Ziklag

A town in the Negeb, or south country of Judah (Josh. 15:31), in the possession of the Philistines when David fled to Gath from Ziph with all his followers. Achish, the king, assigned him Ziklag as his place of residence. There he dwelt for over a year and four months. From this time it pertained to the kings of Judah (1 Sam. 27:6). During his absence with his army to join the Philistine expedition against the Israelites (29:11), it was destroyed by the Amalekites (30:1, 2), whom David, however, pursued and utterly routed, returning all the captives (1 Sam. 30:26-31). Two days after his return from this expedition, David received tidings of the disastrous battle of Gilboa and of the death of Saul (2 Sam. 1:1-16). He now left Ziklag and returned to Hebron, along with his two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, and his band of 600 men. It has been identified with ‘Asluj, a heap of ruins south of Beersheba. Conder, however, identifies it with Khirbet Zuheilikah, ruins found on three hills half a mile apart, some seventeen miles north-west of Beersheba, on the confines of Philistia, Judah, and Amalek.

(winding), a place which possesses a special interest from its having been the residence and the private property of David. It is first mentioned in the catalogue of the towns of Judah in (Joshua 15:31) and occurs, in the same connection among the places which were allotted out of the territory of Judah to Simeon. (Joshua 19:5) We next encounter it in the possession of the Philistines (1 Samuel 27:6) when it was, at David’s request, bestowed upon him by Achish king of Gath. He resided there for a year and four months. (1 Samuel 27:6,7; 30:14,26; 1 Chronicles 12:1,20) It was there he received the news of Saul’s death. (2 Samuel 1:1; 4:10) He then relinquished it for Hebron. (2 Samuel 2:1) Ziklag is finally mentioned as being reinhabited by the people of Judah after their return from captivity. (Nehemiah 11:28) The situation of the town is difficult to determine, and we only know for certain that it was in the south country.


Zillah

Shadow, one of the wives of Lamech, of the line of Cain, and mother of Tubal-cain (Gen. 4:19, 22).

(shade). [Lamech]


Zilpah

Drooping, Leah’s handmaid, and the mother of Gad and Asher (Gen. 30:9-13).

(a trickling), a Syrian given by Laban to his daughter Leah as an attendant, (Genesis 29:24) and by Leah to Jacob as a concubine. She was the mother of Gad and Asher. (Genesis 30:9-13; 35:26; 37:2; 46:18) (B.C. 1753.)


Zilthai

Shadow (i.e., protection) of Jehovah. (1.) A Benjamite (1 Chr. 8:20). (2.) One of the captains of the tribe of Manasseh who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chr. 12:20).

(shady).


Zimmah

Mischief. (1.) A Gershonite Levite (1 Chr. 6:20). (2.) Another Gershonite Levite (1 Chr. 6:42). (3.) The father of Joah (2 Chr. 29:12).

(purpose).


Zimran

Vine-dressers; celebrated, one of the sons of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. 25:2).

(celebrated), the eldest son of Keturah. (Genesis 25:2; 1 Chronicles 1:32) His descendants are not mentioned, nor is any hint given that he was the founder of a tribe. (B.C. 1855.)


Zimri

Praise-worthy. (1.) A son of Salu, slain by Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, because of his wickedness in bringing a Midianitish woman into his tent (Num. 25:6-15). (2.) Murdered Elah at Tirzah, and succeeded him on the throne of Israel (1 Kings 16:8-10). He reigned only seven days, for Omri, whom the army elected as king, laid siege to Tirzah, whereupon Zimri set fire to the palace and perished amid its ruins (11-20). Omri succeeded to the throne only after four years of fierce war with Tibni, another claimant to the throne.


Zin

A low palm-tree, the south-eastern corner of the desert et-Tih, the wilderness of Paran, between the Gulf of Akabah and the head of the Wady Guraiyeh (Num. 13:21). To be distinguished from the wilderness of Sin (q.v.).

(flat), the name given to a portion of the desert tract between the Dead Sea, Ghor, and Arabah on the east, and the general plateau of the Tih which stretches westward. The country in question consists of two or three successive terraces of mountain converging to an acute single at the Dead Sea’s southern verge, toward which also they slope. Kadesh lay in it, and here also Idumea was conterminous with Judah; since Kadesh was a city in the border of Edom. [See Kadesh, Kadeshbarnea]. (Numbers 13:21; 20:1; 27:14; 33:36; 34:3; Joshua 15:1)


Zina

Ornament, one of the sons of Shimei (1 Chr. 23:10).

(abundance); Zizah, the second son of Shimei the Gershonite. (1 Chronicles 23:10) comp. 1Chr 23:11


Zion

Sunny; height, one of the eminences on which Jerusalem was built. It was surrounded on all sides, except the north, by deep valleys, that of the Tyropoeon (q.v.) separating it from Moriah (q.v.), which it surpasses in height by 105 feet. It was the south-eastern hill of Jerusalem. When David took it from the Jebusites (Josh. 15:63; 2 Sam. 5:7) he built on it a citadel and a palace, and it became “the city of David” (1 Kings 8:1; 2 Kings 19:21, 31; 1 Chr. 11:5). In the later books of the Old Testament this name was sometimes used (Ps. 87:2; 149:2; Isa. 33:14; Joel 2:1) to denote Jerusalem in general, and sometimes God’s chosen Israel (Ps. 51:18; 87:5). In the New Testament (see SION) it is used sometimes to denote the Church of God (Heb. 12:22), and sometimes the heavenly city (Rev. 14:1).

[Jerusalem]


Zior

Littleness, a city in the mountains of Judah (Josh. 15:54); the modern Si’air, 4 1/2 miles north-north-east of Hebron.

(smallness), a town in the mountain district of Judah. (Joshua 15:54) It belongs to the same group with Hebron.


Ziph

Flowing. (1.) A son of Jehaleleel (1 Chr. 4:16). (2.) A city in the south of Judah (Josh. 15:24), probably at the pass of Sufah. (3.) A city in the mountains of Judah (Josh. 15:55), identified with the uninhabited ruins of Tell ez-Zif, about 5 miles south-east of Hebron. Here David hid himself during his wanderings (1 Sam. 23:19; Ps. 54, title).

(battlement), the name of two towns in Judah.


Ziphah

A descendant of Judah (1 Chr. 4:16).

(feminine of Ziph), another son of Jehaleleel. (1 Chronicles 4:16)


Ziphim, The

the inhabitants of Ziph, 2. In this form the name is found in the Authorized Version only in the title of (Psalms 54:1) In the narrative it occurs in the more usual form of ZIPHITES. (1 Samuel 23:19; 26:1)


Ziphion

son of Gad (Genesis 46:18) elsewhere called Zephon.


Ziphran

(fragrance), appoint in the north boundary of the promised land as specified by Moses. (Numbers 34:9)


Ziphron

Sweet odour, a city on the northern border of Palestine (Num. 34:9), south-east of Hamath.


Zippor

A little bird, the father of Balak, king of Moab (Num. 22:2, 4).

(sparrow), father of Balak king of Moab. (Numbers 22:2,4,10,16; 23:18; Joshua 24:9; Judges 11:25) Whether he was the “former king of Moab” alluded to in (Numbers 21:26) we are not told. (B.C. 1451.)


Zipporah

A female bird. Reuel’s daughter, who became the wife of Moses (Ex. 2:21). In consequence of the event recorded in Ex. 4:24-26, she and her two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, when so far on the way with Moses toward Egypt, were sent back by him to her own kinsfolk, the Midianites, with whom they sojourned till Moses afterwards joined them (18:2-6).


Zipporah, Or Zipporah

daughter of Reuel or Jethro, the priest of Midian, wife of Moses and mother of his two sons Gershom and Eliezer. (Exodus 2:21; 4:25; 18:2) comp. Exod 18:6 (B.C. 1530.) The only incident recorded in her life is that of the circumcision of Gershom. (Exodus 4:24-28)


Zithri

The Lord protects, a Levite, son of Uzziel (Ex. 6:22).

(protection of Jehovah), properly Sithri; one of the sons of Uzziel the son of Kohath. (Exodus 6:22) In (Exodus 6:21) Zithri should be Zichri, as in Authorized Version of 1611.


Ziz

Projecting; a flower, a cleft or pass, probably that near En-gedi, which leads up from the Dead Sea (2 Chr. 20:16) in the direction of Tekoa; now Tell Hasasah.

(the projection), The cliff of, the pass by which the horde of Moabites, Ammonites and Mehunim made their way up from the shores of the Dead Sea to the wilderness of Judah near Tekoa. (2 Chronicles 20:16) only; comp. 2Chr 20:20 It was the pass of Ain Jidy—the very same route which is taken by the Arabs in their marauding expeditions at the present day.


Ziza

Splendour; abundance. (1.) A Simeonite prince (1 Chr. 4:37-43). (2.) A son of Rehoboam (2 Chr. 11:20).

(shining).


Zizah

A Gershonite Levite (1 Chr. 23:11).

a Gershonite Levite, second son of Shimei, (1 Chronicles 23:11) called Zina in ver. (1 Chronicles 23:10)


Zoan

(Old Egypt. Sant= “stronghold,” the modern San). A city on the Tanitic branch of the Nile, called by the Greeks Tanis. It was built seven years after Hebron in Palestine (Num. 13:22). This great and important city was the capital of the Hyksos, or Shepherd kings, who ruled Egypt for more than 500 years. It was the frontier town of Goshen. Here Pharaoh was holding his court at the time of his various interviews with Moses and Aaron. “No trace of Zoan exists; Tanis was built over it, and city after city has been built over the ruins of that” (Harper, Bible and Modern Discovery). Extensive mounds of ruins, the wreck of the ancient city, now mark its site (Isa. 19:11, 13; 30:4; Ezek. 30:14). “The whole constitutes one of the grandest and oldest ruins in the world.” This city was also called “the Field of Zoan” (Ps. 78:12, 43) and “the Town of Rameses” (q.v.), because the oppressor rebuilt and embellished it, probably by the forced labour of the Hebrews, and made it his northern capital.

(place of departure), an ancient city of lower Egypt, called Tanis by the Greeks. It stood on the eastern bank of the Tanitic branch of the Nile. Its name indicates a place of departure from a country, and hence it has been identified with Avaris (Tanis, the modern San), the capital of the Shepherd dynasty in Egypt, built seven years after Hebron and existing before the time of Abraham. It was taken by the Shepherd kings in their invasion of Egypt, and by them rebuilt, and garrisoned, according to Manetho, with 240,000 men. This cite is mentioned in connection with the plagues in such a manner as to leave no doubt that it is the city spoken of in the narrative in Exodus as that where Pharaoh dwelt, (Psalms 78:42,43) and where Moses wrought his wonders on the field of Zoan a rich plain extending thirty miles toward the east. Tanis gave its name to the twenty-first and twenty-third dynasties and hence its mention in Isaiah. (Isaiah 19:13; 30:4) (The present “field of Zoan” is a barren waste, very thinly inhabited. “One of the principal capitals of Pharaoh is now the habitation of fishermen the resort of wild beasts, and infested with reptiles and malignant fevers.” There have been discovered a great number of monuments here which throw light upon the Bible history. Brugsch refers to two statues of colossal size of Mermesha of the thirteenth dynasty, wonderfully perfect in the execution of the individual parts and says that memorials of Rameses the Great lie scattered broadcast like the mouldering bones of generations slain long ago. The area of the sacred enclosure of the temple is 1500 feet by 1250.-ED.)


Zoar

Small, a town on the east or south-east of the Dead Sea, to which Lot and his daughters fled from Sodom (Gen. 19:22, 23). It was originally called Bela (14:2, 8). It is referred to by the prophets Isaiah (15:5) and Jeremiah (48:34). Its ruins are still seen at the opening of the ravine of Kerak, the Kir-Moab referred to in 2 Kings 3, the modern Tell esh-Shaghur.

(smallness), one of the most ancient cities of the land of Canaan. Its original name was Bela. (Genesis 14:2,8) It was in intimate connection with the cities of the “plain of Jordan”—Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, See also (Genesis 13:10) but not Genesis10:19 In the general destruction of the cities of the plain Zoar was spared to afford shelter to Lot. (Genesis 19:22,23,30) It is mentioned in the account of the death of Moses as one (of the landmarks which bounded his view from Pisgah, (34:3) and it appears to have been known in the time both of Isaiah, (Isaiah 15:5) and Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 48:34) These are all the notices of Zoar contained in the Bible. It was situated in the same district with the four cities already mentioned, viz. in the “plain” or “circle” of the Jordan, and the narrative of (Genesis 19:1)... evidently implies that it was very near to Sodom. vs. (Genesis 19:15; 23:27) The definite position of Sodom is, and probably will always be, a mystery; but there can be little doubt that the plain of the Jordan was at the north side of the Dead Sea and that the cities of the plain must therefore have been situated there instead of at the southern end of the lake, as it is generally taken for granted they were. [Sodom] (But the great majority of scholars from Josephus and Eusebius to the present of the Dead Sea.)


Zoba, Or Zobah

(station), the name of a portion of Syria which formed a separate kingdom in the time of the Jewish monarchs Saul, David and Solomon. It probably was eastward of Coele-Syria, and extended thence northeast and east toward, if not even to, the Euphrates. We first hear of Zobah in the time of Saul, when we find it mentioned as a separate country, governed apparently by a number of kings who owned no common head or chief. (1 Samuel 14:47) Some forty years later than this we find Zobah under a single ruler Hadadezer son of Rehob. He had wars with Toi king of Hamath, (2 Samuel 8:10) and held various petty Syrian princes as vassals under his yoke. (2 Samuel 10:19) David, (2 Samuel 8:3) attacked Hadadezer in the early part of his reign, defeated his army, and took from him a thousand chariots, seven hundred (seven thousand,) (1 Chronicles 18:4) horsemen and 20,000 footmen. Hadadezer’s allies, the Syrians of Damascus, were defeated in a great battle. The wealth of Zobah is very apparent in the narrative of this campaign. A man of Zobah, Rezon son of Eliadah, made himself master of Damascus where he proved a fierce adversary to Israel all through the reign of Solomon. (1 Kings 11:23-25) Solomon also was, it would seem engaged in a war with Zobah itself. (2 Chronicles 8:3) This is the last that we hear of Zobah in Scripture. The name however, is found at a later date in the inscriptions of Assyria, where the kingdom of Zobah seems to intervene between Hamath and Damascus.


Zobah

=Aram-Zobah, (Ps. 60, title), a Syrian province or kingdom to the south of Coele-Syria, and extending from the eastern slopes of Lebanon north and east toward the Euphrates. Saul and David had war with the kings of Zobah (1 Sam. 14:47; 2 Sam. 8:3; 10:6).


Zobebah

(the slow), son of Coz, of the tribe of Judah. (1 Chronicles 4:8)


Zohar

Brightness. (1.) The father of Ephron the Hittite (Gen. 23:8). (2.) One of the sons of Simeon (Gen. 46:10; Ex. 6:15).

(light).


Zoheleth

The serpent-stone, a rocky plateau near the centre of the village of Siloam, and near the fountain of En-rogel, to which the women of the village resort for water (1 Kings 1:5-9). Here Adonijah (q.v.) feasted all the royal princess except Solomon and the men who took part with him in his effort to succeed to the throne. While they were assembled here Solomon was proclaimed king, through the intervention of Nathan. On hearing this, adonijah fled and took refuge in the sanctuary (1 Kings 1:49-53). He was afterwards pardoned. Zoheleth projects into or slightly over-hangs the Kidron valley. It is now called ez-Zehwell or Zahweileh.

(serpent), The stone, This was “by En-rogel,” (1 Kings 1:9) and therefore, if En-rogel be the modern Um-ed-Deraj, this stone, “where Adonijah slew sheep and oxen,” was in all likelihood not far from the well of the Virgin.


Zoheth

Snatching (?), one of the sons of Ishi (1 Chr. 4:20).

son of Ishi of the tribe of Judah. (1 Chronicles 4:20)


Zophah

Spreading out, a son of Helem (1 Chr. 7:35), a chief of Asher.

(a cruse) son of Helem or Hotham the son of Heber, an Asherite. (1 Chronicles 7:35,36)


Zophai

(descended from Zuph), a Kohathite Levite, son of Elkanah and ancestor of Samuel. (2 Chronicles 6:26) (11). In ver. 35 he is called Zuph.


Zophar

Chirping, one of Job’s friends who came to condole with him in his distress (Job 2:11. The LXX. render here “king of the Mineans” = Ma’in, Maonites, Judg. 10:12, in Southern Arabia). He is called a Naamathite, or an inhabitant of some unknown place called Naamah.

(sparrow), one of the three friends of Job. (Job 2:11; 11:1; 20:1; 42:9)


Zophim

(watchers), The field of, a spot on or near the top of Pisgah, from which Balaam had his second view of the encampment of Israel. (Numbers 23:14) The position of the field of Zophim is not defined. Possibly it is the same place which later in the history is mentioned as Mizpah-moab.


Zophim, Field of

Field of watchers, a place in Moab on the range of Pisgah (Num. 23:14). To this place Balak brought Balaam, that he might from thence curse the children of Israel. Balaam could only speak the word of the Lord, and that was blessing. It is the modern Tal’at-es-Safa. (See PISGAH.)


Zorah

Place of wasps, a town in the low country of Judah, afterwards given to Dan (Josh. 19:41; Judg. 18:2), probably the same as Zoreah (Josh. 15:33). This was Samson’s birthplace (Judg. 13:2, 25), and near it he found a grave (16:31). It was situated on the crest of a hill overlooking the valley of Sorek, and was fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chr. 11:10). It has been identified with Sur’ah, in the Wady Surar, 8 miles west of Jerusalem. It is noticed on monuments in the fifteenth century B.C. as attacked by the Abiri or Hebrews.

(hornet), a town in the allotment of the tribe of Dan, (Joshua 19:41) It is previously mentioned ch. (Joshua 15:33) in the catalogue of Judah, among the places in the district of the Shefelah (Authorized Version “Zoreah”), It was the residence of Manoah and the native place of Samson. It is mentioned among the places fortified by Rehoboam. (2 Chronicles 11:10) It is perhaps identical with the modern village of Sur’ah .


Zorathites, The

i.e. the people of Zorah, mentioned in (1 Chronicles 4:2) as descended from Shobal.


Zoreah

[Zorah]


Zorites, The

are named in the genealogies of Judah, (1 Chronicles 2:54) apparently among the descendants of Salma and near connections of Joab.


Zorobabel

(Matthew 1:12,13; Luke 3:27) [Zerubbabel]


Zuar

(littleness), father of Nethaneel the chief of the tribe of Issachar at the time of the exodus. (Numbers 1:8; 2:5; 7:18,23; 10:15) (B.C. 2491.)


Zuph

Honeycomb, a Kohathite Levite, ancestor of Elkanah and Samuel (1 Sam. 1:1); called also Zophai (1 Chr. 6:26).

a Kohathite Levite, ancestor of Elkanah and Samuel. (1 Samuel 1:1; 1 Chronicles 6:35) In (1 Chronicles 6:26) he is called Zophai. (honeycomb), The land of, a district at which Saul and his servant arrived after passing through the possessions of Shalisha, of Shalim and of the Benjamites. (1 Samuel 9:5) only. It evidently contained the city in which they encountered Samuel, ver. 6, and that again was certainly not far from the “tomb of Rachel.” It may perhaps be identified with Soba, a well-known place about seven miles due west of Jerusalem.


Zuph, Land of

(1 Sam. 9:5, 6), a district in which lay Samuel’s city, Ramah. It was probably so named after Elkanah’s son, Zuph (1 Chr. 6:26, marg.).


Zur

Rock. (1.) One of the five Midianite kings whom the Israelites defeated and put to death (Num. 31:8). (2.) A Benjamite (1 Chr. 8:30).

(a rock).


Zuriel

Rock of God, chief of the family of the Merarites (Num. 3:35) at the time of the Exodus.

(my rock is God) son of Abihail, and chief of the Merarite Levites at the time of the exodus. (Numbers 3:35)


Zurishaddai

Rock of the Almighty, the father of Shelumiel, who was chief of the tribe of Simeon when Israel was encamped at Sinai (Num. 1:6; 2:12).

(my rock is the Almighty), father of Shelumiel, the chief of the tribe of Simeon at the time of the exodus. (Numbers 1:6; 2:12; 7:36,41; 10:19)


Zuzim, The

An ancient people who, lying in the path of Chedorlaomer and his allies, were attacked and overthrown by them. (Genesis 14:5) The Zuzim perhaps inhabited the country of the Ammonites, who were identical with the Zamzummim, who are known to have ben exterminated and succeeded in their land by the Ammonites [Zamzummim].


Zuzims

Restless; sprouting, were smitten “in Ham” by Chedorlaomer and his allies (Gen. 14:5). Some have identified this tribe with the Zamzummims (q.v.).