Hadrach

Hadrach (meaning point or joy of tenderness) was a country or territory mentioned once in Scripture, in Zechariah 9:1: The burden of the word of the LORD in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof. It appears alongside Damascus, Hamath, Tyre, Sidon, and several Philistine cities in an oracle of judgment against the nations surrounding Israel, likely dating to the late sixth or early fifth century B.C.

Hadrach has been identified with a region and city called Hatarikka in Assyrian annals, located in northern Syria between Hamath and the Orontes, mentioned in records of Assyrian campaigns in the eighth century B.C. Its inclusion in Zechariah's oracle alongside other well-known Syrian and Phoenician territories confirms it as a real geopolitical entity in the ancient Near East, even though it is unknown outside this single biblical reference and Assyrian sources.