Za'ra {'Lapa), the Greek form (Matt, i, 3) of the Ileb. name Zekah (q. v.), the son of Judah.
Zara. See Talmtd.
Zar'aces (ZapaKin; v. r. 7.apalo<:; Vulg. Zaraceles), a corrupt Greek form (1 Esdr. i, 38) of the Heb. name of the brother of Joacim (Jehoiakin), king of Judah, probably Zkuekiah (q. v.).
Za'rah (Gen. xxxviii, 30; xlvi, 12). See ZiiUAn.
Zarai'as {Zapaiav), the Greek form of Zkkahiah {a, 1 Esdr. viii, 2; comp. Ezra vii, \: b,\ Esdr. viii, 31; comp. Ezra viii, 4) or (corruptly) Zebadiaii (1 Esdr. viii, 34 ; comp. Ezra viii, 8).
Za'reah (Neh. xi, 29). See Zoraii.
Za'reathite (1 Chron. ii, 53). See Zorathite.
Za'red (Numb, xxi, 12). See Zerkd.
Zar'ephath (Heb. Tsarephath', ra"i:J, smelting place ; Sept. and New Test. SopeTrra [in Obad. ru Sa- piTTTc'i; V. r. in 1 Kings, St^Sa]; Josephus, 'S.apt(pSia.; " Sarepta," Luke iv, 20), a town which derives its claim to notice from having been the residence of the prophet Eli- jah during the latter part of the drought, and where he performed the miracle of multiplying the barrel of meal and cruse of oil, and where he raised the widow's son to life (1 Kings xvii, 9, 10). Beyond stating that it was near to, or dependent on, Zidon Oi'T'^jb), the Bible gives no clew to its position. It is mentioned by Oba- diah (ver. 20), but merely as a Canaanitish (that is, Phce- nician) city. Josephus (.1 7if. viii, 13, 2), however, states that it was " not far from .Sidon and Tyre, for it lies be- tween them." To this Jerome adds ( Onoinast. s. v. " Sarefta") that it " lay on the public road," that is, the coast-road. Both these conditions are implied in the mention of it in the itinerary of Paula by Jerome (Kpit. Paitlce, § 8), and both are fulfilled in the situation of the modern village of SurafemI, a name which, except in its termination, is almost identical with the ancient PhcE- nician (comp. Pliny, v, 17 ; Jerome, Ep. 108, ad Eustoch.). There were many vineyards there (Sidon. Apoll. Carm. xvii, 16; Fulgent, Mythol. ii, 15). The Crusaders ^ made Sarepta a Latin bishopric in the archiepisco- pate of Sidon, and erected near the port a small chap- el over the reputed site of Elijah's miracle (William ch of Tyre, xix, 14; Jacob of Vitry, ch. xliv). In the
Middle Ages it was a strongly fortified place (Wil- ken, Kreuzziige, ii, 208). The locality has been visited and described in recent times by Robinson {Bibl. Res. ii, 475), Thomson {Land and Bnok,G\\. xii), and others. It appears to have changed its place, at least since the llth century, for it is now more than a mile from the coast, high up on the slope of a hill (Robinson, p. 474), whereas at the time of the Crusades it was on the shore. Of the old town considerable indications remain. One group of foundations is on a headland called Ain el- Kentaruh; but the chief remains are south of this, and extend for a mile or more, with many fragments of col- umns, slabs, and other architectural features. The Ro- man road is said to be unusually perfect there (Bea- mont. Diary, etc., ii, 186). The site of the chapel erect- ed by the Crusaders on the spot then reputed to be the site of the widow's house is probably still preserved (see the citations of Robinson). It is near the water's edge, and is now marked bya wely and small khan dedicated to el-Khndr, the well-known personage who unites, in the popular Moslem faith. Elijah and St. (Jeorgc. A grotto at the foot of the hill on which the modern vil- lage stands is now shown as the residence of Elijah (Van de Velde, Syr. arid L'alest. \, 102). See Maun-
ZARETAN
1062
ZEBADIAH
itulus at Siirafeud.
droll, Travek, p. 63 ; Korte, Reis. p. 307 ; Nan, Voijat/e Nouv. p. 544; Pococke, East, ii, 85; Kaiimcr, Ptilds/inti, p. 140; Kichter, Wallf. p. 72; Kussepjger, iii, 145; Cobi- us, I)e ISunpta (Viteb. 1728). See PiitENiciA.
Zar'etan ( Heb. Tsarethan', "f^"!^, perhaps splen- dor; in Josh. Sept. wholly omits; Viilg. Sarthan; in 1 Kings vii, 40 Sept. ^lapdfi v. r. ^eipa ; Viilg. Scw- than; A. V. "Zarthan;" with .1 directive, Zarethund- nah, n3r"lT, in iv, 12; Sept. 'S.ap^ai' v. r. "Ztpap^c'iv and 'EffAioi'Sai'; Vnlg. Sarthana; A. V. " Zartanali"), a town or locality mentioned by this name three times, and apparently several times also nnder similar names. It is first named in the account of the passage of the Jordan by the Israelites (Josh, iii, 16) as defining the position of the city Adam, which was beside (T2i'3) it. It is next mentioned in the list of Solomon's commissa- riat districts as "close to" (^^X) Bethshean, that is, in the upper part of the Jordan valley and "beneath" ( ? '"'J^"^) Jczreel (1 Kings iv, 12). It is again men- tioned in connection with Succoth as a clayey place where Solomon cast metal in the circle ("133, kikkdr, "plain," i.e.fjlwr) of the Jordan (vii, 4G). In the par- allel passage to this last (2 Chron. iv, 17) ZEKiiDATiiAH (q. v.) is substituted for Zarthan, and this again is not impossibly identical with the Zeup:i{AH (q. v.) of the story of (iideon (Judg. vii, 22). All these spots agree in proximity to the Jordan, and the associated places somewhat aid us in discovering the general locality. Bethshean is the present Beisan, Succoth is probably the present Salkut, and Adam is, doiibtless, represented by the modern Adamich ford. Van de Velde (^Memoir, p. 354) inclines to identify Zaretan with Surtabuh, a lofty and isolated hill which projects from the main highlands into the Jordan valley, about seventeen miles north of Jericho (comp. De Saidcy, I)e<id Sea, ii, 31 ) ; but the names are not closely alike, and this peak has another ancient appellation. See Sartaba. Schwarz probably refers to the same spot when he declares that the name should be read Sartaph, and that the town in question was so called "because it lay near Mount Sar- taf, five English miles west of the Jordan" {Palent. p. 162). Mr. Drake (in tlie Qiiar. Report of the "Pales- tine Ex|)lor. Fund," Jan. 1875, p. 31) thiidvs that the reading Suirum {'S.iapafi) of the Alexandrian AIS. at 1 Kings vii, 46 points to a " Tell Sarem, a very conspicu- ous and unusually large mound three miles south of Beisan ;" but this reading is very precarious. Accord- ing to Tristram (L'ihle IHdcex, p. 22H), " the name lingers in Aiii Zahrali and Tiillul Zahruh, three miles west of Beisan, indicating that Zaretan was the designation of a district rather tlian a place."