Aretas
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Aretas (Arabic: Haritha), the Greek form of a name borne by kings of the Nabataeans resident at Petra in Arabia.
Aretas was a king and had red hair in the time of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (2 Macc. 5:8).
Another Aretas was the father-in-law of Herod Antipas (Josephus, Ant. xviii.5.I,3). In 2 Cor. 11:32 he is described as ruler of Damascus at the time of Paul's conversion. Herod Antipas had married a daughter of Aretas, but afterwards discarded her in favour of Herodias. This led to a war with Aretas in which Antipas was defeated.
A third Aretas supported Aristobulus against Hyrcanus, but was obliged to retreat by Pompey (64 BC), and in 62 BC paid a bribe of 300 talents to Marcus Aemilius Scaurus.
An Aretas is mentioned in some translations of 1 Macc. 15:22, but the true reading is probably Ariarathes (king of Cappadocia).
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- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
