Zarethan (Hastings' Dictionary)
When the Jordan was divided, the waters rose up in a heap ' at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan' (Jos 3", LXX om.) One of Solomon's commissariat officers had in his district 'all Bethshean which is beside Zare- than, beneath Jezreel'Cl K 4'', LXX om.) The bronze castings for the temple were made in the Jordan district ' at the ford of Adamah [reading, with Moore, .iDiK(n) m3VD3 for MT '.t nayia (AV and RV ' in the clay ground ')] between Succoth and Zarethan' (1 K 7^'*).
In tlie parallel passage 2 Ch 4" the name appears as Zeredah .tii;: (B corruptly ^Avajx^atpSoLdcu [1 = dva fj.(<jov — tp.], A &va, IjAaov ZaSaOi, Luc. ZapiSaSi), which is named in IK ll'-"" (B and Luc. Zapetpi, A ZapiSa) as the birthplace of Jeroboam, and in Jg 7^ [where read .Tjiji Zeredah for rrry^ Zererah ; B Vapayadi, A om., Luc. Kai fill (rmrry/jiivri] in connexion with the flight of the Midianite host.
Zarethan or Zeredah cannot be precisely located, but must be sought in the vicinity of ed-Damiek (the city of Adam of Jos 3"). The proposal (van de Velde, Knobel, et nl.) to identify with l;Crirn. $ar(abeh, the great landmark of the Jordan Valley, must be rejected on phonetic and other grounds (see Dillm. Jos. ad loc. ; Moore, Judges, 212 f. ; Kittel, Kunige, 34 ; Buhl, GAP 181). J. A. Selbie. ZATHOES (ZaMs. AV Zathoe), 1 Es 8*", probably stands for Zattu. The name does not appear in the Heb.
of the corresponding passage Ezr 8', which sliould be corrected by 1 Es. eo as to run ' Of the sons of Zattu, Shecaniah the son of Jahaziel.' ZATHUI (B ZoToV, A ZaeBovl), 1 Es 5" = Zattn, Ezr 2«, Neh 7" ; called also Zathoes, 1 Es 8"". 964 ZATTU ZEBOIIM
This topic also has an entry in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Both articles offer independent scholarly perspectives.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Zarethan
Zarethan zar'-e-than (tsarethan) : A city, according to Jos 3:16 (omitted, however, by the Septuagint) near Adam, which is probably to be identified with Tell Damieh at the mouth of the Jabbok. In 1 Ki 4:12 it is mentioned in connefection with Bethshean and said to be "beneath Jezreel." In 1 Ki 7:46, this is said to be at "the ford of Adamah," according to the reading of some, but according to the Massoretic text, "in the clay around between Succoth and Zarethan," where the bronze castings for the temple were made by Solomon's artificers. In 2 Ch 4:17, the name appears as Zeredah, which in 1Ki 11:26 is said to have been the birthplace of Jeroboam, son of Nebat. In Jg 7:22, Gibeon is said to have pursued the Midianites "as far as Bethshittah toward Zererah," which is probably a misreading for Zeredah, arising from the similarity of the Hebrew letters daleth and resh. The place has not been positively identical. From the suggestion that the name means "the great (or lofty) rock," it has without sufficient reason been supposed that it designates the conspicuous peak of Kurn Surtabheh] w…
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia