מלכים ב, פרק ט״ז, פסוק ו׳

While the northern armies of Aram and Israel laid siege to Jerusalem, a devastating political blow struck the Kingdom of Judah from the south. The vital city of Elath, which served as a crucial commercial hub and international gateway, was violently taken from Judean control. Generations earlier, King Azariah had conquered, rebuilt, and annexed Elath to Judah. Now, Rezin, the king of Aram, seized the city back.

The conquest was brutal. Commentators agree that Rezin forcibly uprooted and violently expelled the Jewish population residing in Elath at the time. With the city emptied of its inhabitants, Rezin moved to repopulate it, orchestrating a calculated demographic shift. Before Judah originally captured Elath, the city had belonged to Edom. When Rezin conquered the city, he officially claimed it as Aramean territory. In practice, however, he brought back its original inhabitants—the Edomites from the surrounding region—and settled them in place of the expelled Jews.

Commentators explain that this dual reality is why traditional records identify the new occupants simultaneously as both Arameans by official decree and Edomites in actual practice. By using the local Edomites to populate the city, Rezin strategically cemented Aramean dominance over the area. This maneuver perfectly aligned with broader regional conflicts, as historical evidence indicates that Edom was simultaneously launching its own attacks against Judah.