This city, like the other cities of the Canaanites, had been placed ‘under ban’ by Jehovah, and was to be devoted to destruction. (Deut. 7:1-4) The tribes of Judah and Simeon were now applying the terms of that ban on Zephath. Zephath may have been the principal Canaanite city of that district or area.

On the basis of the similarity of the names, various locations have been suggested, such as Tell esh-Sherʽah, Tell es-Seba, and the pass es-Sufa, to the NW, E, and SE of Beer-sheba respectively. An older identification, Sebata or Sebaita, some twenty-two miles (35.4 kilometers) N-NE of Kadesh-barnea, seems to fit the description better.—See DEVOTE; HORMAH.

ZEPHATHAH

(Zephʹa·thah) [watchtower].

A valley near Mareshah where Jehovah enabled the forces of Judah’s King Asa to defeat those of Zerah the Ethiopian (967-966 B.C.E.). (2 Chron. 14:9-12) Zephathah is apparently represented by the modern Wadi Zeita, which, at one point, comes to within about a mile (c. 1.6 kilometers) N of the suggested site of Mareshah. The Greek Septuagint Version has been translated to read “in the valley north of Maresa” (Bagster), but “Zephathah” appears in the Hebrew Masoretic text.

ZEPHO

(Zeʹpho) [perhaps, gaze, or, watch].

Third-named son of Eliphaz; grandson of Esau and sheik of an Edomite tribe.—Gen. 36:10, 11, 15; 1 Chron. 1:36.

ZEPHON

(Zeʹphon), Ziphion (Ziphʹi·on) [lookout].

The first-named son of Gad and founder of the family of Zephonites.—Gen. 46:16; Num. 26:15.

ZEPHONITES

(Zeʹphon·ites).

A family descended from Gad through Zephon.—Num. 26:15.

ZER

[possibly, rock].

A fortified city in Naphtali’s territory. (Josh. 19:32, 35) Its site is unknown.

ZERAH

(Zeʹrah) [a shining forth; rising].

1. An Edomite sheik. Zerah was the son of Reuel, and grandson of Esau and Basemath, Ishmael’s daughter. (Gen. 36:3, 4, 13, 17; 1 Chron. 1:37) Possibly the same as No. 2 below.

2. Father of the second Edomite king, Jobab; he was from Bozrah. (Gen. 36:33; 1 Chron. 1:44) Possibly the same as No. 1 above.

3. A son of Judah and Tamar; twin brother of Perez. (Gen. 38:27-30; Matt. 1:3) Zerah was one of those “who came to Jacob into Egypt.” (Gen. 46:12, 26) His five sons (1 Chron. 2:4, 6) grew into a Judean tribal family (Num. 26:20), and eventually included persons such as Achan (Josh. 7:1, 17, 18, 24; 22:20), two of David’s army leaders (1 Chron. 27:11, 13), and some postexilic residents of Jerusalem.—1 Chron. 9:3, 6; Neh. 11:22, 24.

4. A son of Simeon and founder of a family in that tribe. (1 Chron. 4:24; Num. 26:12, 13) He is called Zohar at Genesis 46:10 and Exodus 6:15.

5. A descendant of Gershon the son of Levi. (1 Chron. 6:16, 20, 21; compare Genesis 46:11.) In 1 Chronicles 6:41 reference may be made to the same person.

6. An Ethiopian, or Cushite, who led a huge army of a million men and three hundred chariots into Judah during Asa’s reign, sometime after 967-966 B.C.E. Zerah met defeat and his fleeing forces were pursued and slaughtered “as far as Gerar.” (2 Chron. 14:1, 9-15) Identification of Zerah with any secularly known Egyptian or Ethiopian ruler remains uncertain.

ZERAHIAH

(Zer·a·hiʹah) [Jehovah has shone forth, risen].

1. A descendant of Aaron through Eleazar and Phinehas in the high-priestly line.—1 Chron. 6:3, 4, 6, 50, 51; Ezra 7:4.

2. Father of Elieho-enai who headed the paternal house of Pahath-moab, two hundred males of whom returned to Jerusalem with Ezra in 468 B.C.E.—Ezra 8:1, 4.

ZERAHITES

(Zeʹrah·ites).

1. Descendants of Simeon’s son Zerah.—Num. 26:12, 13; see ZERAH No. 4.

2. The tribal family that sprang from Judah’s son Zerah.—Num. 26:20; Josh. 7:17; 1 Chron. 27:11, 13; see ZERAH No. 3.

ZERED, TORRENT VALLEY OF

(Zeʹred).

A torrent valley at which the Israelites camped on their way around the frontier of Moab, at the end of the thirty-eight additional years of wandering from the time of the rebellion at Kadesh-barnea. (Num. 21:12; Deut. 2:13, 14) While some would place this valley at the Wadi es-Sultani in the desert E of Moab, it is generally identified with the Wadi el-Hesa, the southernmost tributary of the Dead Sea. This valley formed the boundary between Moab and Edom, and, over a thirty-five-mile (56.3-kilometer) stretch, it descends some 3,900 feet (c. 1,189 meters), entering the Dead Sea at the SE end. The valley is some three and a quarter to four miles (5.2 to 6.4 kilometers) across at the top. There is evidence there of a series of Edomite fortresses that served to guard the natural approaches to the S of the Wadi el-Hesa.

ZEREDAH

(Zerʹe·dah).

1. The hometown of Jeroboam, first king of the northern kingdom of Israel. (1 Ki. 11:26) The only indication of its location is the statement: “And there was Jeroboam the son of Nebat an Ephraimite from Zeredah.” On this basis it is generally identified with Deir Ghassaneh (in the region of Ephraim) where the nearby spring called ‘Ain Seridah appears to preserve the original form of the name. This site is about sixteen miles (26 kilometers) SW of Shechem.

2. Reference is made to Zeredah in the “District of the Jordan” in connection with the casting of copper utensils for the temple constructed by Solomon. (2 Chron. 4:17) The parallel text at 1 Kings 7:46 indicates this to be the same place as Zarethan, Zeredah perhaps being a variant spelling of the name.—See ZARETHAN.

ZERERAH

(Zerʹe·rah).

The flight of the defeated Midianites, as they were pursued by Gideon’s forces, is described as continuing “as far as Beth-shittah, on to Zererah, as far as the outskirts of Abel-meholah by Tabbath.”—Judg. 7:22.

Twenty Hebrew manuscripts here read “Zeredah” rather than Zererah. Since Zeredah and Zarethan are used in a parallel sense at 2 Chronicles 4:17 and 1 Kings 7:46, some suggest the location of Zererah to be the same as that of Zarethan.—See ZARETHAN.

Such location, however, would seem to be possible only if the expression “on to Zererah” were to be taken in the sense of ‘in the direction of Zererah,’ inasmuch as the location of Zarethan seems to have been considerably S of Abel-meholah. Otherwise, Zererah would necessarily be viewed as lying between Beth-shittah and Abel-meholah; in such case its precise location is unknown.

ZERESH

(Zeʹresh) [possibly, gold].

The wife of Haman. Zeresh and Haman’s friends proposed that he erect a stake to a height of fifty cubits (c. 73 feet; 22 meters), on which to hang Mordecai. (Esther 5:10, 14) But when reversals set in, Zeresh, along with Haman’s wise men, said: “If it is from the seed of the Jews that Mordecai is before whom you have started to fall, you will not prevail against him, but you will without fail fall before him.”—Esther 6:13.

ZERETH

(Zeʹreth).

First-named son that Helah bore to Asshur; of the tribe of Judah.—1 Chron. 4:1, 5, 7.