Ln KRATCRE. — In addition to references given above see Sayce, Kaypt of the Hebrews, n. Ill ; Maspero, Strtuiftle of the A'ationSt p. 774 ; McCurdy, UPM i. 259 ; Heraog, PRE 2 xvii, 473.
T. NicoL. ZERAHIAH (n;--!i 'J" hath arisen or sinned,' cf. Sab. ^xniT). — 1. A prie.st, an ancestor of Ezra, 1 Ch (joits. m [Heb. S'-' 6^"], Ezr 1* (H in all Zapaid ; A Zapalas, Zaplat, Zapaid). 2. The father of Eliehoenai, Ezr 8* (B Zapeia, A Zapoid).
ZERED (I"!!). —The torrent- valley {Tinhat) of Zered is named in the itinerary of Israel's journey- ings, Nu 21'= (15 Zaper, A Zdpe, Luc. ZipcB), immedi- ately prior to their crossing of the Amon, and in Dt i" as the point that marked the close of the 38 years' wanderings. It is probably either the Sail Sdidch (Kiiolici), the principal conlhient of the Anion frnm tin' S K. i liurcklianit Sijru'ii. (i:'>:i), or tlie ll'((//y Ktriik ((m-s.. Uitz., Kcil. Dillm., ti. A. Smith, liubl). The objection to the Wady el-A/isd (Wetzstein in Del. Genesis*, 567 f.; Tristram, Land of Mnah, 49 f.) is that this wady must have formed tlie S. boundary of Moab on the side of Edom, whereas lye-abarim, the station before the cross- ing of the'Zered, is shown by Nu 21" to have been in the wilderness to the E. of Moab (see Driver, Deut. 38).
ZEREDAH, ZERERAH.— See Zarethan.
ZERESH (B^i ; B Zuxrapd, A Suirapd).— The wifd of Haman, Es"t 5'»' " 6". Jensen (see Wildeboer, 'Esther' in Kurzer Hdcom. p. 173) compares the Elamite goddess KirUa or Giriia (suggesting to read iJnj). The explanations of tlie name from the Persian are doubtlul.
ZERETH (n-is).— A Judahite, 1 Ch 4' (B "Apefl, A ZipeO, Luc. i'dpi)*).
ZERETH-SHAHAR (tW n-jj). — A Renbenit* town, Jos 13'" (B SfpoSd /to! "Leluv, A ^ipO koX 2tiip). Its site has not been identified, although in
• ot course his numbers (680,000 men in Asa's army, 1,000,000 In Zerah's) are, as frequently happens, inerediWy large.
t .See. however, the criticism of this hyiiothesis of Hommel's in Ed. Konig » Filnf neue arab. LaruUehaftmamen, 1902, pp. 63-67.
978
ZERI
ZEEUBBABEL
the vicinity of Mkaur (Macbrerus) the hot springs eaSara and the volcanic mountain Hammat es- Sara may contain reminiscences of the ancient iame (Biihl, GAP26S).
ZERI.— See IZRI.
ZEROR (nn>).— An ancestor of Saul, 1 S 9' (BA 'Ap(!, Luc. Zapa).
ZERUAH (n^n^).— The mother of Jeroboam, 1 K lI'-« (B and I-uc. om., A Zapova) l2-"> (BA Zapeiffd, B" 'Apdpd). In the latter passage, which is an addition of the LXX, it is further stated that she was a harlot (7r6pi'i)),
ZERUBBABEL (^?rj; LXX and NT ZopoySdjSeX, Zorobabel). —
The etymology and the meaning of the name are doubtfuL It is often taken aB= Heb. '755 Sfn] ' begotten of (i.«. in) Babylon '; but proper names with a passive participle as one efement are scarcely, if at all, fuund In Hebrew, though frequent enough in Assyrian (Gray, ii/'jV 2111, n. 1; Driver, Text 0/ Sam, 14; i<estie', Mar(jinaiie)i, 7f.). The same objection applies to the explanation ^33 >n] 'dispersed of Babylon;'while philology and the Btness of' things are both opposed to van Uoonacker's (.ZoroOabel, 44 f.) explanation ^33 3ni 'crush Babylon." Upon the whole, we should perhaps accept the view of Ed. Meyer {Entatehnnff des Judpnthuws, p. v) who makes it a Rah..Assyr. name and punctuates 2ir«-/)ii'jrf=' seed or off siiring of Babyloii.' The name is said to occur in Bab. documents as Zer Babili fStrassmaier, In.^chr. von Nabonid. 113, L 13, Insckr. von Darius, 138, L 2, 297, L 2)l
Zerubbabel played an important part in connexion with the return of the Jews from exile. Of Uavidic descent, he is generally called the son of Shealtiel or Salathiel (Ezr 3-- », Hag I', Mt I'^etc), who was one of the sons of Jehoiachin, the captive king of Judah (1 Ch 3"). In one passage, 1 Ch 3", the iMT (perhaps by a textual error ; the LXX has SaXaffujX) makes him the son of Pedaiah, who was Shealtiel's brother. He probably came to Jerusalem along with the first band of exiles, under the leadership of Sheshba??ar, who is not to be identihed with him, and who may have been his uncle, the Shen- az?ar of 1 Ch 3'*. See article Sheshbazzar, p. 493.
In direct opposition to Ezr 3' and 48 (the latter of which has, without any warrant, been set down as an interpolation)" it is contended by de daulcy and others that Zerub. came to Jerusalem not under Cyrus, but in the second year of Darius Hvstaspis; and appeal is made, in support of this opinion, to 1 Es 3-68 and Jos. Ant. w. iiL These last two authorities are indeed but one, for the Jewish historian simply follows, with modifications of his own, the narrative of 1 Esiiras. .\s to 1 Esdras itself, it is possible that it has sometiuies presen-ed a true reading where this has been lost by the MT (see Esdras, vol. i. p. 759''), and hence where the narrative is parallel with the Heb. Ezra we may occasionally get help from it, but it is more than questionable whether we ouglit to attach weight to its testimony as to facts where it contradicts the canonical book. As a specimen of the hopeless confusion that reigns in I ICsdras, we may adduce the position occupied by 215 25 ( - Ezr 4*-^='). which is more out uf place than even ui the Heb. edition, while the independent narrative in 3-5" introduces Darius ilystaapis as if he f^or the first time gave the exiles permission lu return, although this has already in 2"i been tra(^cd to Cyrus. This section (3-5'"') is not translated from the Hebrew, but is either a free composition of the author or borrowed by him from a Greek source. Its hero Zerub. is introduced as one of the bodyguard of Darius Hystaspis, vsho as a recompense for the skin with which he had cotuiucted an argument (about the relative power of Wine, the King, Woman, and Truth) received permission from the king to return to Jerusalem and to build the temple. The details of this st^»ry are no doubt apocryphal, but it is possible that a substratum of truth underlies it, — Zerub. may have headed an embassy to Darius to invoke his aid au'sinst the Samaritans and other opponents of the Jews (cf. Jos. .Inf. XI. iv. 'J).