Zorah
Zorah is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Tel Tzora. It appears across 11 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Zorah was a town in the Shephelah lowlands originally assigned to the tribe of Dan (Joshua 19:41), though it later fell within the territory effectively controlled by Judah. The city is most indelibly associated with the birth and life of Samson, Israel's famous judge. It was in Zorah that the angel of the LORD appeared to the wife of Manoah, announcing the miraculous conception of a son who would be set apart as a Nazirite from birth and would begin to deliver Israel from Philistine oppression (Judges 13:2-5). Samson was born here, and it was between Zorah and Eshtaol that the Spirit of the LORD first began to stir within him (Judges 13:25). When Samson died, his brothers carried his body back to bury him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the tomb of his father Manoah (Judges 16:31). The city was later reinforced by Rehoboam as part of his defensive network for the kingdom of Judah (2 Chronicles 11:10), and it appears in post-exilic lists of towns resettled by returning Judeans after the Babylonian captivity (Nehemiah 11:29). Zorah thus occupies a unique place in Israel's history as both a frontier fortress and the cradle of one of Scripture's most dramatic deliverers.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Zorah is generally identified with Tel Tzora (also spelled Tel Zora), located approximately 25 kilometers west of Jerusalem in the Sorek Valley, near the modern Israeli village of Tzora. The site commands strategic views over the Sorek Valley, which formed a natural corridor between the Judean hills and the Philistine coastal plain — a setting consistent with Samson's repeated encounters with Philistines. Surface surveys at the tel have revealed pottery remains spanning the Iron Age through later periods, confirming continuous occupation. While large-scale formal excavations have been limited, the site's geographical position and material evidence align well with the biblical descriptions of Zorah as a Danite-Judahite border settlement facing Philistine territory.
Verse Appearances (11)
Sources: ISBE Encyclopedia · OpenBible Geocoding (CC BY) · Pleiades Gazetteer View all →