צִיוֹן
𐤑𐤉𐤅𐤍
tsîyôwn
H6724 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
Zion; a specific geographical location most prominently designating the fortified hill in ancient Jerusalem, later extended to refer to the entirety of Jerusalem, its inhabitants, or the Israelite polity as a religious, political, or symbolic center. The word carries senses of physical location, communal identity, place of divine presence, and emblematic meaning.
Semantic Range
hill fortress in Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem, its inhabitants, the Israelite polity or community, symbolic or idealized center of divine presence, locus of future restoration or salvation
Root / Etymology
Root uncertain, often associated by ancient exegetes with ציה (“dryness, arid land”), but this connection is likely folk etymology. The precise etymology is uncertain; the term appears as a proper noun from its earliest attestations and does not transparently derive from a verbal or nominal root with a clear lexical field. Some have linked it to roots meaning 'fortress, citadel', though linguistic evidence is inconclusive.
Historical & Contextual Notes
In earliest biblical texts (e.g., 2 Samuel, Psalms), 'Zion' refers to a specific ridge or stronghold in Jerusalem, initially the Jebusite fortress captured by David. Over time, its semantic scope broadened to encompass Jerusalem as a whole and its people, particularly in poetic or prophetic contexts (Psalms, Isaiah). During exilic and post-exilic periods, 'Zion' was frequently invoked symbolically to express hopes for return, restoration, or divine favor. While English 'Zion' is retained in most contexts, translations sometimes fail to capture its national, religious, and eschatological connotations in Israelite and Judahite thought. In the earliest contexts, it did not carry post-biblical notions associated with later religious ideologies. The wider semantic developments—spiritual, eschatological, or as a stand-in for 'people of Israel'—are rooted in biblical usage, but care should be taken not to retroject later theological meaning into early texts. 'Zion' is never used in biblical Hebrew to mean a desert or arid land; that sense belongs to the similar-sounding, but unrelated, root ציה ("dryness"). The Strong's connection to dryness is thus etymologically and contextually unsupported.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from the same as צִיָּה; a desert; dry place.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
ציון (uncertain) (ṣ-y-w-n (uncertain)) — proper place name; possibly fortress, citadel (uncertain)
Word Forms
1 distinct form
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H6724-01 |
בְּ/צָי֔וֹן | betsayon | HR/Ncmsa |
in a dry place | in Zion | 2 |
Occurrences in Scripture
2 total occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H6724-01 |
Isaiah 25:5 | בְּ/צָי֔וֹן | betsayon | HR/Ncmsa |
in a dry place | in Zion |
H6724-01 |
Isaiah 32:2 | בְּ/צָי֔וֹן | betsayon | HR/Ncmsa |
in Zion | in Zion |