Hadoram

Hadoram is a name carried by three distinct figures in the Old Testament: a son of Joktan in the table of nations, a Hamathite prince sent by his father to congratulate David, and the labor commissioner whose stoning at Shechem ended Rehoboam's rule over the northern tribes. The same office held by the third Hadoram appears under the variant names Adoniram and Adoram in earlier reigns, and the second Hadoram appears as Joram in the Samuel parallel.

The Joktanite

The first Hadoram is one of the sons of Joktan listed in the table of nations: "and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah" (Gen 10:27). The Chronicler repeats the same sequence in his opening genealogy: "and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah" (1Ch 1:21). Beyond his place in the Shemite line through Eber and Joktan, nothing further is recorded of him.

The Son of Tou

The second Hadoram is the son of Tou, king of Hamath. After David defeated Hadadezer of Zobah, Tou sent his son with a diplomatic embassy: "he sent Hadoram his son to King David, to greet him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadarezer and struck him (for Hadarezer had wars with Tou); and [he had with him] all manner of vessels of gold and silver and bronze" (1Ch 18:10).

The Samuel parallel records the same embassy but names the son Joram and the father Toi: "then Toi sent Joram his son to King David, to greet him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him: for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. And [Joram] brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of bronze" (2Sa 8:10). The two passages describe a single delegation under two name forms.

The Labor Commissioner

The third Hadoram is the official set "over the men subject to slave labor" under Rehoboam. When the northern tribes rejected the new king at Shechem, Rehoboam's response was to dispatch the man who embodied the very policy under dispute: "Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was over the men subject to slave labor; and the sons of Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam made speed to get up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem" (2Ch 10:18).

The same portfolio appears earlier under the name Adoniram in Solomon's cabinet: "and Ahishar was over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to slave labor" (1Ki 4:6); and again administering the Lebanon levy: "And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were in Lebanon, and two months at home; and Adoniram was over the men subject to slave labor" (1Ki 5:14). Earlier still, under David, the office is held by Adoram: "and Adoram was over the men subject to slave labor; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder" (2Sa 20:24). The three names attach to a single long-lived administrative role across three reigns, and Hadoram's death at Shechem is the moment that office collapsed.