(Maʹa·cah).

The name of several persons and of a kingdom.

[1-9: possibly from a root meaning “squeeze”]

1. A child born to Nahor, Abraham’s brother, by his concubine Reumah. The child was evidently a male, as a kingdom and its inhabitants derived their name from this person.​—Ge 22:23, 24; 2Sa 10:6, 8.

2. Wife of the Manassite Machir.​—1Ch 7:14-16.

3. One of the concubines of Caleb (the son of Hezron) who bore several of his children.​—1Ch 2:18, 48, 49.

4. The wife of Jeiel “the father of Gibeon.”​—1Ch 8:29; 9:35.

5. One of David’s wives and the daughter of Talmai the king of Geshur. She was Absalom’s mother.​—2Sa 3:2, 3; 1Ch 3:1, 2.

6. Father or ancestor of Hanan, a mighty man of David’s military forces.​—1Ch 11:26, 43.

7. Father or ancestor of Shephatiah, a prince of Israel appointed leader of the Simeonites in David’s organization of the king’s service.​—1Ch 27:1, 16, 22.

8. Father of Achish, king of Gath, to whom Shimei’s slaves fled early in Solomon’s reign. (1Ki 2:39) This Maacah may be the same person as Maoch of 1 Samuel 27:2.​—See MAOCH.

9. Absalom’s granddaughter, who was the most beloved wife of Judean King Rehoboam and the mother of King Abijah (Abijam). (2Ch 11:20-22; 1Ki 15:1, 2, 9, 10) She was regarded as “lady” in the kingdom, being queen mother, until her grandson, King Asa, in a restoration of true worship, removed her “because she had made a  horrible idol to the sacred pole,” or the Asherah. (1Ki 15:9-13; 2Ch 15:16) She is called Micaiah at 2 Chronicles 13:2.

10. A petty kingdom in existence in N Palestine at the time of the Israelite invasion, also called Maacath. The territory of the tribe of Manasseh evidently was to embrace this area, but the record shows that the Israelites did not dispossess the inhabitants of that land, so ‘they kept dwelling in the midst of Israel.’ (De 3:14; Jos 13:13) Generally associated with the neighboring kingdom of Geshur, Maacah appears to have been located to the N of that kingdom and to have bordered on the region of Bashan. (Jos 12:5) It is usually considered to have occupied the area running from the southern slopes of Mount Hermon down to the Hula Basin and from the Jordan River eastward to the edge of the Syrian Desert, or, basically, the northern part of the present district of Golan.

Maacah was an Aramaean (Syrian) kingdom, its people perhaps descending from Nahor’s son of the same name. (Ge 22:24; 1Ch 19:6) When the Ammonites went to war against King David, they hired the services of the king of Maacah, along with others. The small number of troops provided by Maacah, as compared with those of the other allies, may indicate the small size of the Maacathite kingdom. (2Sa 10:6-8) Joab’s victory over the Ammonites and their Syrian allies was followed up by a further victory over the Syrians by King David. (2Sa 10:13-19) From later accounts it seems likely that the kingdom of Maacah eventually came under the domination of the kingdom of Damascus.