 107; Lardner's Credibility, etc., Supplement, ch. 11; Works, 5, 497, ed. 1835; Schmidt in Keil's Analekt. 3, 135 sq.; Bertholdt, Einl. 5, 2702 sq.). But it is still more likely that the possession of Damascus by Aretas to which Paul alludes occurred earlier, on the affront of his daughter by the espousal of Herodias (Luk_3:19-20; Mar_6:16; Mat_14:3), which stands in connection with the death of John the Baptist (q.v.); and in that case it affords neither date nor difficulty in the apostle's history (see Browne's Ordo Saeclorum, p. 113 n.; Conybeare and Howson, 1:82; Smith's Dict. of Class. Biog. s.v.). SEE CHRONOLOGY.
4. One or more other kings of Arabia by the same name are mentioned in history (Strabo, 16:781; Dio Cass. 37:15; comp. Assemani, Bibl. Orient. 1, 367; 2, 331; 3, 1, 139; and a coin of one of them is extant (Mionet, Desc. des medailles antiques, p. 284, 285; comp. Conybeare and Howson, St. Paul, 1, 107); but it is not clear that the Aretas whom Josephus names as having a contest with Syllaeus (Ant. 17, 3, 2; War, 1, 29, 3) was different from the preceding, and the succeeding kings of that name are unimportant in any Scriptural relation (see Anger, De tempor. ratione, p. 173; Heyne, De Areta Arabum rege, Viteb. 1775; Heinold, De ethnarcha Jeudeorum Paulo obsidiante, Jen. 1757).



CYCLOPEDIA OF BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL
press 1895.

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