Dictionary Entries: Z

• Zaanaim — Zaanaim is an Old Testament place name, mentioned as a landmark near Kedesh and in connection with Heber the Kenite’s tent.
• Zaanan — A biblical place name mentioned in Micah 1:11, likely a town in Judah, though its exact location is uncertain.
• Zabad — Zabad is a biblical personal name borne by several Old Testament men, appearing in genealogies and historical lists.
• Zabbai — A postexilic biblical personal name appearing in Ezra and Nehemiah.
• Zabbud — Zabbud is a biblical personal name, not a doctrine or theological concept.
• Zabdi — Zabdi is a Hebrew personal name borne by more than one Old Testament individual, including an ancestor of Achan in Joshua 7 and a
• Zabud — Zabud was an official in King Solomon’s court, described as the son of Nathan, a priest, and the king’s friend in 1 Kings 4:5.
• Zacchaeus — Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector in Jericho who met Jesus and responded in repentance and faith.
• Zadok — Zadok was a priest in the time of David and Solomon who remained loyal to the rightful king. His descendants became an important p
• Zalmon — Zalmon is a biblical proper name used for more than one referent, including a warrior in David’s lists and Mount Zalmon in Scriptu
• Zalmonah — A wilderness campsite named in Israel’s itinerary during the exodus journey; a biblical place name rather than a theological doctr
• Zanoah — Zanoah is a biblical place-name for a town in Judah, mentioned in Joshua, Chronicles, and Nehemiah. It is a geographical name rath
• Zaphenath-paneah — The Egyptian name Pharaoh gave Joseph after elevating him to authority in Egypt (Gen. 41:45). Its exact meaning is uncertain, but
• Zarephath — A Phoenician town in Sidon where God sent Elijah during a famine and where the widow’s flour and oil were miraculously sustained;
• Zaretan — Zaretan is an Old Testament place name associated with the Jordan crossing and with Solomon’s bronze-casting works.
• Zareth-shahar — Zareth-shahar is a biblical place name mentioned in Joshua in the allotment of Reuben. Its exact location is uncertain.
• Zattu — Zattu is a postexilic family name listed among the Jewish exiles who returned from Babylon.
• Zaza — Zaza is a biblical personal name in the Old Testament genealogies, not a theological term.
• zeal — Zeal is earnest energy and fervor directed toward what God approves.
• Zealots — Zealots are a revolutionary stream of Jewish resistance to Rome.
• Zebadiah — Zebadiah is a Hebrew personal name borne by several Old Testament men. The name means “Yahweh has bestowed” or “given by the LORD.
• Zebah — A Midianite king defeated and killed in Gideon’s victory over Midian.
• Zebedee — Zebedee was the father of the apostles James and John and a fisherman of Galilee mentioned in the Gospels.
• Zebina — Zebina is a man named in Ezra 10:43 among the sons or descendants of Nebo who had taken foreign wives in the postexilic reform per
• Zeboiim — Zeboiim is a biblical place-name associated with the cities of the plain near Sodom and Gomorrah, and also with a valley named in
• Zebul — Zebul is a biblical man in Judges who served as a ruler of Shechem under Abimelech and warned him of Gaal's revolt.
• Zebulun — Zebulun is the name of Jacob’s sixth son by Leah and also the tribe descended from him in Israel.
• Zechariah — Zechariah is a minor prophetic book that joins temple-era encouragement with apocalyptic hope and messianic expectation.
• Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, and Hoshea — The last rulers of the northern kingdom of Israel before its fall to Assyria, marked by coups, short reigns, and growing instabili
• Zedekiah — Zedekiah was the last king of Judah before Jerusalem fell to Babylon in 586 BC. His reign ended with the destruction of the city a
• Zeeb — Zeeb was a Midianite prince defeated during Gideon’s campaign. He was captured and killed by the men of Ephraim.
• Zephaniah — Zephaniah is a minor prophetic book that warns of the day of the LORD and promises humble, restored worshipers.
• Zephath — A biblical place in the Negev associated with Judah and Simeon’s victory over the Canaanites; Judges 1:17 says it was renamed Horm
• Zephon — Zephon is a biblical personal name associated with the Gadite line in Israel’s genealogies. Genesis 46:16 and Numbers 26:15 preser
• Zerah — A biblical proper name borne by several Old Testament figures, including Judah’s son by Tamar.
• Zerahiah — A biblical personal name borne by more than one Old Testament man, especially in priestly and genealogical settings.
• Zered Brook — A streambed or wadi east of the Jordan River that marked part of Israel’s wilderness route and the border region of Moab.
• Zereda — Zereda is an Old Testament place name, known as the hometown of Jeroboam son of Nebat (1 Kings 11:26). Its exact location is uncer
• Zerubbabel — Zerubbabel was the Davidic governor of Judah who led part of the Jewish return from Babylon and helped oversee the rebuilding of t
• Zerubbabel's temple — The second temple in Jerusalem, rebuilt after the Babylonian exile under the leadership of Zerubbabel and his fellow returnees.
• Zetham — Zetham is a biblical Levite name in the Old Testament Chronicles lists, associated with Gershonite lineage and with service relate
• Zethan — Zethan is a minor biblical person named in the genealogy of Jediael in 1 Chronicles. He is listed among the descendants of Benjami
• Ziba — Ziba was a servant connected with Saul’s household who appears in the David and Mephibosheth narratives in 2 Samuel.
• Zibeon — Zibeon is a biblical personal name in the Genesis genealogies. He is listed among the Horites of Seir and identified as the father
• Zif — Zif is the second month in the older Hebrew calendar, used as a date marker in the Old Testament.
• Ziggurat architecture — Stepped temple-tower architecture from ancient Mesopotamia, useful as historical background for understanding the world of the Old
• Ziklag — Ziklag was a town associated especially with David during the period when he lived among the Philistines before becoming king over
• Zillah — Zillah is a woman in Genesis who was one of Lamech’s wives and the mother of Tubal-cain and Naamah.
• Zilpah — Zilpah was Leah’s servant and Jacob’s concubine in Genesis. She bore Gad and Asher, who became tribal ancestors in Israel.
• Zimran — Zimran was one of Abraham’s sons by Keturah. He appears in Scripture only in genealogical lists, with no further narrative recorde
• Zimri — Zimri is a biblical proper name borne by several Old Testament figures, especially the Israelite king who reigned for only seven d
• Zin — Zin is a wilderness region in southern Canaan associated with Kadesh and Israel’s wilderness wanderings.
• Zina — A Levite named in the genealogy of Shimei in 1 Chronicles 23:10.
• Zion — Zion is the biblical name first associated with a stronghold in Jerusalem and then with the city of David, especially the place of
• Ziph — Ziph is a biblical proper name used for a Judahite town, the surrounding wilderness, and a few individuals in genealogies. The wil
• Zippor — Zippor is a biblical personal name, best known as the father of Balak king of Moab. Scripture mentions him only in connection with
• Zipporah — Zipporah was Moses’ Midianite wife and the daughter of Jethro. Scripture mentions her in connection with Moses’ family life and th
• Zithri — Zithri is an Old Testament personal name borne by more than one individual; it is not a theological term.
• Ziz — Ziz is a biblical place name, best known as the ascent of Ziz in 2 Chronicles 20:16, a route connected with Judah’s deliverance in
• Zoan — An important city in ancient Egypt, commonly identified with Tanis in the Nile Delta. In Scripture, Zoan is associated with Egypt’
• Zoar — Zoar was a small city in the Jordan plain, associated with Sodom and Gomorrah, to which Lot fled when God judged the area.
• Zobah — An Aramean kingdom north or northeast of Israel, known in Scripture especially for its conflicts with David and its king Hadadezer
• Zoheleth — Zoheleth is a stone or rocky landmark near En-rogel mentioned in the account of Adonijah’s attempt to seize the throne.
• Zophah — Zophah is a minor biblical proper name appearing in the Asher genealogy in 1 Chronicles 7:35.
• Zophai — Zophai is an obscure Old Testament personal name listed in the genealogy of the tribe of Asher.
• Zophar — Zophar the Naamathite is one of Job’s three friends. He appears in the dialogues of Job as a severe counselor who wrongly assumes
• Zorah — A town in the tribal territory of Dan, near the border with Judah, best known as the home area of Samson’s family.
• Zoroastrianism — An ancient Iranian religion traditionally associated with Zarathustra (Zoroaster), centered on Ahura Mazda and a strong moral oppo
• Zoroastrianism and biblical theology — A comparative topic that asks whether any similarities exist between ancient Zoroastrian beliefs and themes in the Bible. Because
• Zuar — Zuar is a minor Old Testament man named as the father of Nethanel, the leader from the tribe of Issachar in the wilderness census
• Zuph — A biblical proper name associated with Samuel’s ancestry and with the land of Zuph in 1 Samuel.
• Zur — Zur is a biblical personal name, best known for a Midianite chief named in Numbers 25 and 31.
• Zuriel — Zuriel is a Levite named in the wilderness census as the father of Shelumiel?
• Zurishaddai — Zurishaddai is an Old Testament personal name, known as the father of Shelumiel, a leader of the tribe of Simeon during Israel’s w
• Zuzim — An ancient people group mentioned in Genesis 14:5 as dwelling in Ham and defeated in the campaign of Chedorlaomer.
• Zwingli and the Swiss Reformation — The reform movement led by Huldrych Zwingli in Zurich and other parts of Switzerland in the early sixteenth century, emphasizing S