Zorah

Zorah in the Bible

Zorah appears in several books of the Old Testament.

• Land allotment lists: Joshua 15:33 lists Zorah among the towns of the tribe of Judah in the "lowland" (KJV: "the valley"). Joshua 19:41 places the same Zorah, together with Eshtaol, at the head of the list of the inheritance of the tribe of Dan.
• The Samson narrative: Judges 13:2 introduces Manoah, a Danite who lived in Zorah. His son was Samson. According to Judges 13:25, "the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan [Mahaneh-dan] between Zorah and Eshtaol." According to Judges 16:31, after his death Samson was buried between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying place of his father Manoah.
• The Danite migration: In Judges 18, the tribe of Dan, seeking land in which to settle, sends five spies from Zorah and Eshtaol (Judges 18:2). Six hundred armed men then set out from the same place for Laish in the north (Judges 18:11).
• The monarchy and the postexilic period: 2 Chronicles 11:10 names Zorah among the cities that Rehoboam fortified. Nehemiah 11:29 records that people of Judah lived in Zorah after the return from exile. In 1 Chronicles 2:53 and 4:2, the "Zorathites" appear in the genealogies of Judah.

Background

Zorah lay in the low foothills between the coastal plain and the hill country of Judah. This region is called the Shephelah in Hebrew, meaning "lowland." It was a frontier zone bordering the territory of the Philistines, and the tension between Israel and the Philistines that forms the backdrop of the Samson narrative is closely tied to this geography. Scholars today commonly identify Zorah with a hill north of Beth-shemesh, on the north side of the Valley of Sorek. There is, however, no consensus on its exact location.

Significance in the Bible as a Whole

Zorah illustrates the tribe of Dan's failure to hold the land it had received. Judges 1:34 states that the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain, and Judges 18:1 states that the tribe of Dan had not yet obtained its inheritance. The Samson narrative can be read as the account of how, amid this instability, God raised up a Nazirite judge to oppose the Philistines. Zorah itself does not appear in the New Testament. Because Hebrews 11:32 names Samson among the people of faith, however, Zorah is indirectly connected to the New Testament through him.

Interpretation and Issues

• Appearance in both tribal lists: Several explanations have been offered for Zorah's inclusion in the lists of both Judah and Dan. A common view is that the area was incorporated into Judah after the tribe of Dan migrated north; another holds that the tribal boundaries shifted over time.
• The location of Mahaneh-dan: Judges 13:25 places Mahaneh-dan ("the camp of Dan") between Zorah and Eshtaol, whereas Judges 18:12 places it behind Kirjath-jearim, and some have noted that the two texts are difficult to reconcile. Proposed explanations include that camps of the same name were set up on more than one occasion, or that the name referred to a broad area.
• Distinguishing the text from later tradition: Sites shown locally as the tombs of Samson and Manoah reportedly exist. These, however, reflect later tradition; the Bible says only "between Zorah and Eshtaol" and does not identify the exact spot. Furthermore, the Bible does not directly state that Samson was born in Zorah; it records only that Manoah was a man of Zorah. Regarding Zorah as Samson's birthplace is an inference drawn from this record.