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XERXES  (ﬧשחשי (hah shoo ee rus))  1.  Xerxes I (reigned 486-465 B.C.) was a Persian king of the Achaemenian dynasty.  He was a son of Darius the Great and Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great.  Xerxes succeeded his father in 486 saying, “Darius my father made me the greatest after himself.”

         The memory of the difficulties, such as revolts in Egypt, Babylonia, and elsewhere is preserved in one of his own inscriptions as follows:  “When that I became king . . . by the favor of Ahuramazda I smote that country and put it down in its place.”  His attitude in matters of religion is illustrated by the following from the same inscription:  “And among these countries there was (a place) where previously false gods [daiva] were worshipped . . .  I destroyed that sanctuary of the false gods and . . .  there I worshipped Ahurmazda.”

                Simultaneously, large-scale preparations for a major war against continental Greece were under way.  After crossing the Hellespont (480), Xerxes succeeded in occupying Attica and maneuvering the enemy into a position of virtual blockade in the Bay of Salamis.  The ensuing naval battle ended however in disaster.  The Persian armies withdrew from Greece (479), while the Persian fleet suffered a surprise defeat at Mycale in Ionia the same year.  After that, internal troubles kept him occupied until the time of his death.

     2.      Xerxes II (424 B.C.)  He reigned 45 days.

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YAH  (יה, from the root word “to be”)  An abbreviated form of the sacred name Yahweh.

YAHWEH  (יהוה, from the Hebrew verb-root meaning “to be”)  The vocalization of the 4 consonants of the Israelite name for God which scholars believe to approximate the original pronunciation.  Since the word is considered too sacred to say out loud, where these letters appear, the Hebrew word adonai (Lord) is pronounced.  It is translated into English as “the Lord.”

YARD  (הﬧגז (gee tseh raw), separate place)  In the Old Testament, gezerah is the area behind the temple and was  100 cubits (45 meters) long.  In the New Testament, it is a unit of measure used in translating the Greek “200 cubits.”

YEAR  (שנה (sheh naw))  In the course of its political, economic, social, and religious evolution, the Israelite people employed several different calendars.

                 The oldest calendar, aptly termed the pentecontad (50-day) calendar, was borrowed from the Canaanites and used until Solomon’s time; it was of an agricultural character.  This calendar divided its year into 7 pentecontads, periods of 50 days each.  These 7 periods plus 2 special, 7-day festival periods and New Year’s Day, which was the day of cutting the first sheaf of the new crop, totaled 365 days.  This calendar paid no attention to the moon.  During the pre-Israelite, Canaanite period, when the city-state, with limited territorial range, was the normal political unit, this calendar plainly sufficed as an instrument of time-reckoning.

                 With the gradual fusion of the various Israelite tribes into a single nation and eventually an empire, the inadequacy of the localized 50-day calendar became increasingly apparent.  By the period 1000-975 B.C. the Tyrians had evolved a solar calendar.  This system used solar years (365 days) plus a leap year whenever necessary.  There were 12 months of 30 days each, plus a 5 or (on leap year) 6-day supplementary period, which was coordinated with the Festival of Ingathering.  The 12 months of this solar year were known in Israel at first by their borrowed Tyrian names.  Later, the Assyrian practice of using numbers as the names of months, and using the vernal (spring) equinox as the New Year’s Day of this solar calendar was adopted.

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                 Even though this solar calendar continued as Judah’s official calendar as long as the temple stood, it never completely replaced the earlier, 50-day calendar.  Farmers and shepherds tend to cherish ancient beliefs, institutions, and customs indefinitely; when Babylon conquered Judah, the 50-day calendar dominated.  With the dedication of the 2^nd temple in 516 B.C., the solar calendar was revived and functioned as the Jewish community’s official calendar of Palestine until this temple’s destruction in 485.  Following the destruction of the 2^nd temple, the 50-day calendar persisted as the calendar in general use by the Jewish people of Palestine.  In this modified 50-day calendar the year consisted of 52 weeks (364 days), divided into 8 months of 30 days and 4 months of 31 days.

                 At around 450 B.C., a new and distinctly lunar calendar was instituted.  Our main source of information with regard to it is the Priestly Code.  It had 12 months alternating between 29 and 30 days, with a 13^th month added occasionally to reconcile it with the solar year.  As long as the 3^rd temple stood, this procedure was undoubtedly regulated by the priests.  Probably at this time and as a phase of this same trend, the system of reckoning the day from sunset to sunset superseded the older system of reckoning from sunrise to sunrise.  Passover started on the full moon of the 1^st month; Feast of Booths started on the full moon of the 7^th month.

                  Such was the lunar calendar and year in Jewish practice until the close of the biblical period.  Following the downfall of the Jewish state and the destruction of the Herodian temple by the Romans in 70 A.D., supervision of the calendar passed into the hands of the Rabbis, who made precise determination of new-moon days and coordinated their calendar with the solar year.

YEAST  (zumh (zoo meh), leaven; translated yeast in Galatians 5).

YELLOW  (צהב (tsaw hobe), gold-colored)  A color noted in medical diagnosis and the description of gold in the Old Testament, as in the color of hair in leprous diseases.

YIRON  (ﬧאוןי (yee ron), fearful)  A fortified town in Naphtali.  It is probably to be located at modern Yarun in northern Galilee.

YOKE  (מוט (mote), pole, staff; ﬢצמ (tseh med), pair of animals (for plowing), quantity of land plowed in a day, acre; zugoV (zoo gos), cross bar, band; suzugoV (soo zoo gos), yoke-fellow)  A wooden frame placed over their necks to join 2 oxen or other draft animals.  The single yoke-bar with 2 loops of rope or nooses for the necks is the simplest form.  To the middle of the yoke-bar was connected a single shaft, which pulled the plow or cart.  The carpenter probably made both yokes and plows.  A measure of land translated “acre” was called a tsemed because it was the amount of land a pair of oxen could plow in a day. 

                 The yoke was used on human beings when they were taken captive.  The figurative use of the yoke was as a symbol of subjection and servitude.  Slavery is like a yoke; so is any hardship.  To break away from God and to disobey as a sinner or rebel is to break God’s yoke.  The law legalistically applied is a yoke.  A team or pair of oxen tied together with a yoke is called a “yoke.”  To be yoked with Baal is a sin.  Paul uses the term “yokefellow” to refer to his helpers.

YOKEFELLOW.  See Euodia.

YOM KIPPUR.  See Atonement, Day of.

YOUTH (ﬠﬧנ (no ‘ar), childhood; ﬠלם (‘eh lem), young man; ﬧבחו (baw khor), vigorous, active youth)  The time, with no fixed limit, beyond infancy and before a person’s prime; a time of vigor and opportunity, though not of judgment and maturity.  The Hebrew word bakhor is so often paired with the term for “virgin” that it seems to be reserved for young men before marriage.

                  The numerical age intended is by no means clear.   Leviticus 27 might suggest the age of 20 as the end of youth.  In this chapter, for the purpose of fixing a scale of values, persons are divided into groups according to age; 20 is the lower age limit of the group most highly valued.  These were subject to the poll tax, and the males at this age were “able to go forth to war.”  It is probable that the term “youth” was sometimes used merely to denote immaturity.  Several biblical personalities refer to themselves disparagingly as “young.”  The young of course, lack the experience and the wisdom of their elders.  Koheleth, aware of the infirmities of old age, begs youth to have its fling “before the evil days come.”  Not infrequently Israel’s early history is poetically termed its “youth” and either regretted as the time of national perversity, or fondly remembered as a time of good faith between God and people.    

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ZAANAIM.  King James Version alternate form of Zaanannim.

ZAANAN  (צאנן (tsa ‘ah nawn), place of flocks)  A unidentified town in western Judah; often considered the same as Zenan.

ZAANANNIM  (יםﬠננצ, wanderings)  A border point in the territory of Naphtali; the site of the encampment of Heber the Kenite, where Sisera was slain (Judges 4).  Textual problems don’t allow a clear, certain reading of the place name.  Its location is unknown, owing to the textual disorder of Judges 4.  It is possibly the same as Khan-et-Tujjarb, north of Beth-shan, between it and Damascus.

ZAAVAN  (ﬠוןז, unquiet, agitated)  The 2^nd son of clan chief Ezer; ancestor of a native Horite sub-clan in Edom.

ZABAD  (ﬢזב, gift)  1.  A name in a list tracing the descent of Elishama.  2.  A link in a post-exilic Ephraimite genealogy, which traces the genealogical tree of Joshua (I Chronicles 7).  3.  Son of Ahlai; one of David’s Mighty Men.  4.  One of the 2 servants of King Joash who assassinated him for ordering Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, stoned to death (II Chronicles 24).  Jozabad may have been abbreviated to “Zabad.”  There were also 3 laymen among those who put away their foreign wives and their children according to Ezra’s reform banning foreign marriage (Ezra 10).

ZABBAI  (זבי, possibly pet name for Zabad (gift))  One of the Jews contemporary with Ezra who were listed as having married foreign wives (Ezra 10).

ZABBUD.  King James Version form of Zaccur.

ZABDEUS.  King James Version form of Zebediah in the Apocrypha.

ZABDI  (ﬢיזב, gift of the Lord)  1.  A descendant of Judah, of the family Zerah; the father of Carmi (Joshua 7).  2.  A family of the tribe of Benjamin (I Chronicles 8).  3.   A Shiphmite; one of David’s official over the royal possessions.  4.  A Kenite individual or family descended from Asaph (Nehemiah 11).

ZABDIEL  (ﬢיאלזב, gift of God)  1.  A descendant of Perez of the tribe of Judah, from whom David also was descended (I Chronicles 27).  2.  Overseer of a group of priests (Nehemiah 11).

ZABUD  (ﬢזבו, given) A son of Nathan.  He served in the capacity of priest and royal friend to Solomon. 

ZABULON  (zaboulwn)  The Greek (New Testament) spelling of Zebulun. 

ZACCAI  (ﬤיז, innocent)  Origin of the name and/or head of one of the families which returned from exile (Ezra 2; Nehemiah 7).

ZACCHAEUS  (ZakcaoiV)  A tax collector of Jericho, whose life was transformed through contact with Jesus (Luke 19).  An Aramaic name with the meaning “righteous one” must have seemed to pious Jews ill suited to a Roman collaborator.  As “chief collector,” Zacchaeus was an official with responsibility for the tax collectors of a district.  The Jericho where Zacchaeus lived lay about 3 km south of old Jericho.  Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus at the sycamore tree and subsequently in his home reveals Jesus’ concern for outcasts.  It discloses Zacchaeus’ resourcefulness, religious hunger, decisiveness, and his capacity for radical repentance.

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ZACCUR  (ﬧוﬤז, mindful)  1.  An individual or family of the tribe of Reuben (Numbers 13).  2.  A family or clan of Simeon (I Chronicles 4) descended from Mishma.  3.  A Levite, descendant of Merari; son of Jaaziah (I Chronicles 24).  4.  A post-exilic family of singers of Asaph group (I Chronicles 25; Nehemiah 12).

                 5.  A descendant of Bigvai named with Uthai as accompanying Ezra on the return from Babylon (Ezra 8).  6.  Son of Imri; one of those who helped to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3).  7.  A post-exilic Levite among those who signed the pledge of reform (Nehemiah 10).  8.  A name tracing the descent of Hanan, appointed assistant treasurer by Nehemiah in Neh. 13.

ZACHARIAH, ZACHARIAS, ZACHARY, ZACHER.  King James Version alternate forms of Zechariah.

ZADOK  (ﬢוקצ, just; Sadwk)  1.  Leader of one of the divisions of armed troops which came to Hebron to turn the kingdom of Saul over to David (I Chronicles 12).  2.  See  Zadok the Priest entry.  3.  Grandfather of Jotham king of Judah (II Kings 15; II Chronicles 27).  4.   A descendant of Zadok the priest (I Chronicles 6).    5.  A descendant of Baana who repaired a section of the Jerusalem wall (Nehemiah 3).  6.  A descendant of Immer who worked on the Jerusalem wall (Nehemiah 3).  7.  A signer of the covenant of Ezra (Nehemiah 10).  8.  A scribe appointed treasurer by Nehemiah (Nehemiah 13).  9.  An ancestor of Jesus (Matthew 1).

ZADOK THE PRIEST (ﬢוקצ, just)  Priest of David.  His descendants gained control of the Jerusalem temple’s priesthood.  We next hear of him as a supporter of Solomon in the dynastic struggle of David’s last days.

                  Nowhere does the Old Testament provide us with a clear and accurate picture of the background of Zadok.  The prophecy of I Samuel 2 makes it clear that the house of Zadok was considered to have replaced the house of Eli.  The genealogies in Chronicles and Ezra treat Zadok as a descendant of the Aaronide house of Eleazar; neither passage is reliable.  It seems likely that David had a strong reason for making Zadok the equal of Abiathar.  This reason is related to the position occupied by Zadok before he entered David’s service.

                  According to I Chron. 16 there were 2 important sanctuaries at the time of David: Jerusalem and Gibeon.  It was at the latter that Zadok is said to have officiated.  Perhaps as part of David’s program he installed the Gibeonite priest Zadok as one of Jerusalem’s chief priests.  In support of this theory Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice.  To account for the connection between Zadok and the ark, it has been suggested that Zadok was a priest with the ark at Kiriath-jearim.  It is possible that Zadok is connected to Gibeon and Kiriath-jearim.

                  The most probable theory is that Zadok was the priest of the Jebusite sanctuary at Jerusalem when the town was captured by David.  The name Zadok seems to have had a special association with pre-Israelite Jerusalem.  Melchizedek was its priest-king in Abraham’s time; this story may be meant to justify the retention of the Jebusite Zadok by David.  If Zadok was a Jebusite, it might explain why he supported Solomon instead of Adonijah for successor.  Solomon’s backers appear for the first time in connection with the court at Jerusalem.  The triumph of Solomon meant the triumph of Zadok.  In Ezekiel 40-48, the Zadokites expect that they alone shall perform priestly functions in the new temple.  The Chronicler reserves for the family of Zadok the position of chief or “anointed” priest by placing him in the family of Eleazar, Aaron’s eldest son.

ZADOKITE FRAGMENTS.  See the entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT section of the Appendix.

ZAHAM (זחם, loathing)  A son of King Rehoboam (I Chronicles 11).

ZAIN  (ז)  The 7^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet at it is placed in the King James Version at the head of the 7^th section of the acrostic Psalm 119, where each verse of this section of the psalm begins with this letter.

ZAIR  (ﬠיﬧצ, small, narrow pass (?))  A place, the location of which is unknown, unless it is Zior; it is more likely to look for Zair closer to Edom, perhaps south of the Dead Sea.  It was at Zair that Jehoram of Judah met the Edomites in a night raid that failed through desertion; the Edomite revolution succeeded.

ZAKKUR.  The spelling of Zaccur #5 in early editions of the Revised Standard Version. 

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ZALAPH (צלף, wound) Hanun’s father, who helped repair Jerusalem’s wall in Nehemiah’s time (Neh. 3)

ZALMON  (צלמון, shady)  1.  An Ahohite who was among David’s Mighty Men known as the “30” (II Samuel 23).  2.  (צלמון ﬧה, har zalmon)  A mountain in the vicinity of Shechem, most likely far enough away from Shechem that the Shechemites were unaware of the preparations being made to destroy them (Judg 9). 3. A region or mountain in Bashan.  Some scholars have proposed that zalmon here means “dark” or “dark place.”  Because there is often snow on Mount Hermon, it is possible that the psalmist has reference to an unusually heavy snowfall which occurred at a time when the Hebrews’ enemies were being defeated (Psalm 68).

ZALMONAH  (צלמונה, shady)  The first stopping place of the Israelites after they left Mount Hor and before they reached Punon.  It may be the name of a wooded mountain (Numbers 33).

ZALMUNNA.  See Zerah and Zalmunna

ZAMZUMMIM  (זמזמים (zam zum meem), name for race of giants)  The apparently contemptuous name which the Ammonites employed for their precursors in the Transjordan territory they came to occupy (There is not firm agreement on this theory).  The Zamzummim belong to a larger group known as Rephaim.  The Ammonites dispossessed them in order to settle in the land.  It would appear that the Ammonite held their precursors in high esteem.  The bed of King Og of Bashan and the Rephaim could be found in Rabbah, which suggests wanting to venerate Og, who was beginning to be something of a legendary hero among the Ammonites.

ZANOAH  (זנוה, from the root meaning “to play the harlot”)  1.  A village of Judah in the Shephelah district of Zorah-Azekah (Joshua 15).  Hanun and the inhabitants of Zanoah were assigned the Valley Gate repairs in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3).  Zanoah is identified with Khirbet Zanu’, about 5 km south-southeast of Beth-shemesh.  2. A town of Judah in the hill country district of Maon (Joshua 15).  Khirbet Beit Amra, located 2 km northwest of Yatta.

ZAPHENATH-PANEAH  (ﬠנחפ ﬨצפנ, an Egyptian name written in Hebrew letters, meaning “The god speaks and he who bears the name lives”)  The name that was given to Joseph by the Pharaoh.  The changing of names is a common feature among the biblical stories.  There was some tendency among the Hyksos to adopt Egyptian names, especially in the case of royal throne names.  There has been much discussion about this name’s meaning.  Names which have this particular form do not appear in Egypt in Joseph’s time.

ZAPHON  (צפון, expectation)  A city of Gad, situated north of Succoth, identified as Tell el-Qos on the north side of the Wadi Rajeb; it is close to the North-South road.  The name probably indicates that it was a shrine of Baal-zaphon.  After Jephthah had defeated the Ammonites, the Ephraimites crossed the Jordan and encamped near Zaphon.  A clan of Gad seems to have taken its name from the city.  

ZARA, ZARAH.  King James Version alternate forms of Zerah #2

ZARATHUSTRA.  See entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT section of the Appendix.

ZAREAH.  King James Version for of Zorah in Nehemiah 11.

ZAREATHITES.  King James Version form of Zorathites in I Chronicles 2.

ZARED.  King James Version form or Zered in Numbers 21.  See Zered, Brook.

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ZAREPHATH  (ﬧפﬨצ, fusion)  A Phoenician town between Sidon and Tyre.  Zarephath was situated on the Mediterranean coast, about 10 km south of Sidon; Zarephath produced dye like Sidon and Tyre.  In I Kings 17, Elijah was ordered by God to go to Zarephath.  He met a poor widow whom he helped through miracles.

ZARETHAN  (ﬧﬨןצ¸ cooling; used in place of zaredah)  The first reference to Zarethan occurs in Joshua 3 in describing the stoppage of the Jordan, which backed up and formed a lake from the city of Adam opposite of Jericho 22 km north to Zarethan.  The striking feature of the event was the distance which the waters backed up.  Zarethan is again mentioned in the time of Solomon.  It was in the area between Succoth and Zarethan; (Succoth was north of Zarethan) that Hiram cast the temple’s bronze vessels.  The site that fits the conditions of the Bible is Tell es-Sa’idyah, about 22 km north of Tell ed-Damiyeh, overlooking the Wadi Kufrinjeh.

ZARETH-SHAHAR.  King James Version form of Zereth-shahar.

ZARHITES.  King James Version form of Zerahites.  See also Zerah #2.

ZARTANAH.  King James Version alternate form of Zarethan.

ZARTHAN.  King James Version alternate form of Zarethan.

ZATTU  (ﬨואז, olive-tree)  Origin of name and head of family which returned from exile.  Some members put away foreign wives and their children.

ZAVAN.  King James Version form of Zaavan in I Chronicles 1.

ZAZA  (זזא)  Part of the post-exilic clan of Jerahmeel (I Chronicle 2).

ZEAL  (קנאה (kee neh ‘aw), jealousy, ardor, anger; zhloV (zeh los), jealousy, ardor, strong affection)  The attitude of single-minded devotion to another.  The difference between “zeal” and “jealousy” in the Bible is very slight; the meaning of the Hebrew or the Greek depends strictly on the context.

ZEALOT  (קנאנא (kan ‘eh naw); zhlwthV (zeh lo tes) : see Zeal entry above for meaning)  A term currently used to designate the more radical and warlike Jewish rebels against foreign, especially Roman, rule.  The Aramaic form of the name, qan’ana, has been preserved in “Simon the Cananaean” (Matthew 10; Mark 3).  Simon the Zealot, before becoming a disciple of Jesus, had probably been a member of some “zealot-like” group in the Phinehas-Maccabean tradition of zeal for the law.  There are indications that many such groups were active in Palestine during the first 100 years of the Christian Era. The Zealot gave himself over to God to be an agent of God’s righteous wrath and judgment against idolatry, apostasy, and any transgression of the law which excited God’s jealousy Jesus was remembered by disciples to have acted like a “zealot” when he drove the money changers out of the temple.

                 In Post-exilic Judaism—In the tradition of this time, the prototypes of “zeal” were Simeon and Levi, Phinehas, and Elijah; Phinehas was a descendant of Levi.  Simeon and Levi were the sons of Jacob who slew the men of Shechem out of vengeance for the rape of their sister Dinah.  While one group in the 100s B.C. gave Levi precedence in the priesthood, another group from the same period gave Simeon precedence. 

                 A man brought a Midianite woman to his family.  When Phinehas the son Eleazaar, son of Aaron the priest saw it, he went and grabbed a spear and pierced the man of Israel and the woman.  And the plague was stayed from the people Israel.”  And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Phinehas has turned back wrath from the people of Israel in that he was jealous with my jealousy. . .  Behold I give to him my covenant of peace; and it shall be to him and his descendants after, the covenant of a perpetual priesthood.  Phinehas became the “zealot” prototype par excellence.  Elijah had ordered all the prophets of Baal slain.  This was interpreted as an act of “zeal.”  “Elijah because of great zeal for the law was taken up into heaven.” 

                 See also entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT section of the Appendix. 

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                 Paul and Conclusion—Before he became a Christian, Paul was chiefly motivated by a theology of zeal for the law.  Paul wrote to the Galatians:  “You have heard of my former life in Judaism, how . . . zealous I was for the tradition of my fathers.”  Paul had gone beyond the requirements of the Pharisees in observing the law in taking on the responsibilities of being a “zealot.”

                 Paul was seized in the temple by a violent crowd, dragged outside, and beaten.  Paul made a speech:  “I am a Jew . . . educated according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as you all are today” (Acts 22).  The day following the unsuccessful attempt on the part of those who were “zealous for the law,” to kill Paul, 40 of them bound themselves by an oath to continue the effort to kill him (Acts 23).

                 Paul’s judgment on the theology of zeal for the law is given in his discussion concerning Israel’s pursuit of the law’s righteousness:  “Being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified.”  (Romans 10)

                 The theology of zeal which motivated the Zealot originated in the exclusive worship of the one true God of Israel.  When Israel excited God’s jealousy by her apostasy, his wrath was poured upon his people.  Once zeal for the covenantal God of Israel was transferred to God’s law, then the basis was laid for Zealotism as we know it in the Greco-Roman period.  The Zealot was the strict interpreter of the law, with “zeal for the law of the God of Israel” that included dying for it.  The theology of zeal was gradually circumscribed by the Jewish spiritual leaders after the crushing national defeats of 70 and 135 A.D.  In rabbinic Judaism, zeal was replaced by “shalom” as the dominant theological motif governing Israel’s relations with the Gentiles.  In Christianity zeal was redirected in terms consonant with the new theology.

ZEBEDIAH  (ﬢיהזב, gift of the Lord)  1.  A Benjaminite family, descended from Beriah (I Chron. 8). 

                 2.  A Benjaminite family, descended from Elpaal (I Chron. 8).  3.  One of the two sons of Jeroham who joined David at Ziklag (I Chron. 12).  4.  A gatekeeper of the Levitical family of Korah (I Chron. 26).  5.  One of David’s officers in charge of one of the 12 divisions of the army, each of which served one month a year (I Chron. 27).  6.  One of 9 Levites in a commission of 16 men sent by Jehoshaphat to teach the law in the towns of Judah (II Chron. 17).  7.  The eldest of the tribe of Judah who was the chief judicial functionary for civil cases (II Chron. 19).  8.  Head of a lay family who returned from Babylonia with Ezra (Ezra 8).  9.  A priest in lists of those who put away foreign wives and their children according to Ezra’s reform (Ezra 10).

     

ZEBAH AND ZALMUNNA  (זבח, sacrifice; ﬠצלמנ, shade (favor of god) withheld from him)  2 Midianite kings slain by Gideon in blood revenge for their murder of his brothers.  The names of both these kings were probably originally Old southern Arabic or Midianite names, altered slightly to be suggestive of their fate.  The original forms of these names are not now recoverable.  The name Zalmunna probably comes from an originally genuine Midianite word meaning “(the god) Salm is king.”    

                 The story of Zebah and Zalmunna is told in Judges 8.  There is both barbarism and haughty, kingly dignity in the story of Gideon.  These raids were simply nomadic forays at harvest-time to steal the settled farmers’ crops.  Gideon’s request for help from Succoth and Penuel was refused.  According to exaggerated figures, a mere 15,000 Midianites had been able to escape across the Jordan.  With victory and 2 kingly prisoners, Gideon returned “by the ascent of Heres.”  Gideon thrashed the leading citizens of Succoth with thorns and briers.  He slew citizens of Penuel and broke down their tower.  Gideon’s relentless pursuit was the solemn duty of blood revenge.  The high privilege of executing blood revenge was offered to Gideon’s youthful son, who could not bring himself to raise his hand against kings.

      

ZEBAIM  (הצביים, the gazelles)  Part of proper names used in Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7 (Pokereth Hazebaim, which means “snaring the gazelles”).

ZEBEDEE  (ZebedaioV (zeh beh day os)  The father of the apostles James and John (Mark 1).  Zebedee and his sons were associated with Simon and Andrew in a fishing business at Capernaum.  The gospels offer no evidence that he actively followed Jesus.  A column of the Capernaum synagogue (built around 200 A.D.) bore an Aramaic inscription naming a certain son Zebida as the maker of the column.

ZEBIDAH  (ﬢהזבי, gift)  The mother of Jehoiakim.

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ZEBINA  (זבינא, bought)  One of the Jews contemporary with Ezra who were listed as having married foreign wives (Ezra 10).

ZEBOIIM  (צבאים, gazelles)  One of the “cities of the valley,” which were destroyed by the Lord because of their wickedness; Chedorlaomer and the other 3 Eastern kings attacked it.  Zeboiim’s destruction is implied in the account of the overthrow of the valley cities.  It is cited by Moses and Hosea.  Zeboiim is specifically linked with Admah and was probably near it, now under the waters of the southeastern part of the Dead Sea.

ZEBOIM (ﬠיםצב, gazelles)  1.  One of the towns occupied by Benjaminites.  Its location should probably be sought to the north of Lydda, possibly at Khirbet Sabieh.  2.  A valley in Benjamin, located southeast of Michmash and between that city and the western Jordan wilderness.

ZEBUDAH.  King James Version form of Zebidah.

ZEBUL  (זבל, from the root meaning “to dwell”)  A resident prefect of Shechem whose prompt advice to his royal master, Abimelech son of Jerubbaal (Gideon), defeated the rebellious plot of Gaal and his adherents (Judg. 9).  Gaal clamored that Abimelech be deposed in favor of a full-blooded Canaanite ruler.  Zebul advised the king, who arrived at Shechem with his forces and routed the rebels in the ensuing battle. Zebul expelled Gaal and his clan from Shechem.

ZEBULUN  (זבולון, habitation)  The 10^th son of Jacob, ancestor and origin of the name of the tribe of Zebulun; he was a younger child of Leah.  In the lists he is always the last of Leah’s group of 6, after Issachar.

                 The tribe of Zebulun is closely connected in its origins with the tribe of Issachar; they were neighbors geographically in southern Galilee.  They drew their economic wealth from the sea (i.e.  Sea of Galilee).  They shared a sanctuary at Mount Tabor.  Zebulun had begun its own separate development, which enabled it to become an independent tribe. 

                 Zebulun had less to do there with the Canaanites than its brother tribe Issachar.  The territory of Zebulun lay farther off in the country than that of Issachar.  Zebulun laid claim to the Plain of Acco, but the claim could not be realized.  “his border at Sidon” was the western flank of the southern Galilee highland, which borders on Phoenician territory in the Plain of Acco; Zebulun supplied the judge Elon (Judges 12).  In the battle of Deborah, Zebulun distinguished itself, so that it is deemed worthy of special praise by the poet.

                 Zebulun does not appear in Solomon’s list of districts; the territory was added to one of the 3 other Galilean districts.  The later literature knows Zebulun almost exclusively in lists and similar material.  In Deuteronomy 27, Zebulun belongs to the speakers of the curse.  In the list of the Levite cities it is ranked in the 4^th group.  In the genealogies in I Chron. 4-7, Zebulun is missing, probably only because of textual deficiency.

ZECHARIAH  (ﬤﬧיהז, whom the Lord remembers; ZacariaV)  1.  A person or family of Benjamin (I Chr. 9); in I Chr. 8 he is called Zecher.  2.  Head of a Reubenite family (I Chr. 5).  3.  A Levite gatekeeper; Korah’s descendant (I Chr. 9 and 26).  The former ascription places him at the eastern entrance of either: the Gibeon tabernacle; the tent for the ark; the Mosaic tent. 4. A Levite harpist among those whom David charged to provide music during the transportation of the ark from the house of Obed to Zion (I Chr. 15). 

                 5. A priest cited as blowing trumpets before the ark when David brought it to Zion (I Chr. 15)  6.  A Levite; a descendant of Uzziel (I Chr. 24).  7. A gatekeeper, of the Levitical family of Merari (I Chr. 26)  8.   A Manassite; Iddo’s father (I Chr. 27).  9.  A lay official in a commission of 16 men sent by King Jehoshaphat to teach the law in Judah (II Chr. 17).  10.   A Levite; a descendant of Asaph; Jahaziel’s father (II Chr. 20).         

                 11. A son of Jehoshaphat, who gave him and his brothers great treasures and fortified cities (II Chr. 21).  He was slain by his 1^st-born brother Jehoram.  12. Son of the priest Jehoiada.  God’s Spirit took possession of him, and he called the people to account for their apostasy.  King Joash ordered him stoned to death.  Two of the king’s servants slew Joash to avenge the death of Zechariah.  The martyrdom of Zechariah was cited by Jesus.  (Matt. 23).  13.  A man of God who counseled King Uzziah in the early years of his reign (II Chr. 26).

                 14.  King of [the northern kingdom] of Israel: Jeroboam II’s son in Jehu’s dynasty.  He became king in the 38^th year of Uzziah, king of [the southern kingdom of] Judah.  After a reign of 6 months he was murdered by Shallum (II Kings 14, 15).  15. Jeberechiah’s Son; one of 2 witnesses to a prophetic oracle written on a tablet (Isa. 8).  16. Abijah’s father, King Hezekiah’s mother (II Kings 18; II Chr. 29).  

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                 17.  Asaph’s descendant, in a list of Levites with which the Chronicler sets forth the cleansing of the temple by Hezekiah (II Chr. 29).  18.   A Kohathite Levite; 1 of 4 Levites who were overseers of the workmen repairing the temple in the reign of Josiah (II Chr. 29).  19. One of 3 high-ranking priests who liberally donated animals to the priests for the celebration of the Passover held by Josiah (II Chr. 35). 

                 20. One of the 12 Minor Prophets, either a son or a descendent of Iddo.  The Iddo named may be the head of a family of priests who returned with Zerubbabel.  Zechariah’s recorded prophetic activity extended from 520-518 B.C., during the reign of Darius I Hystaspis.  He was a contemporary of Zerubbabel, and his early career coincided with the final activity of Haggai.  He rekindled the people’s hope and urged them to rebuild the house of God (Ezra 5, 6).  See also Zechariah, Book of.

                 21. A descendant of Parosh; head of a lay family who returned from Babylonia (Ezra 8).  22. A descendant of Bebai; head of a lay family who returned from exile (Ezra 8).  23.  One of a delegation sent by Ezra to Iddo at Casiphia to obtain Levites (Ezra 8).  24. A descendant of Elam in a list of those who put away foreign wives and their children  (Ezra 10). 

                 25. One of the men, named without title or paternity and thus probably laymen, who stood with Ezra at the public reading of law (Neh. 8).  26. A man of Judah, of the family of Perez (Neh. 11). 27.  A man of Judah, called the son of a Shilonite (Neh. 11).  28. A priest of the family Pashhur, house of Malchijah (Neh 11).  29. A descendant of Asaph; leader of the Levites in the counterclockwise procession (Neh. 12).  30. A priest listed as one of the trumpeters at the dedication of the walls of Jerusalem (Neh. 12).

                 See also entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT section of the Appendix

                 31. The father of John the Baptist (Luke 1). He was a righteous priest of the division of Abijah.  While he was offering burnt incense, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and announced that his supplication for a son would be answered.  Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were aged, so Zechariah asked for a sign and Gabriel declared: dumbness for unbelief, until the promise was fulfilled.  Zechariah amazed the gathering of neighbors at his son’s circumcision by confirming his wife’s unusual choice of name (John) by writing on a tablet.  When able to speak again, he blessed God and, filled with the Holy Spirit prophesied the fulfillment of Israel’s messianic hope.

ZECHARIAH, BOOK OF.  The 11^th in the series of twelve short prophetic books which forms the concluding section of the Old Testament (OT).   It belongs to a group of prophecies delivered after the Exile and sheds valuable light on the thought and conditions of that period.  Angelology, messianism, and the apocalyptic feature largely in this book.  The first section of 8 chapters, containing the prophecies of Zechariah, was recorded by the prophet or his disciple before the end of the 500s B.C.  The second section of six chapters was written much later, possibly to the 200s B.C.  It is possible that these chapters, together with the book of Malachi, originally formed an appendix to the prophetic corpus.  Significant use is made of the book of Zechariah in the New Testament (NT), notably in Matthew 21 and 26.

                 Chapters 1-8—Little is known of Zechariah.  The name means “Yahweh remembers.”  The first verse of Zechariah describes him as the son of Berechiah, son of Iddo.”  Ezra 5, 6 and Nehemiah 12 refer to him as the son, not the grandson, of Iddo; in Hebrew ben may mean either “son of” or “grandson of.”  Iddo is included among the heads of the priestly families who returned from exile to Jerusalem.  Zechariah is generally assumed to have been still a young man when he was associated with Haggai as an advocate of the immediate rebuilding of the temple.  The oracles of Zechariah cover a longer period of 2 years from Oct.-Nov. of 520 to Nov. Dec. 518.  The oracular activity of the 2 prophets overlapped by 1 month.

                 The historical background of Zechariah is largely the same as that of Haggai.  The temple has lain in ruins since 586.  The book of Haggai tells of a poverty-stricken and dispirited community; so does Zechariah in chapters 1 and 8.  Haggai is convinced by the general upheaval in the Persian Empire, the “shaking of the nations,” and the presence of a Davidic prince (Zerubbabel) that the messianic age was imminent.  Yahweh was about to establish his kingdom.  His ancient dwelling place in Zion must be restored to its former glory.

                 Fired by Haggai’s zeal, the people had begun the work of restoration (520).  Shortly after this Zechariah added his plea in prophetic exhortation for 2 years.  The restoration was completed in 516.  The emphasis of  Haggai had been upon the material prosperity which would return.  Zechariah fixes his eyes upon the subsequent glories of the messianic kingdom and Zerubabbel its ruler.  Whether it was the idea of crowning a new ruler or rebuilding the walls, the Persian government relieved him of governorship.

            

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           The text of chapters 1-8 has not on the whole suffered more in transmission than the prophetic books generally.  Most likely they were collected and edited shortly after his day.  There is also a large element of personal reporting; the redundancy and corruption as exists may be attributed to copyists.  Chapters consist of a mixture of oracles in the normal prophetic style and night visions, the theme of which was to reassure the people that, despite all appearances to the contrary, the messianic age is about to begin.  The striking difference in style and the difficulty of completely harmonizing the oracles with those of the visions has led to the view that there may have been an earlier writer echoing the classical Hebrew prophets, and a later writer who, after Zerubbabel’s fall from power, transferred his hopes to a supernatural intervention of Yahweh, which he expresses in apocalyptic visions of the new age.  The majority of scholars take the view that the oracles and the visions follow each other in a more or less logical sequence.

                 In the first oracle Zechariah calls the whole people to repentance.  Then comes the three visions, where Zechariah agrees with Haggai’s “shaking of the nations” as a sign of the coming messianic age.  The proud and aggressive Gentiles will be laid low.  Jerusalem’s walls will not be able to contain its future population, nor will it need walls, since Yahweh himself will protect it. 

                 In the second oracle the prophet summons to a greater Jerusalem those of Yahweh’s people still in Babylon.  The prophet sees Joshua, the high priest, symbolically accepted as worthy of his great office.  Joshua is promised access to God equal to that of the angelic host.  Zechariah’s “two anointed” may be Zerubbabel and Joshua.  The vision guarantees their divine authority and the watchful care of Yahweh for his people.

                 In the third oracle Zerubbabel’s restoration of the temple is to be brought to completion as the prelude to the messianic kingdom.  Within the moral standards of the new community there will be no place for thieves and perjurers.  The whole world will once again be at peace.  The remaining chapters consist of a series of oracles which play upon the theme of the glory of the messianic age.  Zerubbabel will be crowned and the rebuilding of the temple will be completed.  The Jews of the community will live in obedience to Yahweh and in unity with each other.  Yahweh’s people, gathered from afar, will be joined in Yahweh’s holy city by the Gentiles, who have been led to know the truth by the faithful witness of the Jews.     

                 It is true that Zechariah has nothing new to add to the ethical insights of the earlier masters.  But he emphasizes the inwardness of the religious life at a time when the ancient fires of prophetic utterance were giving way to insistence on the correctness of the cult.  While Zechariah is enough of a child of his time to share its nationalist aspirations, it is with something like reluctance and hesitation that he does so.  His basic thought is the Utopian dream of a world at peace, with Jew and Gentile gathered together in a worshiping community.  His visions have more kinship with the traditional beginning-a-new-age hopes of the great prophets than with the bizarre fantasies of the intertestamental period.

                 Zechariah marks a significant stage in the increasing sense of the remoteness of God.  The word of God itself is now communicated to a prophet by an interpreting angel; the beginning of a demonology can also be detected.  The introduction of Satan paves the way for the NT conception of the ruler of the kingdom of Satan, who wages deadly warfare upon the kingdom of God.  In the seventh vision there is the suggestion that sin is a demonic force, rather than the product of man’s disobedience.

                 Chapters 9-14—The latter part of the book of Zechariah presents vast and partly insoluble problems in respect of authorship, date, and interpretation.  On linguistic and stylistic grounds, the author of these chapters cannot be the prophet Zechariah.  The first verses of Zechariah 9, 12, and Malachi 1 each introduce the subsequent section as an “oracle, the word of the Lord.”  This suggests that Zechariah 9 through the first 6 verses of Malachi 4 constitutes an anonymous collection of prophecies.  2 of these have been added to the last identifiable prophetic, i.e. Zechariah.  The final section has been given an independent existence under the name of Malachi.  The 2 earlier sections consist of Zechariah 9-11 and 12-14, respectively.

                 The first collection of prophecies opens chapter 9 with an oracle of the coming judgment of Yahweh upon the cities of Syria, Phoenicia, and Philistia; what’s left of the Philistines will be incorporated in Judah.  Yahweh will encircle Yahweh’s temple with divine, protecting presence.  The scattered remnants of Israel will be brought back to the homeland to share in the golden age.  This oracle is generally considered to refer to the victorious campaigns of Alexander the Great.  If so, this prophecy sees the march of the irresistible world-conqueror as the hand of Yahweh.  In the rest of chapter 9, the Greeks are no longer Yahweh’s instrument but enemies who must be exterminated.  The considerable textual corruption in this chapter is difficult to resolve. 

               

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            Chapter 10 is mainly an oracle denouncing the foreign rulers of Judah and predicting their down fall at the hands of the Jews.  The problem here is to identify the “shepherds.”  They may be the Ptolemies and the Seleucids (“Egypt” and “Syria”).  “Cornerstone,” “Tent peg,” and “Battle bow” represent Simon, Jonathan, and Judas, or these curious allusion may be a triple designation of the Messiah.

                 Chapter 11 contains one of the most enigmatic passages in the OT.  The most convincing interpretation would seem to be that the prophet, in an allegorical vision, sees himself in the role of Yahweh as a shepherd of Judah.  In another short allegory which follows, the prophet is charged to assume the role of a worthless shepherd, as an indication to the people of what they may expect if they are unfaithful to Yahweh. 

                 The second collection consists of 2 main oracles of an apocalyptic character dealing with the final assault upon Jerusalem by the heathen powers, followed by its deliverance and the triumph of Yahweh as Lord of all nations.  In the first oracle the prophet sees the ultimate climax of history.  There is antagonism between Jerusalem and the surrounding area.  But when victory has been won, there takes place a national act of mourning for some notable figure who has died a martyr’s death.  The antagonism between the city and the countryside suggests the time when the influence of Greek culture was increasing, and before the blundering policy of Antiochus Epiphanes made the revolt inevitable. 

                 The final oracle consists likewise of a description of the end event, with an even stronger apocalyptic emphasis.  When all seems lost, Yahweh intervenes with Yahweh’s heavenly host.  The earth is transformed, and Yahweh reigns as king over all the world from the heights of Mount Zion.  Year by year Gentiles come to Jerusalem on pilgrimage to attend Yahweh’s enthronement at the Feast of Tabernacles.  Everything will be consecrated to the service of Yahweh.   

                 We can say little with certainty about the contents of chapters 9-14.  They are an anonymous collection with origins between the 300s and 100s B.C.  These chapters provide us with insights into the theological trends of this period.  There was little outward evidence of the fulfillment of prophetic promises, yet the people never relinquished their invincible hope in the vindication of Yahweh and Yahweh’s people. 

                 In apocalyptic thinking the Gentiles have almost ceased to be regarded as human beings and have become synonymous with evil.  Yet there is the emergent realization that the consummation of God’s purpose must include the conversion of evil to good.  On Palm Sunday, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21) is a deliberate adoption of the profound messianic symbolism in Zechariah 9; while the paltry 30 pieces of silver in Zechariah 11 point a more than mechanical fulfillment in the traitor’s price for the body of Christ (Matt. 26).

ZECHER;  King James Version Zacher.  Alternate form of Zechariah #1.

ZEDAD  (ﬢﬢצ, from the root meaning “to turn one’s side towards”)  A place in the northern borderland of Canaan, north of the road between Palmyra and Riblah (Numbers 34; Ezekiel 47).

ZEDEKIAH  (ﬢקיהצ, justice of the Lord)  1.  Chenaanah’s son; a prophet who promised Ahab victory over the Arameans at Ramoth-gilead.  The prophesying took place outside the city on a threshing floor.  The prophets first acted as one, chanting a victory prophecy.  Zedekiah stood out from his companions.  He placed horns of iron on his head, a symbol of great power, signifying that Ahab would defeat the Arameans.  Zedekiah’s assurance conflicted with Micaiah’s prophecy of defeat.  There was no doubt that both prophecies were inspired by Yahweh.  The false prophecy was from a “lying spirit” sent by Yahweh to tempt Ahab to his destruction.

                 2.  A contemporary of Jeremiah the prophet, and son of Maaseiah.  Jeremiah charged Zedekiah with immoral conduct and with prophesying falsely (Jeremiah 29).  3.  Son of Hananiah; one of the princes of Judah under King Jehoikim (Jeremiah 36).  4.  See Zedekiah, King.  5.  A prominent Jewish official, signatory to the covenant of Ezra (Nehemiah 10).

ZEDEKIAH, KING.  Last king of Judah (Southern Kingdom; 597-587 B.C.); uncle and successor of Jehoiachin; put to death by Nebuchadrezzar.  His given name was Mattaniah (II Kings 24).  Zedekiah was 21 years old when be became king, and reigned 11 years in Jerusalem.  He came to the throne at a time when Judah’s days were numbered.  In 597 Nebuchadrezzar had deported most of the nobility to Babylon.  Thus the policy of Judah was framed by men with little or no experience of statecraft.  In these circumstances Zedekiah was not the best choice as king.  He recognized that the prophet’s advice was sound, but he was unable to combat the strong pro-Egyptian feelings of the people; Jeremiah never condemned the king, but he bitterly denounced his advisers.  Both Kings and Chronicles pass quickly over the events of Zedekiah’s reign until the final siege of Jerusalem.  The Babylonian Chronicle supplies us with a few details of the intervening years.  This Chronicle ends with the notice that Nebuchadrezzar gathered his army to march to Syria in December, 594.

              

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            Jeremiah has preserved factual material which deals with these years.  The insurrection in 595-594 may have given rise to hopes of an early collapse of Babylonian power.  Hananiah announced that God had broken the Babylonian king’s yoke and that the exiles would return.  At the same time Egypt continued to cause trouble.  In Judah there was a sharp division of opinion between supporting the Babylonians or the Egyptians.  

                 Jeremiah 27 gives a picture of the smaller nations of the West banding together against Nebuchadrezzar.  Envoys came to Jerusalem from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon to persuade Zedekiah to join them; they were unsuccessful.  It appears that news of the impending revolt had reached Nebuchadrezzar, who sum-moned Zedekiah to Babylon.  The prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel indicate how strong the opposition was to submission to Babylonia as God’s appointed instrument.  The immediate cause of his rebellion seems to have been Pharaoh Hophra’s sea attack on Philistia. Zedekiah was forced to make a decision, and he threw in with the pro-Egyptian party.  After consulting oracles, Nebuchadrezzar sent his army to attack Jerusalem.

                 The account of the siege and fall of Jerusalem in Kings 25 is paralleled in Jeremiah 39 and 52.  The siege began in the 9^th year of Zedekiah’s reign.  In the four month of the year,  a breach was made in the city walls.  The siege was lifted for a time when word reached them that the Egyptians were advancing.  A breach was made in the walls of the city in July, 587.  By this time famine had reduced beleaguered city to desperate straits.  Zedekiah tried to escape by fleeing in the direction of the Arabah.  Apparently the Edomites gave assistance to the Babylonians at this time, cutting off the stragglers and handing over the survivors.  Zedekiah was brought before the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was passed upon him.  His sons were slain before his eyes.  Then he himself was blinded, bound in fetters, and brought to Babylon. 

                 There is some discrepancy in the biblical records regarding the actual dates of these events.  The solution to these discrepancies is perhaps to be found in the suggestion that the writer of kings dated Nebuchadrezzar’s reign from 605 because he was in sole command of the Babylonian armies at Carchemish.  Actually he did not become king till the following year.  Zedekiah occupied a somewhat anomalous position as king of Judah, the appointee of Nebuchadrezzar.  Jehoiachin may have had hopes of being restored to his native country.  Jeremiah clearly believed that this not happen   The Babylonians themselves may deliberately have kept Jehoiachin in Babylon against the day of his possible return.

ZEEB.  See Oreb and Zeeb

ZELA  (ﬠצל, rib, side) One of the cities allotted to Benjamin; significant as the site of the final repository of the bones of Saul and Jonathan.  Its location is uncertain, except that it is located in the hill country north and west of Jerusalem (II Samuel 21).

ZELEK (צלק, fissure)  An Ammonite who was a member of the Mighty Men of David known as the 30 (II Samuel 23; I Chronicles 11).

ZELOPHEHAD  (ﬢצלפח, first rupture)  A descendant of Manasseh.  He died in the wilderness without a male heir.  Upon Zelophehad’s death his 5 daughters, appeared before Moses to request the recognition of female heirs.  The request was granted, and the line of inheritance was traced for this and other eventualities.  There is an additional regulation in Numbers 36 that heiresses must marry within the father’s tribe.

ZELOTES.  King James Version translation of the Greek zelotes in Luke 6 and Acts 1.  See Zealot; Simon #8.

ZELZAH  (צלצח, shade from the sun)  A site near Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin, the scene of a sign confirming to Saul his anointment by the Lord to be prince of Israel (I Samuel 10).  The name Zelzah is completely unknown and is quite possibly the result of a textual corruption.

ZEMARAIM  (ﬧיםצמ, double peak, two hills)  1. A site near the northern border of Benjamin, listed in the eastern division of cities allotted to that tribe (Joshua 18).  The most probable location is Ras ez-Zeimara, about 8 km northeast of Bethel and in the hill country.  2.  A mountain in the hill country of Ephraim (I Chronicles 13; the scene of Abijah’s speech of rebuke against Jeroboam and the Israelites.  The mountain has not been located.

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ZEMARITES  (ﬧיצמ, foliage)  Canaanites from Syria, north of Lebanon.  The Zemarites are mentioned only in Genesis 10 and I Chronicles 1 as sons of Canaan and brothers of the Arvadites and Hamathites.

ZEMER  (ﬧצמ, foliage)  The native city of the Zemarites  (Ezekiel 27).  The name and location survive in the town of Sumra , between Ruad and Tripoli.

ZEMIRAH (ﬧהזמי, song)  A name in what might be a tripartite grouping of post-exilic Benjaminite families.

ZENAN (צנן, protection)  A village of Judah in the Shephelah district of Lachish (Josh 15).

ZENAS  (ZhnaV) A Christian lawyer who lived in Crete, and someone whom, with Apollos, “Paul” asked Titus to send to him quickly and lacking nothing.  According to late tradition Zenas was the first bishop of Diospolis (Lydda) in Palestine and was the author of a Life of Titus.

ZEPHANIAH  (צפניה, whom the Lord has hidden or sheltered)  1.  A prophet born after 660 and died before 609, during the reign of Josiah; one of the 12 Minor Prophets.  His 4^th ancestor, Hezekiah, must have been the king of this name.  See also  Zephaniah, Book of.  2.  A priest; son Maaseiah.  He was on of 2 men in a deputation sent by Zedekiah to Jeremiah; they took back to the king an oracle of the prophet denouncing dependence upon Egypt and resistance against the Chaldeans.  After the final siege and fall of Jerusalem, “the chief priest and Zephaniah the 2^nd priest” were among those put to death (II Kings 25; Jeremiah  52). 

     3.      The father of Josiah, an exile who returned from Babylon (Zechariah 6).  4.  A name in a post-exilic list which traces both the Levitical descent of Heman and the Levitical line from Kohath (I Chronicles 6).

ZEPHANIAH, APOCALYPSE OF.  See entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT section of the Appendix.

ZEPHANIAH, BOOK OF.  The work of Judean prophet whose activity is dated by the Scythian invasion (630-625 B.C.); 9^th among the minor prophets in the Old Testament (OT) canon.  Zephaniah was born probably not earlier than 660 B.C.  His great-great grandfather was Hezekiah king of [the southern kingdom of] Judah (715-697 B.C.)

                 Zephaniah lived in a period when Assyria’s power in the East was rapidly expanding.  Official protection was given in Judah to the magical arts of diviners and enchanters.  Astral religion (i.e. worship of the sun, the moon, the signs of the zodiac, and all the host of heaven including the Queen of heaven) became popular.  It was the invasion of Palestine by the Sythians that awakened Zephaniah to Yahweh’s call to be a prophet.  Scythians poured down through Asia Minor into Palestine and the borders of Egypt in terrorist raids.

                 Zephaniah came to feel that the Scythians were harbingers of a judgment which Yahweh was bringing upon the face of the whole earth.  Pagan worship which had infiltrated into Judah led him to condemn the whole nation and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.  Zephaniah’s words are source material of firsthand importance for the Jerusalem of his day.  From 640-609, at the “Fish Gate” and in the valley between Jerusalem’s two hills where the cheese-makers worked, Zephaniah uttered Yahweh’s condemnation.  He portrayed Yahweh with search lamp hunting down for destruction the possessions of those who lived in Jerusalem with no regard for their ethical conduct in daily business transactions.

                 For this prophet more than for any other, the major theme was the Day of the Lord, a day of wrath, of trouble and distress, of crashing ruin and devastation, of darkness and calamity, of clouds and bloom.  Yahweh, the master of heaven and earth, shows no favorites.  If Judah would escape a similar judgment, a new spirit must characterize her life.

                 Zephaniah, with considerable detail and geographical definiteness, shows how God’s judgment would affect the nations with which Judah is most vitally concerned.  Philistia’s prosperous cities of Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron will be reduced to pastoral solitudes.  The Ethiopians would fall by the sword.  Yahweh will make of Assyria’s proud Nineveh a desolation.  The prophet taunted Nineveh with a mock lament.

         

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             The prophet pronounces impending judgment upon the capital, because Jerusalem has not listened to the prophetic voice.  Jerusalem’s officials, judges, prophets, and priests are licentious and profane.  Yahweh will pour out upon all nations and kingdoms his indignation and judgment.  Destruction is not God’s last word.  To those who are humble and lowly in character and truthful in speech, Yahweh will give spiritual renewal, and he will find joy in them.  He will cause them to be honored among all the nations of the earth.

                 If one admits that Zephaniah preached only during the reign of Josiah, some elements of the book raise literary and historical problems.  Some scholars consider that chapters 2-3 contain later poems.  The oracle of Moab and Ammon may reflect the attitude of later Jewish nationalism.  The conversion of all peoples to the worship of Yahweh reflect typically post-exilic themes.  The final poem in chapter 3 belongs to the beginning-of-a-new-age pattern in which Yahweh “is in the midst of Yahweh’s people.”  Zephaniah does not offer the same originality as his predecessors, Amos and Isaiah, or of his contemporary, Jeremiah, but he does contribute a note of his own.  The corrupting character of magical practices have no place in the religion of Yahweh.  Unless renewed by God, human nature is dishonest and deceitful.  Foreign nations are use by the master of history to discipline the chosen people.

ZEPHATH (ﬨצפ, watchtower) A city in the southwestern part of Judah, in the neighbor hood or Arad.  The tribes of Judah and Simeon attacked the city and utterly destroyed it, and changed its name to Hormah.  (Judg. 1).

ZEPHATHAH  (ﬨהצפ, watchtower)  A valley near Mareshah in Asa (913-873) met and defeated the Ethiopian raiding party under Zerah.  Wadi Safiyeh begins less than 2 km northeast of Beir Jibrin and continues for a short distance toward the northeast.

ZEPHI  (צפי, watchtower)   The 3^rd son of Eliphaz the Edomite.  Zephi is found in I Chronicles 1.  “Zepho” is found in Genesis 36.

ZEPHON  (צפון, expectations)  The eldest son of Gad.  The Samaritan and the primary Greek Old Testament support identification with Ziphon.

ZER  (ﬧצ, flint)  A fortified town in the territory of Naphtali (Joshua 19)

ZERAH  (ﬧחז, rising)  1.  A chief of Edom descended from both Esau and Ishmael as a son of Reuel, the son of Esau and Basemath (daughter of Ishmael; Genesis 36).  2.  One of the twins born to Judah by Tamar, his daughter-in-law (Genesis 38, 46).  He was the founder of a family of the tribe of Judah called Zerahites.  Alongside Perez, his twin brother, his name appears in a genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1).  3.  A son of Simeon.  He was the founder of a family of the tribe of Simeon called Zerahites (Numbers 26).  4.  A Levite, of the family of Gershom (I Chronicles 6).  5.  An Ethiopian or a Cushite.  He was the leader of an attacking force vanquished by Asa king of [the southern kingdom of] Judah at Mareshah and pursued to obliteration at Gerar (Chronicles 14).  He was probably the leader of raiding Arabian Bedouin tribes.  The Chronicler or a later redactor in chapter 16 evidently mistook Zerah as the leader of an Egyptian host.

ZERAHIAH  (חיהﬧז, whom the Lord brings to light)  1.  A priest; son of Uzzi and descendant of Eleazar; an ancestor of Ezra (I Chronicles 6; Ezra 7).  2.  A layman; the father of Eliehoenai, who returned  to Judah from the Exile with Ezra (Ezra 8). 

ZERAHITES (זﬧחי, from the root meaning “rising, light”)  A name for a family descended from Zerah.  There was a family of this name in tribe of Simeon (Numbers 26) and another in the tribe of Judah.  2 of David’s Mighty Men belonged to this family Sibbecai, and Maharai.

ZERAHIAH; King James Version Zaraias.  Apocryphal for of Zebadiah #8.

ZERDAIAH; King James Version Sardeus.  Apocryphal form of Aziza.

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ZERED, BROOK  (נחל זﬧﬢ (nah khal  zeh red), valley of pruning (from Chaldean))  The stream which Israelites crossed marking an end of their 38 years of wandering in the wilderness (Numbers 21; Deuteronomy 2).  It is identified with the Wadi el-Hesa, which flows into the southeast end of the Dead Sea.  The Zered is about 56 km long and has a drop in altitude of about 1,180 meters. The valley is 5.5-6 km

                 Trajan’s road crosses the Zered at el-‘Ainab, following the route dating from the Early Bronze age.  The Zered constituted the southern boundary of Moab, and the northern boundary of the kingdom of Edom.  The “Brook of Willows” in Isaiah’s oracle against Moab is usually identified with the Zered Brook.

ZEREDAH  (צﬧﬢה, cooling)  1.  The hom of Jeroboam; his place of residence prior to his working for, and revolt against, Solomon.  Possible locations for Zeredah is the spring ‘Ain Seridah in western Samaria or modern Dier Ghassaneh, about 24 km southwest of Shechem.  2.  A city in the Jordan Valley (I Chronicles 4); it should probably read “Zarethan” as in I Kings 7.

ZERERAH  (צﬧﬧה, from the root meaning “adversary”)  A place along the route by which Midianite host fled after its first defeat by Gideon (Judges 7); it could be a variant of Zarethan or a misspelling of “Zeredah.”

ZERESH  (זﬧש, Persian word in Hebrew letters, meaning “gold”)  The wife of Haman, and apparently his chief counselor, first in his plans for vengeance and later in warning him of defeat.

ZERETH (צﬧﬨ, distress, adversity) Descendant of Judah; the first son of Helah; the wife of Ashhur (I Chron. 4).

                                                                                                      

ZERETH-SHAHAR  (צﬧﬨ השחﬧ, the dawn of adversity)   A city of the table land of Moab, assigned by Moses to the tribe of Reuben (Joshua 13).  Many identify Zereth-shahar with modern Zarat at the hot springs of Callirhoe, on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, not far from Machaerus.

ZERI  (ציﬧ, balsam)  Head of a possibly Davidic, and post-exilic, family of singers of the Jeduthun group.   

ZEROR  (צﬧוﬧ, adversary)  An ancestor of Saul; a son of Becorath, and the father of Abiel (I Samuel 9).

ZERUAH  (צﬧוﬠה, leprous)  The mother of Jeroboam (I Kings 11).

ZERUBBABEL (זﬧבבל, scattered or sown (begotten) in Babylon) Babylonian Jew who returned to Palestine to become post-exilic Jerusalem’s governor under Persian king Darius I.  Sheshbazzar must be Zerubbabel’s uncle.  Aroused and spurred on by the prophetic preaching of Haggai and Zechariah, Zerubbabel, with Joshua the high priest, resumed the work of rebuilding the temple at Jerusalem in the second year of Darius, some 23 years after the edict of Cyrus in 538.  The work was accomplished despite the opposition and hostile legal maneuvering of the “adversaries of Benjamin and Judah.”  The historical trust worthiness of Haggai and Zechariah suggests that the Ezra passages describe events during the reign of Darius.

                 In every genealogical reference except one, Zerubbabel is the “son of Shealtiel.”  In I Chronicles 3 he appears as the son Pedaiah.  Either the Chronicler is in error here, or possibly the reference is to another person, who would then be a cousin of Zerubbabel, his namesake.  In either case Zerubbabel stands in Davidic line.  The prophets Haggai and Zechariah, doubtless prompted by the disturbances in the Persian Empire which followed the death of Cyrus successor, anticipate Judah’s restoration to national power under Zerubbabel.  For Haggai he Yahweh’s “servant” and his “chosen one.”  Zechariah’s references to the “the Branch” must be taken to mean Zerubbabel as David’s descendant.  A restoration of the Davidic kingdom was consummated neither under him nor afterward.   

                 The causes of the end of Zerubbabel’s service as governor are unknown.  It has been conjectured that he was removed by the Persian throne for rebelling or threatening to rebel against it.  Attempts to see the “suffering servant” as a martyrdom of Zerubbabel has not received much support among biblical scholars.  See also entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT section of the Appendix.

ZERUIAH  (צﬧויה, fragrant)  The mother of Joab, Abishai, Asahel, 3 loyal followers of David and commanders of his army.  It may be that Zeruiah was n outstanding woman, or possibly that the ancient custom of tracing descent by the female was preserved in this case.  In any case, Zeruiah and Abigail seem to have been sisters or half-sisters of David.

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ZETHAM  (זﬨם, olive tree)  A Gershonite Levite (I Chronicles 23, 26).

ZETHAN  (זיﬨן, olive tree, oliver)  Listed as a Benjaminite family in what is probably a list of families of Zebulun (I Chronicles 7).

ZETHAR  (זﬨﬧ, star)  One of the seven eunuchs who served King Ahasuerus as chamberlains (Esther 1).

ZEUS  (ZeuV)  The Greek form of the great Indo-European sky-god.  Zeus “rains” or sends the rain; he hurls the dreadful thunderbolt; he releases the winds; all aspects of the weather are under his control.  He is also the supreme governor of the universe, guardian of hospitality, and avenges wrongs done to guests and host.  He sits enthroned in majesty, grave but kindly; this form is subsequently adapted in Christian art for the representation of Christ enthroned and of God the Father.  Always the greatest of the Greek gods, the undisputed master of Olympus, he becomes in later Greek religion a symbol of divinity itself.  In the Greek influence on culture he is identified with the high gods of all the nations. 

            When the people of Lystra called Barnabas Zeus (Acts 14), they clearly took him for the manifest form of the high god, who allowed Paul to be his spokesman.  “Oxen and garlands” were the sacrifices appropriate to Zeus; the eloquence of Paul caused him to be taken for Hermes, god of oratory.  There is no suggestion of a temple in the Greek text, and it is probable that there would have been only an altar at the city gates.

ZIA  (ﬠזי, motion)  A head of a father’s house in the tribe of Gad (I Chronicler 5).

ZIBA  (צבא, gazelle (?))  A servant of the house of Saul whose artfulness ultimately gained for him half of his master’s possessions.  Ziba informed the king that Mephibosheth, the lame son of Jonathan, was living in the home of Machir the son of Ammiel.  The king invited Mephibosheth to become a member of the royal board and bestowed upon him all the lands of the house of Saul.  Ziba was appointed administrator of the lands, while his household became servants of Mephibosheth (II Samuel 9).

            The rebellion of Absalom gave Ziba the chance to rid himself of this onerous connection with his new master.  Ziba met the king in his flight with timely supplies, and convinced him that Mephibosheth had remained in Jerusalem because he sought to regain the crown for the house of Saul.  Mephibosheth also met the king at the Jordan and exposed the duplicity of servant by explaining that when he had commanded Ziba to saddle his ass, but Ziba had made off with the asses and left him behind.  Grateful for the aid of Ziba David ruled that the lands of Saul’s house should be divided between Mephibosheth and Ziba (II Samuel 19).

ZIBEON (צביון, colored) 3^rd son of Seir, and a clan chief of Edom’s native Horite inhabitants (Gen 36; I Chr. 1).

ZIBIA  (צביה, gazelle)  A head of a father’s house in the tribe of Benjamin; listed among others as sons of Shaharaim, which he had in the country of Moab by his wife Hodesh (I Chronicles 8).

ZIBIAH  (צביה, gazelle)  The mother of Joash king of [the southern kingdom] of Judah (II Kings 12; II Chr. 24).

ZICHRI  (זﬤﬧי, renowned)  1.  A person or subdivision of the Levitical family of Izhar (Exodus 6).  2.  A family of the tribe of Benjamin descended from Shimei (I Chronicles 8).  3.  A family of the tribe of Benjamin, descended from Shashak (I Chronicles 8).  4.  A family of the tribe of Benjamin, descended from Jeroboam (I Chronicles 8).  5.  A Levite individual or family descended from Asaph (I Chronicles 9).  Probably he was the same person called Zaccur in I Chronicles 25, Nehemiah 12, and called Zabdi in Nehemiah 11.

            6.  A Levite; the father of Shelomoth (I Chronicles 26).  7.  A Reubenite; the father of Elizer (I Chronicles 27).  8.   A man of Judah; the father of Amaziah (II Chronicles 17).  9.   The father of Elishaphat (II Chronicles 23).  10.   An Ephraimite; a might fighter in the army of Pekah; he slayed members of Ahaz’s court as part of God’s punishment for Ahaz’s idolatry (II Chronicles 28).  11.  A Benjaminite, the father of Joel (Nehemiah 11).  12.  A post-exilic priest (Nehemiah 12).

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ZIDDIM  (צﬢים, sides)  A fortified town in the territory allotted to Naphtali (Joshua 19).  The exact location of the site is unknown.  It might be located about 13 km north-northwest of Tiberias.

ZIDKIJAH.  King James Version form of Zedekiah #5.

ZIDON, ZIDONIANS. King James Version forms.  See Sidon.

ZIF.  King James Version form of Ziv.

ZIHA  (ציחא, dryness)  The origin of  the name of a family of Nethinim, which returned from the Exile (Ezra 2; Nehemiah 7, 11)  An individual of this name is cited as an overseer of the temple servants.

ZIKLAG  (צקלג)  A city, probably modern Tell el-Khuweilfeh, about 16 km east of Tell esh-Sheri’a, and about 8 km south-southwest of Debir.  Ziklag first belonged to the Simeonites and later, in the royal administrative division of Judah, became a part of the Negeb province; it was under Philistine control until David’s time.

            During Saul’s reign, David was given Ziklag by Achish king of Gath, and used it as a base for raids against the Amalekites and others.  While the Philistines fought Saul, David was sent to Ziklag, and discovered that it had been sacked by the Amalekites and its populace.  He pursued the Amalekites, defeated them, and rescued the booty and citizens of Ziklag.  It was at Ziklag that an Amalekite told David of Saul’s defeat and death in the Battle Gilboa.  David’s connection with Ziklag and later defeat of the Philistines resulted in the permanent return of Ziklag to Israelite.  Ziklag was among those cities reoccupied by the returning Jews.  (Nehemiah 11).

ZILLAH (צלה, shade)  The 2^nd wife of Lamech; mother of Tubal-cain and his sister Naamah (Genesis 4).

ZILLETHAI  (צלﬨי, shadow (protection) of the Lord)  1.  A family of the tribe of Benjamin (I Chronicles 8).      2.   A Manassite who joined David at Ziklag (I Chronicles 12).

ZILPAH  (זלפה, drop, trickle down)  The handmaiden of Leah; mother of Gad and Asher by Jacob (Genesis. 30, 35).  See also Tribes, Territories of.

ZILTHAI.  King James Version form of Zillethai.

ZIMMAH  (זמה, purpose of the Lord)  A Levite descended from Gershom (I Chronicles 6; II Chronicles 29).

ZIMRAN  (ןﬧזמ, pruner, singer)  A son of Abraham and Keturah and the name of an Arabian locality, probably somewhere along the shore of the Red Sea (Genesis 25; I Chronicles 1).

ZIMRI  (זמﬧי, pruner, singer)  1.  One of the 5 sons of Zerah; grandson of Judah and Tamar (Joshua 7).              

2.      Son of Salu, prince of Simeon (Numbers 25).  This story comes from the Priestly source.  A plague had come upon Israel, and the people were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting.  Just at this time an Israelite brought a Midianie woman into his family.  Phineas, son of Eleazar the priest, murdered them both.  This stayed the plague after 24,000 had died.

      3. King of [the northern kingdom of] Israel around 876 B.C.; successor to Elah, whom he murdered along with his whole house.  Zimri, an army commander, seized his chance to murder Elah when the army was occupied with the siege of Gibbethon.  When news of Zimri’s coup reached the army, they made Omri, the commander-in-chief, king.  Omri marched to Tirzah, which he captured.  Zimri, after “ruling” for seven days, took refuge in the citadel of the palace, which he burned down, thus causing his own death (I Kings 16).

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ZIN, WILDERNESS OF  (מﬢבﬧ צן (mih deh bawr  zin))  A wilderness through which the Israelites passed on their journey to Canaan (Numbers 13, 20, 27, 33, 34) “along the side of Edom.” 

            The word “Zin” appears by itself only in Numbers 34 and Joshua 15.  Numbers 13 states that the spies sent out by Moses “spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob.”  Numbers 20 simply records that “the people of Israel . . . came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month.”  According to chapters 13 and 20 the Wilderness of Zin lay north of Paran and included Kadesh.

            From the above references we can tell that the Wilderness of Zin is not identical with the Wilderness of Sin.  The Wilderness of Sin was probably on the western fringe of Sinai Plateau.  The Wilderness of Zin was a part of the southeastern border of Judah, from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. 

ZINA.  Alternate form of Zizah.

ZION  (ציון, parched place, citadel; Sion)  Originally the fortified hill of pre-Israelite Jerusalem.  Perhaps Zion ought to be interpreted by the Hurrian seya, “river,” “brook,” and the expression “stronghold of Zion” would be for the Jebusite fortress, located directly above the spring. 

            The name Zion appears for the first time in the narrative of the conquest of Jerusalem by David (II Samuel 5; I Chronicles 11).  The “stronghold of Zion” need not be seen as a single building, but rather the fortified crest of the hill wedged between the valleys of the Tryopoeon and the Kidron.  The “City of David” was substituted for the name Zion to describe the area within the fortified perimeter.  The ark of the covenant was transferred from the City of David to Solomon’s temple when it was built.  The transfer of the ark to temple may explain why the name Zion was subsequently extended to the temple area itself.  Some texts associate the King with God.  Throngs of pilgrims long to mount to Zion and present themselves before God.   

            See also entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT section of the Appendix.

            In the poetic books and the prophetic writings Zion becomes an equivalent of Jerusalem considered as the religious capital.  In Amos 6 the inhabitants of Zion compare with those of Samaria for their self-complacency.  “Zion” is often used as a synonym for the people of Jerusalem as a community, or a moral person whose destiny lies in God’s hand.  Writings about the coming of the new age and the apocalypse commonly use the name of Zion with the same religious overtones as above:  the glorification of the messianic community shall take place of Zion’s holy mountain.  Zion becomes the equivalent of the heavenly Jerusalem.

            The religious significance attached to the name of Zion toward the beginning of the Christian era is manifested by the relative popularity of the feminine name Salampsio, an Aramaic name influenced by the Greek, which meant “peace [salvation] of Zion.” In Christian usage, the name Zion became attached to the southwest rather than the southeast hill of Jerusalem as early as the 300s A.D., because of the belief that the house in which the apostles were gathered together on the day of Pentecost was located in these parts of the city. 

            Thus the Christian Zion was contrasted with the Mountain of Zion, the center of Old Testament worship.  The small church there was replaced by a monumental basilica named the “Holy Zion, Mother of all Churches.”  The basilica lay in ruins when the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem.  The confusion between Davidic Zion and Christian Zion prevailed until the first decade of the 20^th century. 

ZION, DAUGHTER OF  (ציון ﬨב (bat  zie on), daughter of Zion, inhabitants of Zion in general; behnoth Zion, daughters of Zion, female inhabitants of Zion.).  A phrase frequently used in the Old Testament as a poetic synonym for Jerusalem and its inhabitants.  The idea behind the idiom is that the children belong to or are identifiable with the parents.  Cities, towns, and villages are regarded as “daughters” of the country or of the metropolis.  “Daughter of Zion,” which occurs frequently, is likewise a personification of the city of Jerusalem.  In the gospels it occurs in Matthew 21 and John 12.

ZIOR  (ﬠﬧצי, smallness)  A village of Judah in the hill-country province of Hebron (Joshua 15).  Nearby rock-hewn tombs testify to ancient occupation.  It would appear that the site of Zior remains to be identified.

ZIPH  (זיף, flux)  1.  A family of clan of the tribe of Judah (I Chronicles 4).  2.  A town of Judah in the hill country province of Maon.  (Joshua 15).  Eusebius mention a village of Ziph southeast of Hebron, in reality about 7.5 km at present-day Tell Zif.  In the wilderness near Ziph, David hid from Saul and in the same area later showed Saul his good will by taking his spear and water jug rather than his life (I Samuel 26).  After the revolt of the northern kingdom of Israel, Rehoboam strengthened the fortification s of Ziph  (II Chronicles 11).  3.  A town of Judah in the Negeb province, near the south end of the Dead Sea. 

ZIPHAH  (זיפה, flux)  A family or clan of the tribe of Judah (I Chronicles 4).

ZIPHIMS.  King James Version form of Ziphites in the superscription of Psalm 54.

ZIPHION  (צפיון, expectation)  The eldest son of Gad.  (Genesis 46).

ZIPHRON (ﬧוןזפ)  A place in the northern borderland of Canaan, near Hazar-enan (Numbers 34).

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ZIPPOR  (ﬧזפו, bird, sparrow)  The father of Balak, the king of moab who summoned Balaam to curse the Israelites (Numbers 22, 23; Joshua 24.

ZIPPORAH  (ﬧהצפ, bird, sparrow)  One of the 7 daughters of Reuel (Jethro), the first wife of Moses; and the mother of Gershom and Eliezer (Exodus 2).  Zipporah circumcised her son to avert the disaster of the Lord killing Moses (Exodus 4).  

ZITHRI.  King James Version form of Sithri.

ZIV  (זו, beauty, brightness)  The early name for the second Hebrew month later known as Iyyar.

ZIZ, ASCENT OF  (הציץ ﬠלהמ (ma ah leh  ha tseets))  A mountain pass in the southeastern part of Judah, not far from Engedi.  It led into a valley near the wilderness of Jeruel, a part of Judah which has not been identified, not far from Tekoa, along the road from En-gedi to Bethlehem.  The text may have originally have read “the ascent of Khaziz.

ZIZA  (זיזא, abundance)  1.  A chief of Simeon whose ancestry is traced back 5 generations (I Chronicles 4).       2. A son of Rehoboam, by Maacah (II Chronicles 11).

ZIZAH  (זיזח, abundance)  Alternately: Zina.  Head of a father’s house of Levites, of the family of Shimel         

       (I Chronicles 23).  The middle consonants of Zina in verse 10 and Zizah in verse 11 are similar.

ZOAN  (זﬠן, wander)  A city in northeastern Egypt, known also as Avaris, the capital of the Hyksos.  Zoan is the Hebrew version of the Egyptian name.  It is now called San el-Hajar, and is strategically placed in the eastern section of the Delta.  It achieved prominence during the rule Ramses II, the “Exodus Pharaoh.”  The city was renamed Per-Ramses in his honor, and he made the city his official residence.  The majority of scholars who have studied the problem see Avaris, Per-Ramses, and Tanis as successive names of the same site.  It is to be identified with the Rameses of the Old Testament. 

ZOAR (ﬠﬧצו, reduced)  One of the “cities of the valley,” which was attacked by the 4 Eastern kings in the Valley Siddim and subjugated (Genesis 14).  Though the names of the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Adman, and Zeboiim are mentioned, that of the king of Zoar is seemingly omitted.  The phrase “the king of Bela (that is Zoar may be the name of the king of Zoar but through error is given as another name for Zoar.

            When the Lord decided to destroy the 5 wicked cities of the valley, Lot and his family were to be spared.  Lot and his two daughters “went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the hills.”  It would seem that Zoar was not destroyed by the “brimstone and fire from the Lord. . .”; the Lord promised that the Lord would not overthrow that city .  In that case , the site of Zoar is not really to be located in the valley.  A late tradition indicates that the fire was thought to have have descended upon all the Five Cities, or Pentapolis.  Lot’s leaving may have been due to the site’s proximity to the destruction which was taking place.

            A Zoar did exist in later times.  To Moses on Mount Nebo, the Lord showed the land, extending south-ward, as far as Zoar (Deut. 34).  Fugitives from Moab fled to Zoar.  Josephus mentions a Zoara of Arabia.  There is mention of a bishop of Zoara in the year 381 A.D.  A site for Zoar in the southern part of the Dead Sea Basin and on the eastern, Moabite side best meets the requirements of the biblical narratives.  If any weight is given to the tradition that Lot escaped from Sodom to Zoar, Zoar should have been to the east of Sodom and toward Moab.  Sodom was probably near Jebel Usdum, so Zoar was probably around es-Safi.

            Es-Safi is in a fertile region near the present mouth of the Seil el- Qurahi or lower end of the Wadi el-Hesa is called.  This stream flows into the southern end of the eastern shore of the Dead Sea.  Graves, pottery of the end of the Early Bronze (i.e. 2000-1900 B.C.) indicate that this was inhabited during the time of the cities of the valley.  Excavation around es-Safi may reveal that the Roman-Byzantine-Arabic Zoar may also have been the site of Israelite and the earlier Canaanite Zoar.  If the original Zoar of Gensis was destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah, then its site may be under the waters of the southern end of the Dead Sea. 

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ZOBAH  (צובה, station)  An Amorite, later Aramaic, town and kingdom, presumably situated in Biqa valley between Lebanon and anti-Lebanon.  David had to fight against Zobah, where at that time Hadadezer was the king.  After the events referred to in II Samuel 8, Zobah was in alliance with the Ammonites.  All those allied together were defeated by Joab, David’s famous general.  Rezon, son of Eliada, a vassal of King Hadadezer was an enemy of Solomon.

ZOBEBAH  (צבבה, stout, fat)  listed as a family of the tribe of Judah in a difficult sequence of names (I Chr. 4).

ZOHAR  (ﬧצח, whiteness)  1.  The father of Ephron the Hittite (Genesis 23, 25).  2.  Alternate form of Zerah #3.

ZOHELETH, STONE OF  (ﬨזהל, serpent, creeping one)  King James Version translation of Hebrew.  See Serpent’s Stone.

ZOHETH  (ﬨזוח, proud)  A family or clan of the tribe of Judah (I Chronicle 4).

ZOPHAH  (צופח, cruse)  Ancestor and origin of the name of a clan of the tribe of Asher (I Chronicles 7).

ZOPHAI.  Alternate form of Zuph.

ZOPHAR  (ﬧצופ, (twittering?) bird)  One of the 3 friends of Job, called “the Naamathite” (Job 2, 11, 20, 42).   See Naamah.

ZOPHIM  (זפים, flow, watchers)  A high place near the northeast end of the Dead Sea to which Balak took Balaam for his second view of the Israelites.  Zophim may not be a proper name, so that we would simply read “field of watchers.” 

ZORAH  (ﬧﬠהצ, smiting, defeat)  A city (modern Sar’ah situated on the north side of the Wadi ex-Sarar, nearly 22 km north of Eleutheropolis.  It apparently first belonged to Dan.  Zorah was the home of Manoah, Samson’s father.  Samson was buried in the tomb of his father near Zorah.  In their northward migration Danite spies of Zorah and Eshtaol reconnoitered at Laish and then led their countrymen from the same 2 places to Laish.  On the way they kidnapped the Levite whom Micah had installed as his priest.  In the list of the descendants of Judah, the Zorathites are mentioned  as descendants of Kiriath-jearim.  After the division of the monarchy, Rehoboam strengthened its fortification.  Returnees from the Exile reoccupied it.

ZORATHITES  (צﬠﬧﬨי leprosy)  Descendants of Shobal; inhabitants of Zorah (I Chronicles 2).

ZORITES  (ﬧﬠיצ, smiting, defeat)  Descendants of Salma, of the line of Judah.  Apparently they are to be distinguished from the Zorathites (I Chronicles 2).

ZOROASTRIANISM.  See entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT section of the Appendix.

ZOROBABEL.  King James Version Apocrypha and New Testament form of Zerubbabel.

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ZOSTRIANUS, APOCALYPSE OF.  See entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT section of the Appendix.

ZUAR  (ﬠﬧצו, reduced)  The father of Nethanel; he was the leader of Issachar in the wilderness (Num. 1, 2, 7, 10).

ZUPH (צוף, honeycomb) 1. An ancestor of Elkanah and of Samuel (I Samuel 1; I Chronicles 6; he was an Ephri-amite in I Sam.; a Levitie in I Chr.).  He could have been an Ephriamite tribally and a Levite professionally.   

ZUR (ﬧצו, rock) 1. A Midianite leader; the father of Cozbi, who was slain with her Israelite husband after their marriage.  Zur fell in the battle in which Moses defeated Sihon the Amorite king (Num. 25, 31; Josh. 13).     2.  A Benjaminite son of Jeiel and brother of Kish, Saul’s father (I Chronicles 8, 9).  3.   Ancient synonym for “God” used frequently in the Old Testament and translated “Rock.”  It came to designate the traits of God as known within the covenant:  strength, constancy, trustworthiness, never-failing mercy.  Yahweh was known as the “Rock of Israel.”  See also God, Names of.

ZURIEL  (ﬧיאלצו, God is a rock)  A Levite of the family of Merari; son of Abihail.  In the wilderness he was head of the Merarites encamped to the north of the tabernacle (Numbers 3).

ZURISHADDAI  (צוﬧישﬢי, Shaddai is a rock)  The father of Shelumiel, who was the leader of Simeon in the wilderness.  The use of “rock” is to be understood as a figurative description of God, source of security, the “Rock of my salvation” (Psalm 89).  See God, Names of.

ZUZIM  (הזוזים, from the root meaning “to move about”)  The name of a people who lived in Ham, whom Chedorlaomer and his allies subdued in the course of the advance through Transjordan against the coalition of kings in the Valley of Siddim (Genesis 14).  Many scholars identify them with the Zamzummim in Deuteronomy 2.  In the Dead Sea Scrolls, the “Genesis Apocryphon” preserves a passage elaborating Genesis 14, the Zuzim are represented in what the scribe intended for “Zamzummim.”  This represents Jewish opinion within the 100 years before Christ, and should not be considered a decisive criterion for identifying the 2 names.  The Zuzim and Zamzummin people have been located in widely separated areas. 

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