Bible Word Study
צְרֵרָה
Tsᵉrêrâh · Tsererah for Tseredah
צְרֵרָה
Tsererah for Tseredah
Definition
Tsererah is a place name that appears only once in the Old Testament, in Judges 7:22. It is identified as a location to which the Midianite army fled after their defeat by Gideon. The name is generally understood to be a textual variant or scribal transcription for the more common place name Tseredah (צְרֵדָה, H6868), which is the hometown of Jeroboam I (1 Kings 11:26). As a proper noun, it refers to a specific geographical location, likely a town or settlement in the region of the Jordan Valley or the western foothills, marking a point in the chaotic retreat of the enemy forces.
Biblical Usage
This word is used only in Judges 7:22, within the narrative of Gideon's victory over the Midianites. The context is military and geographical, describing the route of the fleeing army: 'toward Zererath.' Its usage is singular and serves purely to identify a point on a map in this historical account. No other patterns or books use this specific form.
Etymology
The word צְרֵרָה (Tsererah) is considered by scholars to be a probable scribal variation or erroneous transcription of the more established place name צְרֵדָה (Tseredah, H6868). The root may be related to words implying 'pressing' or 'binding' (צרר), but as a proper noun, its etymology is obscure and its primary significance is its identification as a specific location.
Semantic Range
As a place name, Tsererah reflects the detailed geographical knowledge preserved in Israel's historical records. Its mention anchors the miraculous victory of Judges 7 in a real, tangible landscape. For the original audience, it may have evoked a known locale, adding concrete detail to the story of God delivering Israel through Gideon. Tseredah (Tsᵉrêdâh, H6868) — The more standard spelling of this place name, identified as the hometown of Jeroboam.
Word Details
How this works
Definitions are from the Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (BDB, 1906, public domain). Concordance and morphology data are from the OSHB (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible).
Full methodology & sources →References
- Abbott-Smith, G. (1921) A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Brown, F., Driver, S.R. and Briggs, C.A. (1906) A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Public Domain]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Tyndale Brief lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (TBESG). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Tyndale House, Cambridge (n.d.) Translators Formatted full LSJ (TFLSJ). STEPBible. Available at: https://www.stepbible.org. [CC BY 4.0]
- Thayer, J.H. (1889) A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament. [Public Domain]
- Gesenius, W. (1846) Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament. [Public Domain]
- Dodson, J. (2010) Greek Lexicon. Biblical Humanities. [CC0]