Zur

Biblical Record

Zur was a Midianite. His name is generally understood to mean "rock" in Hebrew. He appears in three passages of Scripture.

• Numbers 25: While Israel was encamped at Shittim, the people committed whoredom with the women of Moab and Midian and joined themselves to Baal-peor. At that time Zimri, a prince of the tribe of Simeon, brought a Midianite woman named Cozbi into the camp, and Phinehas killed them both. Numbers 25:15 calls Cozbi "the daughter of Zur" and explains that "he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian." In Numbers 25:18 God declares that the Midianites had beguiled Israel "in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi."
• Numbers 31:8: When Israel attacked Midian at Moses' command, Zur was slain along with Evi, Rekem, Hur, and Reba as one of "the five kings of Midian." The same verse records that Balaam the son of Beor was also slain with the sword.
• Joshua 13:21: The same five men are called "the princes of Midian" and "dukes of Sihon," the king of the Amorites.

Beyond these passages, Scripture says nothing about Zur's life or character.

Significance Within the Bible

Zur appears in the account of apostasy and judgment that took place near the end of the forty years in the wilderness, just before Israel entered the Promised Land. He is not the central figure of the narrative; he appears chiefly to identify Cozbi's lineage. The fact that she was a chieftain's daughter shows that the incident was not merely an individual transgression but was bound up with the leadership of Midian. The New Testament does not mention Zur, although passages such as Revelation 2:14 cite Balaam and the Peor incident as a warning.

Interpretation and Issues

• The titles "head," "king," and "prince": Scripture refers to Zur by all three titles. This is commonly understood to mean that Midian was not a single kingdom but a collection of tribes, and that Zur was one of their tribal chieftains. Joshua 13:21 records that these men were subject to Sihon.
• Zur's intent: The text does not say directly whether Zur deliberately sent his daughter in order to cause Israel to stumble. Numbers 31:16 connects the matter of Peor with the counsel of Balaam, but Zur's personal role remains unknown.
• Jewish tradition: Some Jewish traditions are reported to identify Zur with Balak, the king of Moab. This identification is not found in the biblical text.
• Similar-sounding words: The "wilderness of Shur" (Exodus 15:22) and the "gate of Sur" (2 Kings 11:6), both rendered "Sur" (수르) in the Korean Revised Version, translate different words in the original language and are unrelated to this person. The Benjamite of Gibeon mentioned in 1 Chronicles 8:30 and 9:36 bears the same name in the original language but is a different individual.

In the Korean Church

Sermons and Sunday school lessons devoted to Zur are rare in the Korean church. He is usually mentioned only briefly, as Cozbi's father, in treatments of the Phinehas narrative in Numbers 25 or in sermons warning against idolatry and sexual immorality.