Zim'ran (Heb. Zimran', 'p'?", celebrated; Sept. SojUjSpfi)' v. r. 2,iplipaj.i, Tefipdi', etc. ; Vulg. Zuma and Zamram), first named of the nine sons of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. xxv, 2; 1 Chron. i, 32). B.C. cir. 2020. His descendants are not mentioned, nor is any hint given that he was the founder of a tribe; the contrary would rather ajipear to be the case. Some woidd iden- tify Zimran with the Zimri of Jer. xxv, 25, but these lay too far to the north. The Greek form of the name, as found in the Sept., has suggested a comparison with Zaftpdj.!, the chief city of the CinwdocolpitJe, who dwelt on the lied Sea, west of Mecca. But this is extremely doubtful, for this tribe, probably the same with the an- cient Kenda, was a branch of the Joktanite Arabs, who in the most ancient times occupied Yemen, and may only have come into possession of Zabram at a later pe- riod (Knobel, Gen.). Hitzig and Lengerke propose to connect the name Zimran with Zimiris, a district of Ethiopia mentioned by Pliny (xxxvi, 25); but Grotius, with more plausibility, finds a trace of it in the Zainei-e- ni, a tribe of the interior of Arabia (Pliny, vi, 32). The identification of Zimran with the modern Bvni Omran and the Bani Zomaneis of Diodorus, proposed by Mr. Forster ( Geor/r. of Arabia, i, 431 ), cannot be .seriously maintained. — Smith. Winer ( Handio. s. v. ) suggests the Zimara of Asia Minor (Ptolemy, v, 7, 2 ; Plinj', x, 20) or Zimyra (Zi/xvpa) of Asia (Ptolemy, vi, 17,8). See Arabia.
Zim'ri (Heb. Zimri', "'"l^T, niy sony or celebrated; Sept, Zaj-ifipi: Josephus, Zapapijc, Ant. viii, 12, 5; Vulg. Zambri), the name of several Hebrews, and ap- parently one foreign tribe.
1. First named of the five sons of Zerah the sou of Judah (1 Cliron. ii, 6). "B.C. post 1874.
2. The son of Salu, a Simeonitish chieftain, slain by Phinehas with the Midianitish princess Cozbi (Numb. xxv, 14). B.C. 1618. When the Israelites at Siiittim were smitten with plagues for their impure worship of Baal Peor, and were weeping before the tabernacle, Zimri. with a shameless disregard of his own high posi- tion and the sufferings of his tribe, brought into their presence the Midianitess, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation. The fierce anger of Phinehas was aroused, and in the swift vengeance with which he pursued the ofTeiiders, he gave the first indication of that uncompromising spirit which charac-
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tcrized him in later life. The whole circumstance is niiicli softened in the narrative of Josephns (.1;//. iv, G, 10-r2), and in the hands of the apologist is divested of all its vigor and point. In the Targuni of Jonathan ben-l'zziel several traditional details are added. Ziinri retorts upon Moses tliat ho liiniscif liad taken to wife a Midianitess, and twelve niiraeulous signs attend the vengeance of Phinehas. See I'iiiniciias.
In describing the scene of this tragedy an unusual woril is em|)loyed. the force of which is lost in the ren- dering " tent'' of the A. V. of Xunib. xxv, 8. It was not the (ihel. or ordinary tent of the encampment, but the iisp, kubbah (whence Span, alcoba and our tilcovt), or dome-shaped tent, to which Pliinelias pursued his vic- tims. Wliether this was the tent whicii Ziniri occu- pied as chief of liis tribe, and which was in cynseipieiice more elaborate and liighly ornamented than tlio rest, or whether it was, as (Jeseniiis suggests, one of tlie tents which the Midianites used for the worship of Peor, is not to be determined, though the latter is favored by the rendering of the Vulg. liipaiiar. The word does not occur elsewhere in Hebrew. In the Syriac it is rendered a " cell," or inner apartment of the tent. — Smith. See Harem.
3. The son of Azmaveth (rather Jehoadah or Jarah) and father of Moza in the lineage of king Saul (1 Chroii. viii, 3li ; ix, 42). H.C. cir. 945.
4. The lifth sovereign of the separate kingdom of Israel, of which he occupied the throne fur tlie brief pe- riod of seven days in the year B.C. 92G. Originally in command of half the chariots in the royal army, he gained the crown by the murder of king Elah son of liaasha, who, after reigning for something more than a year (comp. 1 Kings xvi, 8, 10), was iniliilging in a drunken revel in the house of his steward Arza at Tir- zah, then the capital. In the midst, of this festivity Zimri killed him, and inunediately afterwards all the rest of Haasha's family. But the army which at that time was besieging the Philistine town of (Jibbelbon, when they heard of Elah's murder, proclaimed their general Omri king. He immediately marched against Tirzah and took the city. Zimri retreated into the in- nermost jtart of the late king's palace, set it on (ire, and perished in the ruins (ver. 9-20). Ewald's inference from .lezebel's speech to Jehu (2 Kings ix, 31j that on Elah's death the queen-mother welcomed his murderer with smiles and blandishments seems rather arbitrary and far-fetched. The word is "|TU"iN, which Ewald (after J. D. Michaelis) in both the above passages insists on translating '• harem," with which word he thinks that it is etymologically comiected, and hence seeks conlirma- tion of his view that Zimri was a voluptuous slave of women. But its root seems to be fi'^N, " to be high" ((iescnius); and in other passages, especially Prov. xviii, 19, the meaning is "a lofty fortress," rather than '•a harein." Ewald, in his sketch of Zimri, is perhaps somewhat led astray by the desire of linding a historical parallel with Sardanapalus. — Smith. See Ishaf.i,.