What and where was the Biblical “Zion”? This topic identifies Zion, according to the scriptures.
Writers of the Bible books sometimes used a symbolic, archaic, poetic, or secondary name for a place, instead of its common (current) name. Jerusalem was such a place, historically known by other names.
The Hebrew term “Jerusalem” (Strongs h3389) first occurs in the days of Joshua, Moses’ successor. Jsh.10:1-3 “Adonizédek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Aí [a city].”
When ancient Israel exited Egypt, the land of Canáan was inhabited by seven peoples, one being the Jebusites (h2983). ref Jsh.15:63, De.7:1, 2Sm.24:16. The Jebusites descended from Canaan, son of Ham (Ge.10:16). They dwelt in the hill country around Jerusalem (Nu.13:29). Jsh.15:8 “The south slope of the Jebusites, that is, Jerusalem.” Jerusalem was the Jebusite capital city.
And Jerusalem was anciently known as Jebús. Jg.19:10-11 “Jebus [h2982 means ‘trodden down’], which is Jerusalem.” Also 1Ch.11:4-5, “David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus….And David took the citadel of Zion, which is the city of David.” Zion was linked to Jerusalem/Jebus.
ISBE: Zion “It is evident that Zion was the name of the citadel of the Jebusite city of Jerusalem.”
The Hebrew term “Zión” (h6726 tsee-yóne, noun) occurs 153 times in the Old Testament (OT). 80 of those occurrences are in Psalms and Isaiah.
The etymology of the word Zion is uncertain. It is thought to have meant: a structure, stronghold, monument, mount, a parched place, or a brook. It is unknown where the term Zion originated.
However, we’ll see that the place “Zion” expands in scope as the scriptures progress chronologically. In this topic we’ll trace, step-by-step, the expansion of “Zion” through the Bible.
Some significant OT verses where Zion occurs: 2Sm.5:5-9; 1Ki.8:1; 1Ch.11:5; 2Ch.5:2; Ps.2:6, 9:11, 48:2, 11-12, 51:18, 74:2, 76:2, 78:68, 102:16, 21, 110:1-4, 128:5, 132:13, 135:21, 137:1, 149:2; Is.2:3, 10:32, 28:16, 33:20, 40:9, 51:16, 59:20, 64:10; Je.26:18, 50:28; La.2:13; Jl.3:16; Am.6:1; Mi.3:12, 4:2; Zc.2:7, 10, 8:3, 9:9, 13. I’ll reference selected verses as we proceed; we won’t examine them all.
Jerusalem was built upon seven hills or mountains (Re.17:9, 11:8). Three hills are east of the Kidrón Valley; four are west: Olivet, Scópus, Corruption/Offense; Antonia Fortress, Óphel, Moriáh, Zion.
(Note: The names of hills changed over time. Other/archaic names for area hills were: Ákra, Bezétha, Calvary, Garéb and Goáth (Je.31:39), Nob, Milló. Correspondingly, sites on maps of ancient Jerusalem differ. cf. map-of-ancient-jerusalem.html and biblestudy.org Jerusalem and Its Seven Hills, e.g.)
The Jebusite fortress was called Zion; the hill upon which the fortress sat also came to be called…Zion.
The term “Zion” first occurs in 2Sm.5:7-9. “David captured the stronghold of Zion, and it became known as the city of David. So David lived in the stronghold, and built all around from the supporting terraces [Millo] and inward.” The Jebusite castle area on Mount Zion also became part of his “city of David”. It was King David’s capital. “Zion”, the Jebusite citadel, also became the hill on which it sat.
Specifically where in Jerusalem was this citadel on Mt Zion, and the “city of David”, located?
Wikipedia: Zion “Zion is the Hebrew name for a hill south of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, upon which was built the city of David. Mount Zion is not to be confused with Mount Moriah, better known as the Temple Mount, upon which the Temple of Solomon [2Ch.3:1] and the Second Temple [of Zerubbabél] were built. The particular hill known as Mount Zion is no longer inside the city wall [of Jerusalem], but its location is now just outside the portion of the Old City wall forming the southern boundary of the Jewish Quarter of the current Old City. Most of the original city of David itself is thus also outside the current city wall.” (Mt Zion is called “Old Mt Zion” on some modern maps.) King David built his palace on (old) Mt Zion in the “city of David”.
Biblical Archeology Review: The Interrupted Search for King David’s Palace “The city of David, a 12-acre spur that extends south of the Temple Mount [Mt Moriah].” Labeling as the original “Zion” any area hill farther to the west is thought by Bible historians to be incorrect.
{Sidelight: Wikipedia: Jebusite “Jerusalem has no water supply except for the Gihon [G-eé-han] Spring.” bible.ca/archeology/Gihon-Spring “It was because of the strategic location of this single spring that the original Canaanite cities of ‘Migdol Edar’ and ‘Jebus’ were built over and around that water source before the time of King David. The Gihon Spring is located even today at the base of what was called the ‘Óphel’ (a swelling of the earth in the form of a small mountain dome) once situated just to the north and abutting to ‘Mount Zion’ (the City of David). Ophel Mound was close to the City of David. David soon began to fill in the area between the two summits with dirt and stones (calling it the Millo or ‘fill in’) to make a single high level area on which to build his city…2Sm.5:9. David’s son Solomon completed the ‘fill in’ between the two summits and called that earthen and rock bridge the Millo [h4407, ‘mound’], 1Ki.11:27. Solomon then built the Temple [2Ch.3:1]…above the Gihon Spring. This Ophel region became known as a northern extension of ‘Zion’. This made the Temple so close to the City of David (where the citadel or akra was located) that Aristéas said a person could look northward from the top of the City of David and easily witness all priestly activities within the Temple precincts. ([Letter of] Aristeas, lines 100-104, as translated by Eusebius.)”
Wikipedia: Ophel “The location of the Ophel [h6077] of the Hebrew Bible is easy to make out from the references of 2Ch.27:3; 33:14 and Ne.3:26-27: it was on the eastern ridge and south of the Temple, and probably near the middle of the southeastern hill (i.e., the eastern ridge segment)….This must have been an area of great strategic importance, and either very close to or identical with the ‘stronghold of Zion’ conquered and reused by King David (2Sm.5:7).” Mt Ophel lay between Mt Zion and Mt Moriah.}
1Ch.15:1 “David constructed buildings in the city of David; he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.” The ark of God (but not God’s tabernacle) was brought into the city of David, 1Ch.16:1, on (old) Mt Zion. The Lord dwelt above the cherubim atop the ark, making Mt Zion a holy hill! Ps.2:6-7 “I have anointed My king upon Zion, My holy mountain. You are My Son, Today I have begotten you.” Mt Zion was holy to the Lord…His ark was there during David’s reign. (Psalm 2 is dual. It also prophetically refers to God’s begotten Son Jesus, Ps.2:7; whereas Jesse begat David, Ru.4:22.) also see the topic “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys”.
Later, Solomon built God’s Temple on Mt Moriah to the north. 2Ch.3:1 “Solomon began to build the house [temple] of the Lord on Mount Moriah…on the threshing floor of Ornán [or Araunáh] the Jebusite.” Previously the Lord had David erect an altar on this site, 2Sm.24:18. Nearly 1,000 years earlier, the Lord told Abraham to erect an altar on Mt Moriah for a burnt offering, Ge.22:2, 13-14. (Today the Muslim Dome of the Rock, built in 691 AD, sits on Mt Moriah. ref Jewish Virtual Library.)
1Ki.8:1 “Solomon assembled Israel’s elders to bring up the Lord’s ark of the covenant from the city of David, which is Zion.” (Also Solomon brought up God’s tabernacle from Gibeón, 2Ch.1:3 & 1Ki.8:4. The ark of God and the tabernacle of God had been separated for around 110 years!)
ISBE: Zion “Zion…this citadel…on the long hill running south of the Temple (the SE hill). The Ark of the Covenant was brought up out of the city of David to the Temple (1Ki.8:1; 2Ch.5:2), and Pharaoh’s daughter ‘came up out of the city of David to her house which Solomon had built for her’, adjacent to the Temple (1Ki.9:24). This expression ‘up’ could not be used of any other hill than of the lower-lying eastern ridge.” Mt Zion (elevation 2,510 ft.) to the south was slightly lower than Mt Moriah.
Over the centuries, the concept of Zion expands in scope, or migrates, so to speak. “Zion” will include the temple area too. Je.31:6 “Let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.” However, the Lord’s temple was built on Mt Moriah (2Ch.3:1), not on Mt Zion! Je.50:28 “There is a sound of exiles and refugees from the land of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of our God, vengeance for His temple.” also Joel 2:1. Zion now relates to Solomon’s temple, even though it sat on Mt Moriah. (Also in the apocrypha 1Mac.5:54, “They went up to mount Sion…where they offered burnt offerings”.)
The scope of Zion continued to expand. According to Strongs Lexicon, Zion was…“Another name for Jerusalem, especially in the prophetic books.” Jerusalem itself, all seven hills/mountains, later came to be called Zion. Ps.133:3 “As the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion.” Here “mountains” is plural (in most translations), referring to Jerusalem’s seven mounts. Benson Commentary Ps.133:3 “Jerusalem, which is also called Zion.” David had also written in Ps.51:18, “Do good to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem”. Is.33:20 LXX “Behold the city of Zion, our salvation; your eyes shall behold Jerusalem, a rich city.” Now they’re one and the same city. Zion has symbolically become Jerusalem.
Expanding still further, the concept of Zion in prophetic books becomes synonymous with the entire Land of Israel and Judah. Is.51:3 “Certainly the Lord will console Zion; he will console all her ruins. He will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the Garden of the Lord.” Pulpit Commentary Is.51:3 “Much of Judea, during the absence of the exiles, became a ‘wilderness’ and a ‘desert.” Encyclopedia of the Bible: Zion “In exile, the whole Israelite nation came to be called, ‘Zion.”
Or, “daughter of Zion”. Mic.4:10-11 “O daughter of Zion…Go to Babylon. Many nations are gathered against you; they say, ‘Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.” Zion came to symbolize those Jews who had been taken captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnézzar. Zec.2:7 “Ho Zion! Escape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon.” Here, Zion denoted the Jewish people too.
Is.51:16 “Say to Zion, ‘You are My people.” The Lord prophesied deliverance and victory for Israel and Judah…for Zion. Zec.9:13 “I have bent Judah as My bow, and have made Ephraim [Israel] its arrow. I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior’s sword.” Zion had come to represent the land & people of both Israel and Judah (resisting Greek oppression). Benson Commentary Zec.9:13 “Judah and Ephraim are equivalent to Judah and Israel.” JFB Commentary “God on the one hand addresses Zion, on the other Greece.” Zion is no longer just a fort within the topography of ancient Jebus/Jerusalem.
We’ve seen that the concept of “Zion” has expanded in scope, migrating in steps, through the OT scriptures. Zion went from being: Jebusite citadel, to “city of David”, to Jerusalem’s southern hill or mount, to the Temple Mount [Moriah], to Jerusalem in its entirety, to the land of Judah and Israel, to the whole Israelite people. In the OT, “Zion” went from being a Canaanite fortress…to an entire people!
Yet the concept of “Zion” will expand or migrate still further in the New Testament. This topic is continued and concluded in “Zion in the Bible (2) – Heavenly Jerusalem”.
Bible Topic Exposition 