Ze'lek (Heb. Tse'lek, pb^, Jissure ; Sept. ^tWijK and "EjiXeyi v. r. 'E\i and 2f/\»'j), an Ammonite, one of David's thirty heroes (2 Sam. xxiii, 37; 1 Chron. xi. 39). B.C. 1046. See David.
Zeloph'ehad (Heb. Tsehphchid', ins^:;:, of uncertain etymology; Sept. SaXTTrtfio v. r. Si/X^tiof, etc.), son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of ilanasseh (Josh, xvii, 3). B.C. ante 1018. He was apparently the second son of his father, Hejiher (1 Chron. vii, 15 ); though Simon and others, following the in- terpretation of the rabbins, and under the impression that the etymology of his name indicates a first-born, explain the term ^3T^"il as meaning that his lot came up second. Zelophehad came out of Egypt witii Mo- ses; and all that we know of him is that he took no part in Korah's rebellion, but that he died in the wil- derness, as did the whole of that generation (Numb.
xiv, 35; xxvii, 3). On his death without male heirs, his \\\ii daughters, just after tlie second numbering in the wilderness, came before Moses and Eleazar to claim the inlieritance of their father in the tribe of Manasseh. Tlie claim was admitted by divine direction, and a law was promulgated, to be of general apjilication, that if a man died without sons his inheritance should pass to his daughters (xxvi, 33; xxvii, 1-11); and this led to a further enactment (ch. xxxvi), that such heiresses should not marry out of their own tribe — a regulation which the five daughters of Zelophehad complied with, being all married to sons of Manasseh, so that Zelophe- had's inlieritance continued in tlie tribe of Manasseh. The law of succession as exemplified in the case of Ze- ' lophehad is treated at length by Selden {De Success. ch. xxii, xxiii). — Smith. See Inhekitance.
Zelo'tes {7.ijXwT))i:'), an epithet of the apostle Si- mon (Luke vi, 15; Acts i, 13) to distinguish him from Simon Peter. In the parallel lists of Matt, x, 4; Mark iii, 18, he is called Simon the Cananite {KaiHifiTtje, A.' Y. erroneouslj' " Canaanite"), this being a translitera- tion of the Heb. or Aramaean "iNiJ^, zeal, of which the Greek title is a translation. The word denotes a zealot in general (1 Cor. xiv, 12; Tit. ii, 14; 1 Pet. iii, 13), especially in behalf of Jewish law and institutions (Acts xxi, 20; xxii, 3; Gal. i, 14). Probably there were al- ready extant in the time of Christ, when this epithet was given to Simon, the germs of the sect or party af- terwards thus designated, the members of which profess- ed great attachment to Judaism, and, under pretext of punishing by informal trial and execution those guilty of infringing the observances of the national religion, perpetrated great excesses (Josephus, H'ar, iv, 3, i); v, 1, 4 ; vi, 3 ; vii, 8, 1). See Simon.
Zel'zah (Heb. Tseltsach', H^S^, shadow from the sun, or, by reduplication from nb^, to send; Sept. aX- Xo^iti'OQ fityaXa, Vulg. meridies), a place in the border of Benjamin, mentioned by Samuel when sending Saul home from Ramah : " Thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulchre, in the border of Benjamin, at Zel- zalC (1 Sam. x, 2). Rachel's sepulchre stands on the side of the road leading from Betlilehem to Jerusalem, about a mile distant from the former. Westward of tlie sepulchre, in full view across the valley, and not much over half a mile distant, is the village of Beit Jala, which may be identical with Zelzah. The names bear considerable resemblance to each other and the position agrees with the sacred narrative (Wilson, Lands of the Bible, i,401). The Sept. rendering of Zel- zah is remarkable. It makes it an expression of joy on the part of the men who announced the finding of the asses — " Thou shalt meet two men leapint/ violently" But dean Stanley's remark on this is surely a rash criticism, that the Hebrew text " cannot be relied upon" {Sin. and Pal. p. 222). The Greek rendering in this case apparently rests upon a reading 3^3^, which indicates a possible etymology of the \yord=double shade. The Talmud has numerous explanations, the favorite one being that Zelzah was Jerusalem — " the shadow ( ?2) of God." Sometliing of this kind seems to be at the basis of the rendering of the Vulg. The essen- tial part of the name is thus rendered more closely con- gruent with that of the above Arabic village, aud at the same time with that of Zelaii (q. v.), which must have lain in the same vicinity. Rabbi Schwarz suggests an- other location less apposite {Palest, p. 158), See Saul.
Zemara'im (Heb. Tsemnra' yim, C^':^, double fleece of rvool, or perh. the dual of same base as Zema- rite [q. v.]), the name of two localities in Palestine.
1. (Sept. 2f/ip()t v. r. 2«p« ; Vulg. Semaraim.) One of the ancient towns in the territory* allotted to Benja- min (Josh, xviii, 22), where it is gwuped in the eastern section of the trilje, and named between Beth-arabah and Bethel ; and it would therefore appear to have beeu
ZEMAIIITE
lOSl
ZErilANIAII
situated either in the Jordan valley (Arabah) or on the mountain declivities between it and Bethel. About live miles north ol' Jericlio, in the western edjje of the val- ley of the Jordan, are the ruins of a small town or vil- lage, strewn over a low liill, and called Kliurht vs-tium- rah. which may be regarded as the nKulern representa- tive of the old town of Lienjainin (Seetzen. Jidseii, vol. iv, map; Robinson, Bibl. lies, i, 569; iii, 292, note; Van de Velde, Memoir, p. 355 ; De Saulcy, Dead ^ea, ii, 20, 2G ; Schwarz, Palesf. p. 125). Though little remains above the ground, there are many extensive quarries of sand- stone beneath, which are proofs of large buildings once existing in the vicinity ('rristram, Bible Pldces, p. 103). 2. (Sept. So/tdpwi/; Vulg. ^^emeroti.) A mountain ("!rt) or eminence mentioned in 2 Cbron. xiii, 4 as be- ing "in Mount Ephraim," that is to say, within the general district of the highlands of that great tribe. It appears to have been close to the scene of the engage- ment mentioned in the narrative, which again may be inferred to have been south of Bethel and Ephraim (vcr. 19). It may be said, in passing, that a position so far south is no contradiction to its being in Jlount Ephraim, which extended into the contiguous territorv of Benja- min. See Ramah. It probably lay adjacent to the above-named town, from which it appears to have de- rived its«iiame (Reland, Pakest. p. 1058).