Smith's Bible Dictionary
Zidon — Zuzim The
Zidon
Zi’don, or Si’don, Genesis 10:15, Genesis 10:19; Joshua 11:8; Joshua 19:28; Judges 1:31; Judges 18:28; Isaiah 23:2, Isaiah 23:4, Isaiah 23:12; Jeremiah 25:22; Jeremiah 27:3; Ezekiel 28:21-22; Joel 3:4 (Joel 4:4); Zechariah 9:2; Matthew 11:21-22; Matthew 15:21; Mark 3:8; Mark 7:24, Mark 7:31; Luke 6:17; Luke 10:13-14, an ancient and wealthy city of Phœnicia, on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, less than twenty English miles to the north of Tyre. Its Hebrew name, Tsı̂dôn, signifies fishing or fishery. Its modern name is Saida. It is situated in the narrow plain between the Lebanon and the sea. From a biblical point of view this city is inferior in interest to its neighbor Tyre; though in early times Sidon was the more influential of the two cities. This view is confirmed by Zidonians being used as the generic name of Phœnicians or Canaanites. Joshua 13:6; Judges 18:7. From the time of Solomon to the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar Zidon is not often directly mentioned in the Bible, and it appears to have been subordinate to Tyre. When the people called “Zidonians” are mentioned, it sometimes seems that the Phœnicians of the plain of Zidon are meant. 1 Kings 5:6; 1 Kings 11:1, 1 Kings 11:5, 1 Kings 11:33; 1 Kings 16:31; 2 Kings 23:13. All that is known respecting the city is very scanty, amounting to scarcely more than that one of its sources of gain was trade in slaves, in which the inhabitants did not shrink from selling inhabitants of Palestine, and that it was governed by kings. Jeremiah 25:22; Jeremiah 27:3. During the Persian domination Zidon seems to have attained its highest point of prosperity; and it is recorded that, toward the close of that period, it far excelled all other Phœnician cities in wealth and importance. Its prosperity was suddenly cut short by an unsuccessful revolt against Persia, which ended in the destruction of the town, b.c. 351. Its king, Tennes, had proved a traitor and betrayed the city to Ochus, king of the Persians; the Persian troops were admitted within the gates, and occupied the city walls. The Zidonians, before the arrival of Ochus, had burnt their vessels to prevent any one’s leaving the town; and when they saw themselves surrounded by the Persian troops, they adopted the desperate resolution of shutting themselves up with their families, and setting fire each man to his own house. Forty thousand persons are said to have perished in the flames. Zidon, however, gradually recovered from the blow, and became again a flourishing town. It is about fifty miles distant from Nazareth, and is the most northern city which is mentioned in connection with Christ’s journeys. (The town Saida still shows signs of its former wealth, and its houses are better constructed and more solid than those of Tyre, many of them being built of stone; but is a poor, miserable place, without trade or manufactures worthy of the name. The city that once divided with Tyre the empire of the seas is now almost without a vessel. Silk and fruit are its staple products. Its population is estimated at 10,000, 7000 of whom are Moslems, and the rest Catholics, Maronites, and Protestants.—McClintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia. There is a flourishing Protestant mission here.—Ed.)
Gate at Sidon.
View of Sidon.
Zidonians
Zido’nians, the inhabitants of Zidon. They were among the nations of Canaan left to give the Israelites practice in the art of war, Judges 3:3, and colonies of them appear to have spread up into the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephothmaim, Joshua 13:4, Joshua 13:6, whence in later times they hewed cedar trees for David and Solomon. 1 Chronicles 22:4. They oppressed the Israelites on their first entrance into the country, Judges 10:12, and appear to have lived a luxurious, reckless life. Judges 18:7. They were skillful in hewing timber, 1 Kings 5:6, and were employed for this purpose by Solomon. They were idolaters, and worshipped Ashtoreth as their tutelary goddess, 1 Kings 11:5, 1 Kings 11:33; 2 Kings 23:13, as well as the sun-god Baal, from whom their king was named. 1 Kings 16:31.
Zif
Zif. 1 Kings 6:1. [MONTH.]
Ziha
Zi’ha (parched).
1. The children of Ziha were a family of Nethinim who returned with Zerubbabel. Ezra 2:43; Nehemiah 7:46. (b.c. 536.)
2. Chief of the Nethinim in Ophel. Nehemiah 11:21. The name is probably identical with the preceding.
Ziklag
Zik’lag (winding), a place which possesses a special interest from its having been the residence and the private property of David. It is first mentioned in the catalogue of the towns of Judah in Joshua 15:31, and occurs, in the same connection, among the places which were allotted out of the territory of Judah to Simeon. Joshua 19:5. We next encounter it in the possession of the Philistines, 1 Samuel 27:6, when it was, at David’s request, bestowed upon him by Achish king of Gath. He resided there for a year and four months. 1 Samuel 27:6-7; 1 Samuel 30:14, 1 Samuel 30:26; 1 Chronicles 12:1, 1 Chronicles 12:20. It was therre he received the news of Saul’s death. 2 Samuel 1:1; 2 Samuel 4:10. He then relinquished it for Hebron. 2 Samuel 2:1. Ziklag is finally mentioned as being reinhabited by the people of Judah after their return from the captivity. Nehemiah 11:28. The situation of the town is difficult to determine, and we only know for certain that it was in the south country.
Zillah
Zil’lah (shade). [LAMECH.]
Zilpah
Zil’pah (a trickling), a Syrian given by Laban to his daughter Leah as an attendant, Genesis 29:24, and by Leah to Jacob as a concubine. She was the mother of Gad and Asher. Genesis 30:9-13; Genesis 35:26; Genesis 37:2; Genesis 46:18. (b.c. 1753.)
Ziltha-i
Zil’tha-i (shady).
1. A Benjamite, of the sons of Shimhi. 1 Chronicles 8:20.
2. One of the captains of thousands of Manasseh who deserted to David at Ziklag. 1 Chronicles 12:20. (b.c. 1054.)
Zimmah
Zim’mah (purpose).
1. A Gershonite Levite, son of Jahath. 1 Chronicles 6:20. (b.c. after 1706.)
2. Another Gershonite, son of Shimei, 1 Chronicles 6:42; possibly the same as the preceding.
3. Father or ancestor of Joah, a Gershonite in the reign of Hezekiah. 2 Chronicles 29:12. (b.c. before 726.) At a much earlier period we find the same collocation of names, Zimmah and Joah as father and son. 1 Chronicles 6:20.
Zimran
Zim’ran (celebrated), the eldest son of Keturah. Genesis 25:2; 1 Chronicles 1:32. His descendants are not mentioned, nor is any hint given that he was the founder of a tribe. (b.c. 1855.)
Zimri
Zim’ri.
1. The son of Salu, a Simeonite chieftain, slain by Phinehas with the Midianitish princess Cozbi. Numbers 25:14. (b.c. 1450.)
2. Fifth sovereign of the separate kingdom of Israel, of which he occupied the throne for the brief period of seven days, b.c. 930 or 929. Originally in command of half the chariots in the royal army, he gained the crown by the murder of King Elah, son of Baasha. But the army made their general, Omri, king, who marched against Tirzah, where Zimri was. Zimri retreated into the innermost part of the late king’s palace, set it on fire, and perished in the ruins. 1 Kings 16:9-20.
3. One of the five sons of Zerah the son of Judah. 1 Chronicles 2:6. (b.c. after 1706.)
4. Son of Jehoadah and descendant of Saul. 1 Chronicles 8:36; 1 Chronicles 9:42.
5. An obscure name, mentioned Jeremiah 25:25 in probable connection with Dedan, Tema, Buz, Arabia, the “mingled people.” Nothing further is known respecting Zimri, but the name may possibly be the same as, or derived from, ZIMRAN, which see.
Zin
Zin (flat), the name given to a portion of the desert tract between the Dead Sea, Ghôr, and Arabah on the east, and the general plateau of the Tih which stretches westward. The country in question consists of two or three successive terraces of mountain converging to an acute angle at the Dead Sea’s southern verge, toward which also they slope. Kadesh lay in it, and here also Idumea was conterminous with Judah; since Kadesh was a city in the border of Edom. [See KADESH. Numbers 13:21; Numbers 20:1; Numbers 27:14; Numbers 33:36; Numbers 34:3; Joshua 15:1.]
Zina
Zi’na (abundance); Zizah, the second son of Shimei the Gershonite. 1 Chronicles 23:10, comp. 1 Chronicles 23:11.
Zion
Zi’on. [JERUSALEM.]
Zior
Zi’or (smallness), a town in the mountain district of Judah. Joshua 15:54. It belongs to the same group with Hebron.
Ziph
Ziph (battlement), the name of two towns in Judah.
1. In the south, named between Ithnan and Telem. Joshua 15:24. It does not appear again in the history, nor has any trace of it been met with.
2. In the highland district, named between Carmel and Juttah. Joshua 15:55. The place is immortalized by its connection with David. 1 Samuel 23:14-15, 1 Samuel 23:24; 1 Samuel 26:2. These passages show that at that time it had near it a wilderness (i.e., a waste pasture-ground) and a wood. The latter has disappeared, but the former remains. The name of Zif is found about three miles south of Hebron, attached to a rounded hill of some 100 feet in height, which is called Tell Zif.
3. Son of Jehaleleel. 1 Chronicles 4:16.
Ziphah
Zi’phah (feminine of Ziph), another son of Jehaleleel. 1 Chronicles 4:16.
Ziphim The
Zi’phim, The, the inhabitants of ZIPH, 2. In this form the name is found in the Authorized Version only in the title of Psalm 54. In the narrative it occurs in the more usual form of ZIPHITES. 1 Samuel 23:19; 1 Samuel 26:1.
Ziphion
Ziph’ion, son of Gad, Genesis 46:16; elsewhere called Zephon.
Ziphron
Ziph’ron (fragrance), a point in the north boundary of the promised land as specified by Moses. Numbers 34:9.
Zippor
Zip’por (sparrow), father of Balak king of Moab. Numbers 22:2, Numbers 22:4, Numbers 22:10, Numbers 22:16; Numbers 23:18; Joshua 24:9; Judges 11:25. Whether he was the “former king of Moab” alluded to in Numbers 21:26 we are not told. (b.c. 1451.)
Zipporah
Zip’porah, or Zippo’rah, daughter of Reuel or Jethro, the priest of Midian, wife of Moses and mother of his two sons Gershom and Eliezer. Exodus 2:21; Exodus 4:25; Exodus 18:2, comp. Exodus 18:6. (b.c. 1530.) The only incident recorded in her life is that of the circumcision of Gershom. Exodus 4:24-26.
Zithri
Zith’ri (protection of Jehovah), properly Sithri; one of the sons of Uzziel the son of Kohath. Exodus 6:22. In Exodus 6:21 Zithri should be Ziehri, as in Authorized Version of 1611.
Ziz
Ziz (projection), The cliff of, the pass by which the horde of Moabites, Ammonites, and Mehunim made their way up from the shores of the Dead Sea to the wilderness of Judah near Tekoa. 2 Chronicles 20:16 only; comp. 2 Chronicles 20:20. It was the pass of Ain Jidy—the very same route which is taken by the Arabs in their marauding expeditions at the present day.
Ziza
Zi’za (shining).
1. Son of Shiphi, a chief of the Simeonites in the reign of Hezekiah. 1 Chronicles 4:37. (b.c. about 725.)
2. Son of Rehoboam by Maachah the granddaughter of Absalom. 2 Chronicles 11:20. (b.c. after 973.)
Zizah
Zi’zah, a Gershonite Levite, second son of Shimei, 1 Chronicles 23:11; called ZINA in ver. 1 Chronicles 23:10.
Zoan
Zo’an (place of departure), an ancient city of lower Egypt, called Tanis by the Greeks. It stood on the eastern bank of the Tanitic branch of the Nile. Its name indicates a place of departure from a country, and hence it has been identified with Avaris (Tanis, the modern San), the capital of the Shepherd dynasty in Egypt, built seven years after Hebron, and existing before the time of Abraham. It was taken by the Shepherd kings in their invasion of Egypt, and by them rebuilt, and garrisoned, according to Manetho, with 240,000 men. This city is mentioned in connection with the plagues in such a manner as to leave no doubt that it is the city spoken of in the narrative in Exodus as that where Pharaoh dwelt, Psalm 78:42-43, and where Moses wrought his wonders on the field of Zoan, a rich plain extending thirty miles toward the east. Tanis gave its name to the twenty-first and twenty-third dynasties, and hence its mention in Isaiah. Isaiah 19:13; Isaiah 30:4. (The present “field of Zoan” is a barren waste, very thinly inhabited. “One of the principal capitals of Pharaoh is now the habitation of fishermen, the resort of wild beasts, and infested with reptiles and malignant fevers.” There have been discovered a great number of monuments here which throw light upon the Bible history. Brugsch refers to two statues of colossal size of Mermesha of the thirteenth dynasty, wonderfully perfect in the execution of the individual parts, and says that memorials of Rameses the Great lie scattered broadcast like the mouldering bones of generations slain long ago. The area of the sacred enclosure of the temple is 1500 feet by 1250.—Ed.)
Ruins at Zoan.
Zoar
Zo’ar (smallness), one of the most ancient cities of the land of Canaan. Its original name was BELA. Genesis 14:2, Genesis 14:8. It was in intimate connection with the cities of the “plain of Jordan”—Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim. See also Genesis 13:10, but not Genesis 10:19. In the general destruction of the cities of the plain, Zoar was spared to afford shelter to Lot. Genesis 19:22-23, Genesis 19:30. It is mentioned in the account of the death of Moses as one of the landmarks which bounded his view from Pisgah, Deuteronomy 34:3, and it appears to have been known in the time both of Isaiah, Isaiah 15:5, and Jeremiah. Jeremiah 48:34. These are all the notices of Zoar contained in the Bible. It was situated in the same district with the four cities already mentioned, viz., in the “plain” or “circle” of the Jordan, and the narrative of Genesis 19 evidently implies that it was very near to Sodom. vs. Genesis 19:15, Genesis 19:23, Genesis 19:27. The definite position of Sodom is, and probably will always be, a mystery; but there can be little doubt that the plain of the Jordan was at the north side of the Dead Sea, and that the cities of the plain must therefore have been situated there instead of at the southern end of the lake, as it is generally taken for granted they were. [SODOM.] (But the great majority of scholars, from Josephus and Eusebius to the present day, locate these cities at the southern end of the Dead Sea.)
Zoba
Zo’ba, or Zo’bah (station), the name of a portion of Syria which formed a separate kingdom in the time of the Jewish monarchs Saul, David, and Solomon. It probably was eastward of Cœle-Syria, and extended thence northeast and east toward, if not even to, the Euphrates. We first hear of Zobah in the time of Saul, when we find it mentioned as a separate country, governed apparently by a number of kings who owned no common head or chief. 1 Samuel 14:47. Some forty years later than this we find Zobah under a single ruler, Hadadezer son of Rehob. He had wars with Toi king of Hamath, 2 Samuel 8:10, and held various petty Syrian princes as vassals under his yoke. 2 Samuel 10:19. David, 2 Samuel 8:3, attacked Hadadezer in the early part of his reign, defeated his army, and took from him a thousand chariots, seven hundred (seven thousand, 1 Chronicles 18:4) horsemen, and 20,000 footmen. Hadadezer’s allies, the Syrians of Damascus, were defeated in a great battle. The wealth of Zobah is very apparent in the narrative of this campaign. A man of Zobah, Rezon son of Eliadah, made himself master of Damascus, where he proved a fierce adversary to Israel all through the reign of Solomon. 1 Kings 11:23-25. Solomon also was, it would seem, engaged in a war with Zobah itself. 2 Chronicles 8:3. This is the last that we hear of Zobah in Scripture. The name, however, is found at a later date in the inscriptions of Assyria, where the kingdom of Zobah seems to intervene between Hamath and Damascus.
Zobebah
Zobe’bah (the slow), son of Coz, of the tribe of Judah. 1 Chronicles 4:8.
Zohar
Zo’har (light).
1. Father of Ephron the Hittite. Genesis 23:8; Genesis 25:9. (b.c. before 1860.)
2. One of the sons of Simeon, Genesis 46:10; Exodus 6:15; called ZERAH in 1 Chronicles 4:24.
Zoheleth
Zo’heleth (serpent), The stone. This was “by En-rogel,” 1 Kings 1:9; and therefore, if En-rogel be the modern Um-ed-Deraj, this stone, “where Adonijah slew sheep and oxen,” was in all likelihood not far from the well of the Virgin.
Zoheth
Zo’heth, son of Ishi of the tribe of Judah. 1 Chronicles 4:20.
Zophah
Zo’phah (a cruse), son of Helem or Hotham the son of Heber, an Asherite. 1 Chronicles 7:35-36.
Zopha-i
Zo’pha-i (descended from Zuph), a Kohathite Levite, son of Elkanah and ancestor of Samuel. 1 Chronicles 6:26 (1 Chronicles 6:11). In ver. 1 Chronicles 6:35 he is called ZUPH.
Zophar
Zo’phar (sparrow), one of the three friends of Job. Job 2:11; Job 11:1; Job 20:1; Job 42:9.
Zophim
Zo’phim (watchers), The field of, a spot on or near the top of Pisgah, from which Balaam had his second view of the encampment of Israel. Numbers 23:14. The position of the field of Zophim is not defined. Possibly it is the same place which later in the history is mentioned as Mizpah-moab.
Zorah
Zo’rah (hornet), a town in the allotment of the tribe of Dan. Joshua 19:41. It is previously mentioned, ch. Joshua 15:33, in the catalogue of Judah, among the places in the district of the Shefelah (Authorized Version “Zoreah”). It was the residence of Manoah and the native place of Samson. It is mentioned among the places fortified by Rehoboam. 2 Chronicles 11:10. It is perhaps identical with the modern village of Sur’ah.
Zorathites The
Zo’rathites, The, i.e., the people of Zorah, mentioned in 1 Chronicles 4:2 as descended from Shobal.
Zoreah
Zo’reah. [ZORAH.]
Zorites The
Zo’rites, The, are named in the genealogies of Judah, 1 Chronicles 2:54, apparently among the descendants of Salma and near connections of Joab.
Zorobabel
Zorob’abel. Matthew 1:12-13; Luke 3:27. [ZERUBBABEL.]
Zuar
Zu’ar (littleness), father of Nethaneel, the chief of the tribe of Issachar at the time of the exodus. Numbers 1:8; Numbers 2:5; Numbers 7:18, Numbers 7:23; Numbers 10:15. (b.c. 1491.)
Zuph
Zuph (honeycomb), The land of, a district at which Saul and his servant arrived after passing through the possessions of Shalisha, of Shalim, and of the Benjamites. 1 Samuel 9:5 only. It evidently contained the city in which they encountered Samuel, ver. 1 Samuel 9:6, and that again was certainly not far from the “tomb of Rachel.” It may perhaps be identified with Soba, a well-known place about seven miles due west of Jerusalem.
Zuph
Zuph, a Kohathite Levite, ancestor of Elkanah and Samuel. 1 Samuel 1:1; 1 Chronicles 6:35. In 1 Chronicles 6:26 he is called ZOPHAI.
Zur
Zur (a rock).
1. Father of Cozbi, Numbers 25:15, and one of the five princes of Midian who were slain by the Israelites when Balaam fell. Numbers 31:8. (b.c. 1451.)
2. Son of Jehiel, the founder of Gideon. 1 Chronicles 8:30; 1 Chronicles 9:36. (b.c. after 1445.)
Zuri-el
Zu’ri-el (my rock is God), son of Abihail, and chief of the Merarite Levites at the time of the exodus. Numbers 3:35.
Zurishadda-i
Zurishad’da-i (my rock is the Almighty), father of Shelumiel, the chief of the tribe of Simeon at the time of the exodus. Numbers 1:6; Numbers 2:12; Numbers 7:36, Numbers 7:41; Numbers 10:19.
Zuzim The
Zu’zim, The, an ancient people who, lying in the path of Chedorlaomer and his allies, were attacked and overthrown by them. Genesis 14:5. The Zuzim perhaps inhabited the country of the Ammonites, who were identical with the Zamzummim, who are known to have been exterminated and succeeded in their land by the Ammonites. [ZAMZUMMIM.]