Zimran – Zoheth

Zimran

zim'-ran (zimran, from zemer, "wild sheep" or "wild goat," the ending -an being gentilic; Skinner, Genesis, 350): Son of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:2; 1 Chronicles 1:32). The various manuscripts of the Septuagint give the name in different forms, e.g. in Ge A, Zebran; Codex Sinaiticus Zemran; Codex Alexandrinus(1) Zembram; D(sil) Zombran; and Lucian Zemran; in Chronicles, Codex Vaticanus has Zembran, Codex Alexandrinus Zemran, Lucian Zemran (compare Brooke and McLean's edition of the Septuagint for Genesis).

Hence, some have connected the name with Zabram of Ptol. vi.7,5, West of Mecca; others with the Zamareni of Pliny (Ant. vi.158) in the interior of Arabia; but according to Skinner and E. Meyer (see Gunkel, Gen3, 261) these would be too far south. Curtis (Chronicles, 72) says the name is probably to be identified with the "Zimri" of Jeremiah 25:25. It would then be the name of a clan, with the mountain sheep or goat as its totem.

See TOTEMISM.

David Francis Roberts

Zimri (1)

zim'-ri (zimri, "wild sheep" or "wild goat"; in 1 Maccabees, with the King James Version, has Zambri; Codex Sinaiticus has Zambrei):

(1) A Simeonite prince (Numbers 25:14; 1 Macc 2:26), slain by Phinehas, Aaron's grandson. Numbers 25:1–5 records how the Israelites, while they were at Shittim, began to consort with Moabite women and "they (i.e. the Moabite women) called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods" (25:2), i.e. as explained by 25:5 to take part in the immoral rites of the god Baal-peor. Moses is bidden to have the offenders punished. The next paragraph (25:6-9) relates how the people engage in public mourning; but while they do this Zimri brings in among his brethren a Midianitess. Phinehas sees this and goes after Zimri into the qubbah, where he slays the two together, and thus the plague is stayed (25:6-9).

The connection between these two paragraphs is difficult; Moabite women are mentioned in the first, a Midianitess in the second; the plague of Numbers 25:8 f is not previously referred to, although it seems clear that the plague is the cause of the weeping in 25:6. The sequel, 25:16-18, makes the second paragraph have something to do with Baal-peor. Critics assign 25:1-5 to J-E, 25:6-18 to P.

It seems, however, that the two accounts refer to similar circumstances. This is evident if the meaning of qubbah in Numbers 25:8 be as the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) renders it, lupinar, "a house of ill-repute." The difficulty is that the word only occurs here in the Old Testament, but it has that meaning in New Heb (see Gray, Nu, 385; BDB, however, translates it "a large vaulted tent." While one narrative says the women were Moabitesses and the other Midianitesses, the latter section presupposes something like the account in the former; and the point is that Zimri, at the very time that the rest of the people publicly mourned because of a plague that was due to their own dealings with foreign women, brought a Midianite woman among the people, possibly to be his wife, for he was a prince or chief, and she was the daughter of a Midianite chief. It may be urged that if this be the case, there was nothing wrong in it; but according to Hebrew ideas there was, and we only need to remember the evil influence of such marriages as those entered into by Solomon, or especially that of Ahab with Jezebel, to see at any rate a Hebrew justification for Zimri's death.

Numbers 31 describes the extermination of the Midianites at the bidding of Moses. All the males are slain by the Israelites (31:7), but the women are spared. Moses is angry at this: "Have ye saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Yahweh" (31:15 f). Here we find, although the chapter is a Midrash (see Gray, Numbers, 417 ff), that the Hebrews themselves connected the two events of Numbers 25, but in addition the name of Balaam is also introduced, as again in 31:8, where he is said to have been slain along with the kings of Midian. See further Deuteronomy 4:3, and Driver's note on the verse.

See BAAL-PEOR; BALAAM; PEOR.

(2) A king of Israel (1 Kings 16:8–20). See special article.

(3) A Judahite "son" of Zerah (1 Chronicles 2:6) = "Zabdi" of Joshua 7:1,Joshua 7:17 f.

See ZABDI, (1).

(4) A Benjamite, descendant of King Saul (1 Chronicles 8:36; 1 Chronicles 9:42).

(5) In Jeremiah 25:25, where "all the kings of Zimri" are mentioned along with those of Arabia (25:24) and Elam and the Medes. The name is as yet unidentified, although thought to be that of a people called ZIMRAN (which see) in Genesis 25:2.

David Francis Roberts

Zimri (2)

(zimri; Septuagint Zambrei, Zambri): The 5th king of Israel, but who occupied the throne only seven days (1 Kings 16:9–20). Zimri had been captain of half the chariots under Elah, and, as it seems, made use of his position to conspire against his master. The occasion for his crime was furnished by the absence of the army, which, under the direction of Omri, was engaged in the siege of the Philistine town Gibbethon. While Elah was in a drunken debauch in the house of his steward Arza, who may have been an accomplice in the plot, he was foully murdered by Zimri, who ascended the throne and put the remnant of Elah's family to death, thus fulfilling the prophecy of Jehu concerning the house of Baasha. However, the conspiracy lacked the support of the people, for word of the crime no sooner reached Gibbethon, than the army raised Omri to the throne of Israel. Omri at once hastened to Tirzah and captured the place, which as it seems offered little resistance. Zimri resolved to die as king, and accordingly set fire to the palace with his own hands, and perished in the flames that he had kindled. Thus came to an ignominious end the short reign which remained as a blot even upon the blood-stained record of the deeds of violence that ushered in the change of dynasties in the Northern Kingdom, for the foul crime was abhorred even among arch plotters. When Jehu entered Jezreel he was met with Jezebel's bitter taunt, "Is it peace, thou Zimri, thy master's murderer?" (2 Kings 9:31). The historian too, in the closing formula of the reign, specially mentions "his treason that he worked."

S. K. Mosiman

Zin

(1) A town in the extreme South of Judah, on the line separating that province from Edom, named between the ascent of Akrabbim and Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 34:4; Joshua 15:3). It must have lain somewhere between Wady el-Fiqra (the ascent of Akrabbim?) and `Ain Qadis (Kadesh-barnea); but the site has not been recovered.

(2) The Wilderness of Zin is the tract deriving its name from the town (Numbers 34:3). It is identified with the wilderness of Kadesh in Numbers 33:36; while in other places Kadesh is said to be in the wilderness of Zin (Numbers 20:1; Numbers 27:14; Deuteronomy 32:51). We may take it that the two names refer to the same region. The spies, who set out from Kadesh-barnea, explored the land from the wilderness of Zin northward (Numbers 13:21; compare 32:8). It bordered with Judah "at the uttermost part of the south" (Joshua 15:1). In this wilderness Moses committed the offense which cost him his hope of entering the promised land (Numbers 27:14; Deuteronomy 32:51). It is identical with the uplands lying to the North and Northwest of the wilderness of Paran, now occupied by the `Azazimeh Arabs.

W. Ewing

Zina

zi'-na.

See ZIZAH.

Zion

zi'-on (tsiyon; Sion):

1. Meaning of the Word

2. The Zion of the Jebusites

3. Zion of the Prophets

4. Zion in Later Poetical Writings and Apocrypha

5. Omission of Name by Some Writers

6. The Name "Zion" in Christian Times

LITERATURE

1. Meaning of the Word:

A name applied to Jerusalem, or to certain parts of it, at least since the time of David. Nothing certain is known of the meaning. Gesenius and others have derived it from a Hebrew root tsahah, "to be dry"; Delitzsch from tsiwwah, "to set up" and Wetzstein from tsin, "to protect." Gesenius finds a more hopeful suggestion in the Arabic equivalent cihw, the Arabic cahwat signifying "ridge of a mountain" or "citadel," which at any rate suitably applies to what we know to have been the original Zion (compare Smith, HGHL, under the word).

Considerable confusion has been caused in the past by the want of clear understanding regarding the different sites which have respectively been called "Zion" during the centuries. It will make matters clearer if we take the application of the name: in David's time; in the early Prophets, etc.; in late poetical writings and in the Apocrypha; and in Christian times.

2. The Zion of the Jebusites:

Jerus (in the form Uru-sa-lim) is the oldest name we know for this city; it goes back at least 400 years before David. In 2 Samuel 5:6–9, "The king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites. .... Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David .... And David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it the city of David." It is evident that Zion was the name of the citadel of the Jebusite city of Jerusalem. That this citadel and incidentally then city of Jerusalem around it were on the long ridge running South of the Temple (called the southeastern hill in the article JERUSALEM, III, (3) (which see)) is now accepted by almost all modern scholars, mainly on the following grounds:

(1) The near proximity of the site to the only known spring, now the "Virgin's Fount," once called GIHON (which see). From our knowledge of other ancient sites all over Palestine, as well as on grounds of common-sense, it is hardly possible to believe that the early inhabitants of this site with such an abundant source at their very doors could have made any other spot their headquarters.

(2) The suitability of the site for defense.--The sites suited for settlement in early Canaanite times were all, if we may judge from a number of them now known, of this nature--a rocky spur isolated on three sides by steep valleys, and, in many sites, protected at the end where they join the main mountain ridge by either a valley or a rocky spur.

(3) The size of the ridge, though very small to our modern ideas, is far more in keeping with what we know of fortified towns of that period than such an area as presented by the southwestern hill--the traditional site of Zion. Mr. Macalister found by actual excavation that the great walls of Gezer, which must have been contemporaneous with the Jebusite Jerusalem, measured approximately 4,500 feet in circumference. G. A. Smith has calculated that a line of wall carried along the known and inferred scarps around the edge of this southeastern hill would have an approximate circumference of 4,250 feet. The suitability of the site to a fortified city like Gezer, Megiddo, Soco, and other sites which have been excavated, strikes anyone familiar with these places.

(4) The archaeological remains on these hills found by Warren and Professor Guthe, and more particularly in the recent excavations of Captain Parker (see JERUSALEM), show without doubt that this was the earliest settlement in pre-Israelite times. Extensive curves and rock-cuttings, cave-dwellings and tombs, and enormous quantities of early "Amorite" (what may be popularly called "Jebusite") pottery show that the spot must have been inhabited many centuries before the time of David. The reverse is equally true; on no other part of the Jerusalem site has any quantity of such early pottery been found.

(5) The Bible evidence that Zion originally occupied this site is clear. It will be found more in detail under the heading "City of David" in the article JERUSALEM, IV, (5), but three points may be mentioned here:

(a) The Ark of the Covenant was brought up out of the city of David to the Temple (1 Kings 8:1; 2 Chronicles 5:2), and Pharaoh's daughter "came up out of the city of David unto her house which Solomon had built for her"--adjacent to the Temple (1 Kings 9:24). This expression "up" could not be used of any other hill than of the lower-lying eastern ridge; to go from the southwestern hill (traditional Zion) to the Temple is to go down.

(b) Hezekiah constructed the well-known Siloam tunnel from Gihon to the Pool of Siloam. He is described (2 Chronicles 32:30) as bringing the waters of Gihon "straight down on the west side of the city of David."

(c) Manasseh (2 Chronicles 33:14) built "an outer wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley" (i.e. nachal--the name of the Kedron valley).

3. Zion of the Prophets:

Zion, renamed the City of David, then originally was on this eastern ridge. But the name did not stay there. It would almost seem as if the name was extended to the Temple site when the ark was carried there, for in the pre-exilic Prophets the references to Zion all appear to have referred to the Temple Hill. To quote a few examples: "And Yahweh will create over the whole habitation of mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night" (Isaiah 4:5); "Yahweh of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Zion" (Isaiah 8:18); "Let us go up to Zion unto Yahweh our God" (Jeremiah 31:6); "Yahweh will reign over them in mount Zion" (Micah 4:7). All these, and numbers more, clearly show that at that time Zion was the Temple Hill.

4. Zion in Later Poetical Writings and Apocrypha:

In many of the later writings, particularly poetical references, Zion appears to be the equivalent of Jerusalem; either in parallelism (Psalms 102:21; Amos 1:2; Micah 3:10,Micah 3:12; Zechariah 1:14,Zechariah 1:17; Zechariah 8:3; Zechariah 4:6) or alone (Jeremiah 3:14; Lamentations 5:11); even here many of the references will do equally well for the Temple Hill. The term "Daughter of zion" is applied to the captive Jews (Lamentations 4:22), but in other references to the people of Jerusalem (Isaiah 1:8; Isaiah 52:2; Jeremiah 4:31, etc.). When we come to the Apocrypha, in 2 Esdras there are several references in which Zion is used for the captive people of Judah (2:40; 3:2,31; 10:20,39,44), but "Mount Zion" in this and other books (e.g. 1 Macc 4:37,60; 5:54; 6:48,62, etc.) is always the Temple Hill.

5. Omission of Name by Some Writers:

It has been pointed out as a curious and unaccountable exception that in Ezekiel as well as in Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, there is no mention of Zion, except the incidental reference to David's capture of the Jebusite fort. The references in the other Prophets and the Psalms are so copious that there must be some religious reason for this. The Chronicler (2 Chronicles 3:1), too, alone refers to the Temple as on Mount Moriah. It is also noticeable that only in these books (2 Chronicles 27:3; 2 Chronicles 33:14; Nehemiah 3:26 Nehemiah 11:21) does the name "Ophel" appear as a designation of a part of the southeastern hill, which apparently might equally fitly have been termed Zion. See OPHEL. Josephus never uses the name "Zion" nor does it occur in the New Testament, except in two quotations (Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 14:1).

6. The Name "Zion" in Christian Times:

Among the earlier Christian writers who mention "Zion," Origen used it as equivalent to the Temple Hill, but in the 4th century writers commence to localize it up the southern part of the western hill. It was a period when Biblical topography was settled in a very arbitrary manner, without any scientific or critical examination of the evidence, and this tradition once established remained, like many such traditions, undisputed until very recent years. To W. F. Birch belongs much of the credit for the promulgation of the newer views which now receive the adherence of almost every living authority on the topography of Jerusalem.

LITERATURE.

See especially chapter vi in Smith's Jerusalem; for a defense of the older view see Kuemmel, Materialien z. Topog. des alt. Jerusalem.

E. W. G. Masterman

Zior

zi'-or (tsi`or; Sorth, or Sior): A town in the hill country of Judah (Joshua 15:54); probably Si'air, 4 1/2 miles North-Northeast of Hebron where the Mukam `Aisa (Tomb of Esau) is now shown. It is a considerable village surrounded by cultivated land; a spring exists in the neighborhood; there are rock-cut tombs showing it is an ancient site (PEF, III, 309, Sh XXI).

Ziph (1)

zif (ziph; Ozeib, or Ziph):

(1) A town in the hill country of Judah, mentioned along with Maon, Carmel and Jutah (Joshua 15:55). It is chiefly celebrated in connection with the earlier history of David: "David .... remained in the hill-country in the wilderness of Ziph" (1 Samuel 23:14,1 Samuel 23:15,1 Samuel 23:24; 1 Samuel 26:2); the Ziphites (1 Samuel 23:19; 1 Samuel 26:1; compare Ps 54 title) sought to betray him to Saul, but David escaped. Ziph was fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chronicles 11:8). The name also occurs in 1 Chronicles 2:42; 1 Chronicles 4:16. In connection with this last (compare 4:23) it is noticeable that Ziph is one of the four names occurring on the Hebrew stamped jar handles with the added la-melekh, "to the king."

The site is Tell Zif, 4 miles Southeast of Hebron, conspicuous hill 2,882 ft. above sea-level; there are cisterns and, to the East, some ruins (PEF, III, 312, 315).

(2) A town in the Negeb of Judah (Joshua 15:24), site unknown.

E. W. G. Masterman

Ziph (2)

(ziph, meaning unknown):

(1) A grandson of Caleb (1 Chronicles 2:42); the Septuagint has Zeiph.

(2) A son of Jehallelel (1 Chronicles 4:16). In the Septuagint's Codex Alexandrinus reads Ziphai, but Codex Vaticanus has the totally different form Ameachei.

Ziphah

zi'-fa (ziphah, a feminine form of "Ziph"): A Judahite, "son" of Jehallelel. The name being feminine may be a dittography of the previous Ziph (1 Chronicles 4:16).

Ziphims

zif'-imz: In title of Psalms 54:1–7 the King James Version for the Revised Version (British and American) ZIPHITES (which see).

Ziphion

zif'-i-on (tsiphyon, "gaze" (?) (BDB)): A "son" of Gad (Genesis 46:16) = "Zephon" of Numbers 26:15.

See ZAPHON; ZEPHONITES.

Ziphites

zif'-its.

See ZIPH.

Ziphron

zif'-ron.

See SIBRAIM.

Zippor

zip'-or (tsippor; in Numbers 22:4; Numbers 23:18; tsippor, "bird," "swallow" (HPN, 94)): Father of Balak, king of Moab (Numbers 22:2,Numbers 22:10,Numbers 22:16; Joshua 24:9; Judges 11:25).

Zipporah

zi-po'-ra, zip'-o-ra (tsipporah; Sepphora): The Midianite wife of Moses, daughter of Jethro, also called Hobab, and probably grand-daughter of Reuel, a priest of Midian at the time Moses fled from Egypt, later succeeded at his death by Jethro, or Hobab (Exodus 2:21,Exodus 2:22; Exodus 4:25,Exodus 4:26; Exodus 18:2–6).

Whether or not Zipporah was the "Cushite woman" (Numbers 12:1) is a much-mooted question. There is little ground for anything more than speculation on the subject. The use of the words, "Cushite woman" in the mouth of Aaron and Miriam may have been merely a description of Zipporah and intended to be opprobrious, or they may have been ethnic in character and intended to denote another woman whom Moses had married, as suggested by Ewald (Gesch. des Volkes Israel, II, 252). The former view seems the more probable. The association of Midian and Cushan by Habakkuk (3:7) more than 700 years afterward may hardly be adduced to prove like close relationship between these peoples in the days of Moses.

M. G. Kyle

Zithri

zith'-ri.

See SITHRI.

Ziv

ziv (ziw; the King James Version Zif): The 2nd month of the old Hebrew calendar, corresponding to Iyyar of the Jewish reckoning in later times. It is mentioned in 1 Kings 6:1,1 Kings 6:37.

See CALENDAR.

Ziz, Ascent Of

ziz (ma`aleh ha-tsits; Hasae, Hasisa): A pass in the wilderness of Judea (2 Chronicles 20:16) leading from Hazazon-tamar (En-gedi, 2 Chronicles 20:2). This is generally identified with Wady Chacaca, a valley by which the ancient road from En-gedi runs toward Jerusalem. At any rate, an echo of the ancient name survives here: possibly the actual ascent was the present steep pass from En-gedi to the plateau above. See PEF, Sh XXI.

Ziza

zi'-za (ziza', probably a childish reduplicated abbreviation or a term of endearment (Curtis, Chron., 369, quoting Noldeke in EB, III 3294)):

(1) A Simeonite chief (1 Chronicles 4:37).

(2) A son of King Rehoboam, his mother being a daughter or grand-daughter of Absalom (2 Chronicles 11:20).

(3) A probable reading for ZIZAH (which see).

Zizah

zi'-za (zizah; see ZIZA): A Gershonite Levite (1 Chronicles 23:11); in verse 10 the name is "Zina" (zina'), while the Septuagint and Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) have "Ziza" (Ziza) in both verses, and one Hebrew manuscript has ziza' in 1 Chronicles 23:10. We should then probably read ziza' in both verses, i.e. "Ziza."

Zoan

zo'-an (tso`an; Tanis):

1. situation

2. Old Testament Notices

3. Early History

4. Hyksos Monuments

5. Hyksos Population

6. Hyksos Age

7. Description of Site

1. Situation:

The name is supposed to mean "migration" (Arabic, tsan). The site is the only one connected with the history of Israel in Egypt, before the exodus, which is certainly fixed, being identified with the present village of San at the old mouth of the Bubastic branch of the Nile, about 18 miles Southeast of Damietta. It should be remembered that the foreshore of the Delta is continually moving northward, in consequence of the deposit of the Nile mud, and that the Nile mouths are much farther North than they were even in the time of the geographer Ptolemy. Thus in the times of Jacob, and of Moses, Zoan probably lay at the mouth of the Bubastic branch, and was a harbor, Lake Menzaleh and the lagoons near Pelusium having been subsequently formed.

2. Old Testament Notices:

The city is only once noticed in the Pentateuch (Numbers 13:22), as having been built seven years after Hebron, which existed in the time of Abraham. Zoan was certainly a very ancient town, since monuments of the VIth Egyptian Dynasty have been found at the site. It has been thought that Zoar on the border of Egypt (Genesis 13:10) is a clerical error for Zoan, but the Septuagint reading (Zogora) does not favor this view, and the place intended is probably the fortress Zar, or Zor, often mentioned in Egyptian texts as lying on the eastern borders of the Delta. Zoan is noticed in the Prophets (Isaiah 19:11,Isaiah 19:13; Isaiah 30:4; Ezekiel 30:14), and its "princes" are naturally mentioned by Isaiah, since the capital of the XXIIInd Egyptian Dynasty (about 800 to 700 BC) was at this city. In Psalms 78:12,Psalms 78:43 the "field (or pastoral plain) of Zoan" is noticed as though equivalent to the land of GOSHEN (which see).

3. Early History:

Zoan was the capital of the Hyksos rulers, or "shepherd kings," in whose time Jacob came into Egypt, and their monuments have been found at the site, which favors the conclusion that its plain was that "land of Rameses" (Genesis 47:11; Exodus 12:37; see RAAMSES) where the Hebrews had possessions under Joseph. It is probably the site of Avaris, which lay on the Bubastic channel according to Josephus quoting Manetho (Apion, I, xiv), and which was rebuilt by the first of the Hyksos kings, named Salatis; for Avaris is supposed (Brugsch, Geog., I, 86-90, 278-80) to represent the Egyptian name of the city Ha-uar-t, which means "the city of movement" (or "flight"), thus being equivalent to the Semitic Zoan or "migration." It appears that, from very early times, the pastoral peoples of Edom and Palestine were admitted into this region. The famous picture of the Amu, who bring their families on donkeys to Egypt, and offer the Sinaitic ibex as a present, is found at Beni Chasan in a tomb as old as the time of Usertasen II of the XIIth Dynasty, before the Hyksos age. A similar immigration of shepherds (see PITHOM) from Aduma (or Edom) is also recorded in the time of Menepthah, or more than four centuries after the expulsion of the Hyksos by the XVIIIth, or Theban, Dynasty.

4. Hyksos Monuments:

Besides the name of Pepi of the Vlth Dynasty, found by Burton at Zoan, and many texts of the XIIth Dynasty, a cartouche of Apepi (one of the Hyksos kings) was found by Mariette on the arm of a statue apparently of older origin, and a sphinx also bears the name of Khian, supposed to have been an early Hyksos ruler. The Hyksos type, with broad cheek bones and a prominent nose, unlike the features of the native Egyptians, has been regarded by Virchow and Sir W. Flower as Turanian, both at Zoan and at Bubastis; which agrees with the fact that Apepi is recorded to have worshipped no Egyptian gods, but only Set (or Sutekh), who was also adored by Syrian Mongols (see HITTITES). At Bubastis this deity is called "Set of Rameses," which may indicate the identity of Zoan with the city Rameses.

5. Hyksos Population:

In the 14th century BC the city was rebuilt by Rameses II, and was then known as Pa-Ramessu. The Hyksos rulers had held it for 500 years according to Manetho, and were expelled after 1700 BC. George the Syncellus (Chronographia, about 800 AD) believed that Apepi (or Apophis) was the Pharaoh under whom Joseph came to Egypt, but there seems to have been more than one Hyksos king of the name, the latest being a contemporary of Ra-Sekenen of the XIIIth Dynasty, shortly before 1700 BC. Manetho says that some supposed the Hyksos to be Arabs, and the population of Zoan under their rule was probably a mixture of Semitic and Mongolic races, just as in Syria and Babylonia in the same ages. According to Brugsch (Hist of Egypt, II, 233), this population was known as Men or Menti, and came from Assyria East of Ruten or Syria. This perhaps connects them with the Minyans of Matiene, who were a Mongolic race. This statement occurs in the great table of nations, on the walls of the Edfu temple.

6. Hyksos Age:

The Hyksos age corresponds chronologically with that of the 1st Dynasty of Babylon, and thus with the age of the Hebrew patriarchs Abraham and Jacob--time when the power of Babylon was supreme in Syria and Palestine. It is very natural, therefore, that, like other Semitic tribes even earlier, these patriarchs should have been well received in the Delta by the Hyksos Pharaohs, and equally natural that, when Aahmes, the founder of the XVIIIth Egyptian Dynasty, took the town of Avaris and expelled the Asiatics, he should also have oppressed the Hebrews, and that this should be intended when we read (Exodus 1:8) that "there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph." The exodus, according to the Old Testament dates, occurred in the time of the XVIIIth Dynasty (see EXODUS) when Israel left Goshen. The later date advocated by some scholars, in the reign of Menepthah of the XIXth Dynasty, hardly agrees with the monumental notice of the immigration of Edomites into the Delta in his reign, which has been mentioned above; and in his time Egypt was being invaded by tribes from the North of Asia.

7. Description of Site:

Zoan, as described by G. J. Chester (Mem. Survey West Palestine, Special Papers, 1881, 92-96), is now only a small hamlet of mud huts in a sandy waste, West of the huge mounds of its ancient temple; but, besides the black granite sphinx, and other statues of the Hyksos age, a red sandstone figure of Rameses II and obelisks of granite have been excavated, one representing this king adoring the gods; while the names of Amen, Tum and Mut appear as those of the deities worshipped, in a beautiful chapel in the temple, carved in red sandstone, and belonging to the same age of prosperity in Zoan.

C. R. Conder

Zoar

zo'-ar (tso`ar; the Septuagint usually Segor, Zogora): The name of the city to which Lot escaped from Sodom (Genesis 19:20–23,Genesis 19:30), previously mentioned in Genesis 13:10; Genesis 14:2,Genesis 14:8, where its former name is said to have been Bela. In 19:22, its name is said to have been given because of its littleness, which also seems to have accounted for its being spared. The location of Zoar has much to do with that of the cities of the Plain or Valley of Siddim, with which it is always connected. In Deuteronomy 34:3, Moses is said to have viewed "the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, unto Zoar," while in Isaiah 15:5 and Jeremiah 48:4 (where the Septuagint reads unto "Zoar," instead of "her little ones") it is said to be a city of Moab. The traditional location of the place is at the south end of the Dead Sea. Josephus says (BJ, IV, viii, 4) that the Dead Sea extended "as far as Zoar of Arabia," while in Ant, I, xi, 4, he states that the place was still called Zoar. Eusebius (Onomasticon, 261) locates the Dead Sea between Jericho and Zoar, and speaks of the remnants of the ancient fertility as still visible. Ptolemy (v. 17,5) regards it as belonging to Arabia Petrea. The Arabian geographers mention it under the name Zughar, Sughar, situated 1 degrees South of Jericho, in a hot and unhealthful valley at the end of the Dead Sea, and speak of it as an important station on the trade route between Akkabah and Jericho. The Crusaders mention "Segor" as situated in the midst of palm trees. The place has not been definitely identified by modern explorers, but from Genesis 19:19–30 we infer that it was in the plain and not in the mountain. If we fix upon the south end of the Dead Sea as the Vale of Siddim, a very natural place for Zoar and one which agrees with all the traditions would be at the base of the mountains of Moab, East of Wady Ghurundel, where there is still a well-watered oasis several miles long and 2 or 3 wide, which is probably but a remnant of a fertile plain once extending out over a considerable portion of the shallow south end of the Dead Sea when, as shown elsewhere (see DEAD SEA), the water level was considerably lower than now.

Robinson would locate it on the northeast corner of el-Lisan on the borders of the river Kerak, but this was done entirely on theoretical grounds which would be met as well in the place just indicated, and which is generally fixed upon by the writers who regard the Vale of Siddim as at the south end of the Dead Sea. Conder, who vigorously maintains that the Vale of Siddim is at the north end of the Dead Sea, looks favorably upon theory of W.H. Birch that the place is represented by the present Tell Shaghur, a white rocky mound at the foot of the Moab Mountains, a mile East of Beth-haram (Tell er-Rameh), 7 miles Northeast of the mouth of the Jordan, a locality remarkable for its stone monuments and well-supplied springs, but he acknowledges that the name is more like the Christian Segor than the original Zoar.

George Frederick Wright

Zobah

zo'-ba (tsobhah; Souba): The name is derived by Halevy from zehobhah as referring to its supplies of "bright yellow" brass; but this word might be more appropriately used to contrast its cornfields with white Lebanon. Zobah was an Aramean kingdom of which we have the first notice in Saul's wars (1 Samuel 14:47).

(1) David's First War.

When David sought to extend his boundary to the Euphrates, he came into contact with its king Hadadezer, and a great battle was fought in which David took many prisoners. Damascus, however, came to the rescue and fresh resistance was made, but a complete rout followed and great spoil fell to the victor, as well as access to the rich copper mines of Tebah and Berothai. Toi, king of Hamath, who had suffered in war with Hadadezer, now sent his son on an embassy with greetings and gifts to David (2 Samuel 8:3–12; 1 Chronicles 18:3–12). See Psalms 60:1–12, title.

(2) David's Second War.

During David's Ammonite war, the enemy was strengthened by alliance with Zobah, Maacah and Beth-rehob, and Israel was attacked from both North and South at the same time. The northern confederation was defeated by Joab, but Hadadezer again gathered an army, including levies from beyond the Euphrates. These, under Shobach the captain of the host, were met by David in person at Helam, and a great slaughter ensued, Shobach himself being among the slain (2 Samuel 10:6–19, the King James Version "Zoba"; 1 Chronicles 19:3–19). Rezon, son of Eliada, now broke away from Hadadezer and, getting possession of Damascus, set up a kingdom hostile to Israel (1 Kings 11:23–25). Solomon seems (2 Chronicles 8:3) to have invaded and subdued Hamath-zobah, but the text, especially Septuagint, is obscure.

(3) Geographical Position.

We can now consider the vexed question of the situation and extent of Aram-zobah. (See SYRIA, 4, (10).) In addition to the Old Testament references we have the Assyrian name lists. In these Subiti is placed between Kui and Zemar, and, where it is otherwise referred to, a position is implied between Hamath and Damascus. It would thus lie along the eastern slopes of Anti-Lebanon extending thence to the desert, and in the north it may have at times included Emesa (modern Homs) around which Noldeke would locate it. Damascus was probably a tributary state till seized by Rezon. Winckler would identify it with another Cubiti, a place in the Hauran mentioned by Assurbanipal on the Hassam Cylinder vii, lines 110-12. This latter may be the native place of Igal, one of David's "thirty" (2 Samuel 23:36), who is named among eastern Israelites.

The kingdom of Zobah in addition to its mineral wealth must have been rich in vineyards and fruitful fields, and its conquest must have added greatly to the wealth and power of Israel's king.

W. M. Christie

Zobebah

zo-be'-ba (ha-tsobhebhah, meaning uncertain): A Judahite name with the article prefixed (1 Chronicles 4:8); some would read "Jabez" instead as in 1 Chronicles 4:9.

Zohar

zo'-har (tsochar, meaning uncertain):

(1) Father of Ephron the Hittite (Genesis 23:8; Genesis 25:9).

(2) "Son" of Simeon (Genesis 46:10; Exodus 6:15) = "Zerah" of Numbers 26:13; 1 Chronicles 4:24.

See ZERAH, 4.

(3) In 1 Chronicles 4:7, where the Qere is "and tsochar" for the Kethibh is yitschar, the Revised Version (British and American) "Izhar," the King James Version wrongly "Jezoar."

Zoheleth, The Stone Of

zo'-he-leth, ('ebhen ha-zacheleth, "serpent's stone"): "And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel" (1 Kings 1:9). Evidently this was a sacred stone--probably a matstsbhah such as marked a Canaanite sanctuary. A source of "living water" has always in the Semitic world been a sacred place; even today at most such places, e.g. at Bir Eyyub, the modern representative of En-rogel, there is a michrab and a platform for prayer. The stone has disappeared, but it is thought that an echo of the name survives in ez-Zechweleh, the name of a rocky outcrop in the village of Siloam. Because the name is particularly associated with an ascent taken by the woman coming from the Virgin's Fount, to which it is adjacent, some authorities have argued that this, the Virgin's Fount, must be En-rogel; on this see EN-ROGEL; GIHON. Against this view, as far as ez- Zechweleh is concerned, we may note:

(1) It is by no means certain that the modern Arabic name--which is used for similar rocky spots in other places--is really derived from the Hebrew;

(2) the name is now applied to quite different objects, in the Hebrew to a stone, in the Arabic to a rocky outcrop;

(3) the name is not confined to this outcrop near the Virgin's Fount alone, but applies, according to at least some of the fellahin of Siloam, to the ridge along the whole village site; and

(4) even if all the above were disproved, names are so frequently transferred from one locality to another in Palestine that no argument can be based on a name alone.

E. W. G. Masterman

Zoheth

zo'-heth (zocheth, meaning unknown): A Judahite (1 Chronicles 4:20). The name after "Ben-zoheth" at the end of the verse has fallen out.

See BEN-ZOHETH.