This topic is the continuation and conclusion to “Zion in the Bible (1)”. Part 1 should be read first as background. Little of the material and verses addressed in Part 1 is repeated here in Part 2.
The Hebrew term Zion (Strongs h6726 tsee-yóne, noun) occurs 153 times in the Old Testament (OT). In Part 1, we looked at many of those verses where Zión occurs.
We saw that “Zion” expanded in scope, or migrated, as the OT scriptures progress chronologically. Zion went from being: a Jebusite citadel, to “city of David”, to Jerusalem’s southern hill, to the Temple Mount [Moriáh], to Jerusalem in its entirety, to the land of Judah & Israel, to the whole Israelite people.
In the OT, “Zion” went from being a Canaanite fortress…to an entire people! (see Part 1 for details.)
Here in Part 2, we’ll continue to trace the expansion of “Zion” in the Bible.
The concept of Zion takes on added meaning in the New Testament (NT). The Greek Septúagint/LXX and NT term for Zion is Sion (see-ówn) g4622. It occurs 7 times in the NT: Mt.21:5; Jn.12:15; Ro.9:33, 11:26; He.12:22; 1Pe.2:6; Re.14:1. Following are those verses, along with Bible commentator remarks.
Mt.21:5 “Say to the daughter of Zion [g4622], ‘Behold, your King [Jesus] comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” This verse refers to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. (Jn.12:15 is a parallel account.) Pulpit Commentary Mt.21:5 “The ‘daughter of Zion’ is Jerusalem herself, named from the chief of the hills on which the city was built [7 hills]. Of course, the term includes all the inhabitants.” Here the expression “daughter of Zion” represents old Jerusalem and the Jewish people (see Part 1).
Ro.11:26 “Thus all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Sion [g4622], He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.” Bengels Gnomen Ro.11:26 “The Deliverer or Redeemer comes out of Sión and for good to Sion.” (ref Is.59:20 LXX). JFB Commentary Is.59:20 “Paul [in Ro.11:26] applies this verse to the restoration of Israel spiritually.” The scope of Zion expands to include the beginning NT church of Jewish Christians. Barnes Notes Ro.11:26 “Zion…thus came to denote, in general, the church or people of God.”
1Pe.2:6 “For this is contained in scripture [Is.28:16]: ‘Behold I lay in Sion a choice stone [Jesus], a precious Cornerstone, and he who believes in Him shall not be ashamed.” Poole Commentary 1Pe.2:6 “Or Sion is here to be understood of the gospel church, whereof Sion was a type.” Barnes Notes Ro.9:33 “Mt Sion was the hill or eminence in Jerusalem, over-against Mt Moriah, on which the temple was built. On this [Zion] was the palace of David, and the residence of the court, 1Ch.11:5-8. Hence, the whole city was often called by that name; Ps.48:12, 69:35, 87:2. Also it came to signify the capital, the glory of the people of God, the place of solemnities; and hence, also the church itself: Ps.2:6, 51:18, 102:13, 137:3; Is.1:27, 52:1, 59:20. In this place it means the church.” Zion also signified the church.
He.12:22 “You have come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels.” JFB Commentary He.12:22 “Antitypical Sion, the heavenly Jerusalem.” Cambridge Bible “The names of Sion and ‘the heavenly Jerusalem’ are given to ‘the city of the living God’ (Ga.4:26, Re.21:2).” Barnes Notes “The dispensation to which they had been brought was what conducted them directly up to the city of the living God, and to the holy mount where He dwelt above.” Meyer NT Commentary “Mount Zion the heavenly Jerusalem is designated.” Here Mt Zion represents more than the church…it also denotes the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of God!
Re.14:1 “Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb [Jesus] was standing on Mount Sion and with Him 144,000, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.” Ellicott Commentary Re.14:1 “The Savior, the Lamb…is seen standing on the citadel of the heavenly city.” Pulpit Commentary Re.14:1 “Zion is the new Jerusalem, the opposite extreme to Babylon (v.8).” Barnes Notes “Stood on the mount Zion; that is, in heaven.” Zion has taken on a heavenly presence.
Norman Holmes A Vision For Spiritual Zion “The true Zion in heaven is at the throne of God and is the center of worship.” (cf. Re.5:11-14.)
The heavenly Jerusalem set the pattern for OT ancient Israel’s earthly tabernacle/temple counterpart. After Israel had fled Egypt, God showed Moses a heavenly archetype. The Lord cautioned Moses to construct Israel’s ancient tabernacle and its furnishings according to the model he envisioned (Ex.25:9, 40). In Ac.7:44, Stephen recounted that God had spoken to Moses about the pattern for the tabernacle. Old Covenant priests served as a “copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern.” (He.8:5) And He.9:23-24 “It was necessary for the copies of things in the heavens to be cleansed…but the heavenly things with better sacrifices than these. For Christ didn’t enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself.” At God’s heavenly sanctuary.
Re.14:1 and He.12:22 (quoted above) reflect Sion/Zion as the heavenly city of God! After Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, He entered its holiest place (He.9:11-12, 24).
{Sidelight: The traditional Via Dolorosa route walked by Jesus to His crucifixion wasn’t on Mt Zion. He was crucified outside Jerusalem (Jn.19:20). Jesus cried out on the cross, Mt.27:46 “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Zion is the place of life with God, not of death.
R.C. Sproul The Crucifixion and Old Testament Prophecy “The site of Jesus’ execution was outside Jerusalem. Once He was judged by the Gentiles and condemned to be executed, He was led out of the fortress, onto the Via Dolorosa, and outside the walls of the city. Just as the scapegoat was driven outside the camp [Le.16:21-23, He.13:11-12], Jesus was taken outside Zion, outside the holy city where the presence of God was concentrated.” Christ wasn’t crucified in Zion.}
From the above NT verses, “Zion” has further expanded in scope, migrating by steps. Zion has gone from (in the OT): Jebusite citadel, to “city of David”, to Jerusalem’s southern hill/mount, to the Temple Mount [Moriah], to Jerusalem in its entirety, to the land of Judah & Israel, to the whole Israelite people…then to the NT church, and to God’s heavenly abode! Zion wasn’t just a Canaanite castle.
Yet going way back…even centuries prior to King David, it seems a type of “Zion” existed in Genesis! Jerusalem was anciently called Jebús. Jg.19:10-11 “Jebus [h2982], which is Jerusalem.” 1Ch.11:4-5 “David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus….David took the citadel of Zion, the city of David.” Zion was linked to the Jebusite [h2983] city of Jebus/Jerusalem in David’s day. And before….
ISBE: Zion “Enormous quantities of early ‘Amorite’ (popularly called ‘Jebusite’) pottery show that the spot [Zion] must have been inhabited many centuries before the time of David [1030 BC]. The reverse is equally true; on no other part of the Jerusalem site has any quantity of such early pottery been found.”
There’s a link between Melchisedek-Zion-David from the book of Genesis (not addressed in Part 1).
Abrám/Abraham met Mechisedek in Ge.14:18-20. “Melchisedek king of Salem [h8004] brought forth bread and wine; He was priest of God Most High.”
Where was this ancient Salem? Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon “Most Jewish commentators affirm that it [Salem] is the same as Jerusalem.” Wikipedia: Jebusite “The Amárna letters call Jerusalem Úrusalim (1330s BCE). Also in the letters it is called Beth-Shálem, the house of Shalem.” Cambridge Bible Ge.14:18 “In the Tel-el-Amarna tablets Jerusalem appears with the name Uru-salim. Salem is the poetical, or archaic, name for Jerusalem in Psalm 76:2.” Old Jerusalem was called Salem.
Ps.76:2 “In Salem is His [God’s] tabernacle, and His dwelling-place in Zion.” Melchisedek was both king and priest on Mt Zion of ancient Salem/Jerusalem. Wikipedia: Jebusite “Melchisedek was…in charge of Jerusalem.”
die2live/mt-zion-mt-moriah-mt-calvary “Zion is also the city of Salem, where the priest/king of Salem, Melchizedek, whose name means ‘king of righteousness’, received a tithe from Abram.”
The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) refer to Melchisedek and Zion. Wikipedia: 11Q13 “11Q13, also 11QMelch or the Melchizedek document, is a fragmentary manuscript among the scrolls which mentions Melchisedek as leader of God’s angels in a war in heaven against the angels of darkness instead of the more familiar Archangel Michael. The text is an apocalyptic commentary on the Jubilee year of Leviticus 25. The DSS contain texts in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek; the language of 11Q13 is Hebrew; date of composition is circa 100 BC. In the fragmentary passage the term ‘Elohím’ appears a dozen times, mainly referring to the God of Israel; but in commentary on ‘who says to Zion ‘Your Elohim [God] reigns’ (Isa. 52:7) 11Q13 states that Zion is the congregation of all the sons of righteousness, while Melchizedek is ‘Your Elohim’ who will deliver the sons of righteousness from Belíal.” The DSS too linked Melchisedek to Zion. (also see the topics “Melchisedek Order Priesthood” and “Michael in the Bible”.)
David wrote of Melchisedek and Zion. Ps.110:1-4 “The Lord will stretch forth thy strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of your enemies….You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.” (The order of Melchisedek both precedes and succeeds the priestly Levitical order.) Melchisedek was a theophany/Christophany (or a type) of Christ, the primordial word of God (Jn.1:1).
Bob Sorge connects insights in his Why Sion Is So Important. “Melchisedek was king of Jerusalem (Salem) and also the priest of God Most High (see Gen.14:14-24). Since Zion was Jerusalem’s…most ancient neighborhood, the ‘old city’ if you will, it is reasonable to conclude that Melchizedek’s throne was in Zion proper (even though it wasn’t called Zion at the time). We could say, therefore, that Melchizedek came out of Zion in order to bless Abraham. Melchizedek was the first priest of God to appear in Scripture, and it was no coincidence that his throne was in Zion (called Salem at the time). Jesus Christ was later declared to be a Priest in the order of Melchizedek (Ps.110:4). As such, Jesus is the rightful heir to the throne of Zion.”
Now Christ abides and reigns from heavenly Mt Zion.
Ps.146:10 “The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise you the Lord.” Benson Commentary Ps.146:10 “Christ is set as King on the holy hill of Zion, and His kingdom shall continue in a glory that shall know no period.” Pulpit Commentary He.12:22 “In the Psalms generally the holy hill of Zion continues to be viewed as the Lord’s immovable abode, where he is surrounded by thousands of angels, and whence he succors his people (cf. Psalm 48; 68; 125:1; 132; etc.).”
Parts 1 & 2 of this topic have traced the steps and meaning of Zion through the scriptures. After Bible times, men have since named other sites and towns Zion or Sion. In this sense, Zion/Sion has migrated or expanded elsewhere too. (I’m not imputing scripture to the following places/sites, etc.) For example:
Sion College in London was chartered by King Charles 1 in 1630 for clergy. Zion Wildlife Garden in New Zealand is a sanctuary for endangered species. Sion Hill in the U.S. Virgin Islands is an historic 18th century sugar plantation. Zion College (founded 1949) was a Bible institute in Chattanooga. Several states in the USA have towns named Zion. Zion, Illinois (pop. 24,000, north of Chicago) was founded by evangelist Alexander Dowie (in 1901), with the Zion Tabernacle. I with my son’s family have climbed another Mt Zion, the 4,200 ft peak in the Olympic National Forest of Washington state. The famous Zion National Park and Zion Canyon (so-named by Mormon pioneers) is in Utah. Zion Williamson plays basketball for Duke University in North Carolina. Zionism (of the World Zionist Organization) is an ideological political movement, begun in 1897, to establish a national home and state in Palestine for the Jewish people.
To conclude…How else may we interpret Zion from scripture? Zion may be broadly understood as…where God’s presence was or is! Zion and God’s presence was/is: in the place of Melchisedek, at the southernmost holy hill or mount in Jerusalem/Salem, in the OT nation of Israel, in the NT church, in heavenly Jerusalem above.
Ps.9:11 “Sing praise to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.” Ps.50:2 “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.” Expositor’s Greek Testament He.12:22 “The ideal Zion is the place of God’s manifestation of His presence (Ps.9:11, Ps.76:2).”
Our best environment is…the presence of God. There’s no better place or state!
Gordon E. Gainey’s summation in Zion and the Melchizedek Priesthood: p.130 “Zion is the kingdom of God upon the earth.” p.135 “Mt. Zion is a present reality.” p.62 “Zion is now! Zion is also future.” p.137 “Zion is not some mystical place. It certainly exists. It is past, present and future.” Zion is forever.
Bible Topic Exposition 