צִיּוֹן

From the study of Jeremiah 31:6

Range of meaning

Originally the Jebusite stronghold David captured (2 Sam 5:7). It came to mean the temple mount and then Jerusalem as the city where YHWH dwells (Ps 132:13; Isa 8:18).

Against the English

Most versions keep 'Zion'. NLT replaces it with 'Jerusalem', which is clear but loses the overtone of God's chosen dwelling.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ps 78:67–68 is the classic statement: God 'rejected the tent of Joseph, did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loves.'

From the study of Isaiah 14:32

Range of meaning

Originally the Jebusite stronghold David captured (2 Sam 5:7). It came to mean the temple mount and Jerusalem as the place where YHWH dwells, and in poetry the people of Jerusalem pictured as a woman ("Daughter Zion").

Against the English

Some readers hear "Zion" as heaven or as the church. NLT replaces it with "Jerusalem", which is accurate for the place but loses the temple-mountain associations.

How it drifted

Later Christian hymns and preaching spiritualised "Zion" into heaven or the church. In Isaiah it is the actual hill and city in Judah.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Zion psalms (46, 48, 76, 87) celebrate the city as one God defends against attacking nations. Isaiah repeatedly speaks of YHWH defending Jerusalem (31:4–5; 37:33–35).

From the study of Psalm 2:6

Range of meaning

First the name of the fortified ridge of Jebusite Jerusalem, "the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David" (2 Sam 5:7). It was then extended to the temple mount to the north and used poetically for Jerusalem as a whole, or for its people, as the place where YHWH dwells (Ps 9:11; 76:2; Isa 2:3).

Against the English

English readers often treat Zion as a vague symbol of heaven or the church. In the Psalms it is first a real hill in Jerusalem. Its symbolic weight comes from God's presence there.

How it drifted

Hymns and later Christian use turned "Zion" into a word for heaven or the church. The psalm has a specific place in Jerusalem in view.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ps 48:1–2 calls Mount Zion "the heights of Zaphon". Zaphon was the Canaanite god Baal's sacred mountain, known from Ugaritic texts. The psalms used that 'divine mountain' imagery for Zion. The Zion psalms (46, 48, 76) celebrate Zion as the place where attacking nations are broken.