The site of Zifclag has not been identified with certainty. The most probable of the sites |)ro-
{)Osed appears to be the ruin Zu/ieili/ca, discovered )y Cornier and Kitchener in 1877, lying E.S.E. from Gaza. This ruin occujiies three low hills, and is at a distance of about 4 miles N. of Wudi/ es- Shtrta (prob. the licsor of IS 30»- '»• »'). This identification is favoured by Miiblau (in Riehm's UWW 1868"), Buhl (GAP 185), Dillm. {Jos. 527, where other less probable suggestions are men- tioned), et al. J. A. Seldie.
ZILLAH (.iVj, 2fXXd).— One of Lamkch'S tw« wives, Gu 4'»- *■• ». See ADAH, No. 1.
982
ZILLETIIAI
ZIOX
ZILLETHAI (-nW).— 1. The name of a Benjamite famUy, 1 Ch S-"" (B ^aXSd, A IDaXcf, Luc. r:e\a«i). 2. A Manassite who joined David at Ziklaf;,
1 Ch 12-'" (BX ^epi.a0ei, A ra\a((i, L,ic. SiXafld).
ZILPAH {^pY). — A slave-girl given to Leah by Laban, Gn 29-' (P), and by her to Jacob as a concubine, 30' (J) ; tlie mother of Gad and Asher, vv.w" (J), 35=« 37- •t6'8 (all P). The LXX (A) has Ze\4>d throughout.
ZIMMAH (.T^!).— The name of a family of Ger- shouite Levites, 1 Ch 6-" i'' (B and Luc. 'Aefifid, A Zo^/i<i) V.'"!*') (B Zafiim/i, A Zafifid, Luc. Ze/i/zd),
2 Ch 29'^ (BA Zi/iffiie, Luc. Zf^Mi).
ZIURAN (nai). — A son of Abraham and Ketu- rah, Gn 25' (A*E Ze^pdv, A* Zcu;3pdv, D^ Zo/i^piv) = 1 Ch F^ (B Zen^pdv, A Ze^pdu). The ethnologi- cal signification of the word is doubtful. Pos- sibly Knobel is right in connecting it Avith the Za^pdfj. of Ptolemy (VI. vii. 5), W. of Mecca, on the Red Sea, We may perhaps compare also the ZiMRI of Jer 25^ The name is derived from TC!, ' mountain-sheep or -goat,' this animal having doubtless been the totem of the clan.
ZIMRI (-III 'mountain-sheep' [see Gray, HPN p. 97, note 2] ; BX Zo/i/Spef, AF Zap.^pl ; in 1 Ch 8« A Za/ipl ; Vulg. Zambn, but in Chron. Zamri). — 1. A prince of the tribe of Simeon, son of Salu (Nu 25«-" [P], 1 Mac 2=«). While the congregation of Israel in general were expressing repentance for having joined in the impure worship of Baal-peor, Zimri sliamelessly and ostentatiously continued in it. This outrage fired the zeal of Phinehas, who followed him and his partner into the alcove (njp) and slew them both. 2. Son of Zerah, and grand- father or ancestor of Achan (1 Ch 2*, which also represents him as brother of the four sages who are mentioned in 1 K 4*'). He is called Zabdi in Jos 7'. 3. A Benjamite, lineal descendant of Saul (1 Ch S*! 9^'). 4. King of Israel (1 K IG'"*'). He had been captain of half the chariots under Elah, and made use of his position to conspire against his master, whom he assassinated while the latter was drunk. Even amongst the series of deeds of violence that ushered in the constant changes of dynasty in the Northern Kingdom this act of Zimri seemed peculiarly atrocious. ' Is it peace, thou Zimri, thy master's murderer ? ' was the bitter taunt Hun^ down by Jezebel at Jeliu as he entered the gate of Jezreel (2 K 9^). And in the formula which closes the narrative of tlie reign the his- torian specially notes ' the treason that he wrought' (vr"). Zimri's coup (THat apparently had no general support, the people following either Omri or Tibni, and his brief reign of seven days onlj- enabled him to accomplish tlie extirpation of the family of Baasha, which had been predicted by Jehu the son of Hanani (v.'). The distance between Gibbethon and Tirzah leads us to infer that Omri must have marched at once on the capital, and that he met with scarcely any resistance. Zimri perished in the ashes of the royal palace to which he had himself set lire. S. ' All the kings of Zimri ' are mentioned in the same verse, Jer 25" (Gr. 32") with those of Elam and the Medes as amongst those who were to drink the cup of the fury of the Lord. There is considerable doubt as to what place is meant, or even as to the genuine- ness of the phrase. It is omitted in LXX (BXA), but Aquila seems to have read it. Delitzsch thinks that a place called Namri in the inscrip- tions of Shalmaneser U., and situated in north- west Babylonia, is referred to ; but Schrader {COT ii. 107) discredits this opinion, without suggesting any rival theory. N. J. D. Whitk
ZIN (l^ ; Zilv, Zh ; Sin), Nu 13-' 20' 27" 33" 34»- \ Dt 32=', Jos 15'- ^ — A region passed through by the Israelites in their journeyings. The most exact indication of its position is given in Nu 34 and Jos 15. These passages (in w liich the boundary of Judah is traced in almost identical terms) refer to 'the wilderness of Zin' in v.' of both, and further describe the boundary thus : ' . . . and pass on to Zin ' (Nu v.* ...'[.. . and passed along to Zin (Jos v.^) ...]... to Kadesh-barnea'). The Hebrew is identical in botli passages njy ij;;), but the nun is without tlagesh in Numbers.
These are the only places where the word Zin occurs by itself, and it seems to denote a place or limited area from which the region round about was named ' the wilderness * of Zin,' the expression which occurs in all the remaining passages cited above.