Hadad of Avith is one of the ancient kings of Edom listed in the Hebrew Bible, reigning before the establishment of the Israelite monarchy. The name "Hadad" is the same as that of the chief Semitic storm god, a deity of thunder, rain, and fertility, suggesting a theophoric element in the king's name. "Avith" is likely a place name, possibly a town or region in Edom, though its exact location remains unknown. This king is recorded in Genesis 36:35-36 and 1 Chronicles 1:46-47, where he is said to have defeated Midian in the field of Moab before succeeding Husham of Temani.

Position on the Tree of Life

Hadad of Avith corresponds to the sixth Sephirah, Tiphereth, on the Tree of Life. Tiphereth represents beauty, harmony, and the central balancing point of the sephirotic structure. As a king of Edom, Hadad embodies the concept of a ruler who achieved a degree of order and kingship, yet within the context of the "Kings of Edom"—a Qabalistic symbol for unbalanced, primordial forces that could not sustain themselves. Tiphereth, as the sphere of the Sun and the heart, is the point where these forces are ideally harmonized, but in the Edomite kings, this harmony is only partially realized.

Historical context

The primary source for Hadad of Avith is the genealogical and historical lists in the Hebrew Bible. The Edomites, descendants of Esau, were a Semitic people inhabiting the region south of the Dead Sea. The list of Edomite kings in Genesis 36 is notable for being a pre-monarchic succession, with each king ruling from a different city, suggesting a confederation of city-states rather than a unified dynasty. Hadad's victory over Midian in the field of Moab indicates a period of Edomite expansion and military strength. In the Qabalistic tradition, particularly as systematized in the Zohar and later by Christian Knorr von Rosenroth in Kabbala Denudata, the "Kings of Edom" represent the Olam ha-Tohu (World of Chaos), a primordial state of unbalanced forces that collapsed before the creation of the ordered Olam ha-Tikkun (World of Rectification). Each king is a symbol of a specific unbalanced Sephirah. Hadad of Avith, as a Tiphereth king, represents the unbalanced beauty or false harmony that arises from a lack of integration with the other Sephiroth.

In the system of Liber 777, Hadad of Avith is placed at the sixth step, corresponding to Tiphereth, within the broader schema of the Kings of Edom. This placement links him to the solar principle, the number 6, and the concept of a ruler whose kingdom is established but ultimately flawed, serving as a symbol of the need for divine balance and rectification in the Qabalistic cosmology.