Hadoram

Hadoram (meaning their beauty or their power) is the name of three distinct biblical figures. The first was a son of Joktan in the Table of Nations and an ancestor of an Arabian tribal people (Gen. 10:27; 1 Chr. 1:21). The second was the son of Tou (or Toi), king of Hamath, whom his father sent to David to congratulate him on his victory over Hadadezer of Zobah; he brought gold, silver, and bronze as gifts (2 Sam. 8:10; 1 Chr. 18:10, where his name appears as Joram). The third was the officer in charge of the forced labor under both David (2 Sam. 20:24, as Adoram) and Solomon and later Rehoboam; it was this Hadoram whom the northern tribes stoned to death when Rehoboam sent him to them following the revolt of the ten tribes (2 Chr. 10:18).

The stoning of Hadoram/Adoram marks the decisive rupture of the united monarchy: the act of violence against the labor overseer forced Rehoboam to flee to Jerusalem and confirmed the permanent division of the kingdom.