Zerah
(rising (of the sun)).
A son of Reuel, son of Esau, (Genesis 36:13; 1 Chronicles 1:37) and one of the “dukes” or phylarchs of the Edomites. (Genesis 36:17) (B.C. after 1760.) Less properly, Zarah, twin son, with his elder brother Pharez, of Judah and Tamar. (Genesis 38:30; 1 Chronicles 2:4; Matthew 1:3) (B.C. about 1728.) His descendants were called Zarhites, Ezrahites and Izrahites. (Numbers 26:20; 1 Kings 4:31; 1 Chronicles 27:8,11) Son of Simeon, (1 Chronicles 4:24) called Zohar in (Genesis 46:10) (B.C. 1706.)
A Gershonite Levite, son of Iddo or Adaiah. (1 Chronicles 6:21,41) (B.C. 1043.) The Ethiopian or Cushite, an invader of Judah, defeated by Asa about B.C. 941. [Asa] Zerah is probably the Hebrew name of Usarken I., second king of the Egyptian twenty-second dynasty; or perhaps more probably Usarken II his second successor.
In the fourteenth year of Asa, Zerah the Ethiopian, with a mighty army of or million, invaded his kingdom, and advanced unopposed in the field as far as the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. The Egyptian monuments enable us to picture the general disposition of Zerah’s army. The chariots formed the first corps in a single or double line; behind them, massed in phalanxes, were heavy-armed troops; probably on the flanks stood archers and horsemen in lighter formations.
After a prayer by Asa, his army attacked the Egyptians and defeated them. The chariots, broken by the charge and with horses made unmanageable by flights of arrows must have been forced back upon the cumbrous host behind. So complete was the overthrow that the Hebrews could capture and spoil the cities around Gerah which must have been in alliance with Zerah. The defeat of the Egyptian army is without parallel in the history of the Jews.
On no other occasion did an Israelite army meet an army of one of the great powers and defeat it.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Zerah
Zerah ze'-ra (zerach, meaning uncertain): ⇒See a list of verses on ZERAH in the Bible. (1) In Ge 38:30; 46:12; Nu 26:20; Jos 7:1,18,24; 22:20; 1Ch 2:4,6; 9:6; Ne 11:24; Mt 1:3, younger twin-son of Judah and Tamar, and an ancestor of Achan. In Nu 26:20; Jos 7:17 f he is the head of the Zerahites (also 1Ch 27:11,13). the King James Version has "Zarah" in Ge 38:30; 46:12, and "Zarhites" for "Zerahites" in Numbers, Joshua and 1 Chronicles. See Curtis (Chronicles, 84 f) for identification of Ezrahite with Zerahite. (2) Edomites: (a) an Edomite chief (Ge 36:13,17; 1Ch 1:37); (b) father of an Edomite king (Ge 36:33; 1Ch 1:44). ⇒See also the McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia. (3) Levites: (a) 1Ch 6:21 (Hebrew verse 6); (b) 1Ch 6:41 (Hebrew verse 26). (4) Head of the Zerahites (Nu 26:13, the King James Version "Zarhites"; 1Ch 4:24). In Nu 26:13 = "Zohar" of Ge 46:10; Ex 6:15. See ZOHAR, (2). (5) Cushite king (2Ch 14:9). See the next article David Francis Roberts
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible on Zerah
1. One of the sons of Keuel, the son of Esau by his Canaanitish, or Ishmaelite, wife, Ba.seniath (Gn 36"- ", 1 Ch V"). The name apnears again as that of the father of Jobab, one of the early kings of K 'u^a*(i*', pp. 50, 51 f.; Sayce, 11 CM p. 363) goes rather to connect the invasion with Osorkon il., who is made to declare on a moniunent that * the Upper and Lower Jtuteimu have been thrown under his feet." This would show that Osorkon ii. had been engaged in a campaign in Palestine, wtiicii is designated Upper Ivutennu in the geographical language of Egvpt. Homniel (J/77' p. 315n. ; cf. Ball, LiijIU from the East, \i'. 82) thinks that Zerah and his Cushites were from South Arabia, a view which is favoured by the character of the spoils,— tents, sheep, and camels, — as well as by the very name Zerah, which resembles Zirrikh or Dhirrih, a royal name in the newly -found Sabaian inscriptions. This view is fa\oured,too, by the designa- tion of the people as 'Aii^^o^us in the LXX (2Ch 141S), which may be compared with the bdnu Mazirit the Ua'din of the same inscription.! Ln KRATCRE. — In…
Fausset's Bible Dictionary on Zerah
1. Younger twin son with Pharez of Judah and Tamar (Gen 38:30; 1Ch 2:6; Mat 1:3). 2. Son of Simeon (1Ch 4:24). (See ZOHAR in Gen 46:10. 3. A Gershonite Levite, son of Iddo or Adaiah (1Ch 6:21; 1Ch 6:41). 4. The Ethiopian (Cushite) invader defeated by ASA . About this very time there reigned a king Azerch Amar in Ethiopia, whose monuments are found at Napata. The Hebrew abbreviated the name into Zerah. Also an Ozorchon occupied the throne from 956 to 933 B.C. Ozorchon II. succeeded to the throne in right of his wife, sister of the previous king, and so may have been an Ethiopian; but the former is more probable. The defeat of the army of such a great world power as Egypt or Ethiopia is unparalleled in Israel's history, and could only have been through the divine aid. "Jehovah smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled, and Asa pursued them unto Gerar, and the Ethiopians were overthrown that they could not recover themselves, for they were destroyed before Jehovah and before His host, and they carried away much spoil" (2Ch 14:9-13). The greatness of Egypt…
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