Bible Dictionaries
Zidon
Easton's Bible Dictionary
A fishery, a town on the Mediterranean coast, about 25 miles north of Tyre. It received its name from the "first-born" of Canaan, the grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:15,19 ). It was the first home of the Phoenicians on the coast of Palestine, and from its extensive commercial relations became a "great" city (Joshua 11:8; 19:28 ). It was the mother city of Tyre. It lay within the lot of the tribe of Asher, but was never subdued (Judges 1:31 ). The Zidonians long oppressed Israel (Judges 10:12 ). From the time of David its glory began to wane, and Tyre, its "virgin daughter" (Isaiah 23:12 ), rose to its place of pre-eminence. Solomon entered into a matrimonial alliance with the Zidonians, and thus their form of idolatrous worship found a place in the land of Israel (1 Kings 11:1,33 ). This city was famous for its manufactures and arts, as well as for its commerce (1 Kings 5:6; 1 Chronicles 22:4; Ezekiel 27:8 ). It is frequently referred to by the prophets (Isaiah 23:2,4,12; Jeremiah 25:22; 27:3; 47:4; Ezekiel 27:8; 28:21,22; 32:30; Joel 3:4 ). Our Lord visited the "coasts" of Tyre and Zidon = Sidon (q.v.), Matthew 15:21; Mark 7:24; Luke 4:26; and from this region many came forth to hear him preaching (Mark 3:8; Luke 6:17 ). From Sidon, at which the ship put in after leaving Caesarea, Paul finally sailed for Rome (Acts 27:3,4 ). This city is now a town of 10,000 inhabitants, with remains of walls built in the twelfth century A.D. In 1855, the sarcophagus of Eshmanezer was discovered. From a Phoenician inscription on its lid, it appears that he was a "king of the Sidonians," probably in the third century B.C., and that his mother was a priestess of Ashtoreth, "the goddess of the Sidonians." In this inscription Baal is mentioned as the chief god of the Sidonians.
Copyright Statement
These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain.
Bibliography Information
Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Zidon'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/z/zidon.html. 1897.