Hebrew word · H6820

צֹ֫עַר

tzo'ar

Zoar

A town name connected with the root ṣ'r, 'to be small'. Genesis 19:20–22 plays on this: Lot pleads, 'is it not a little one?', and so 'the name of the city was called Zoar'. Its earlier name was Bela (Gen 14:2, 8).

Appears 10 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Zoar = "insignificance"

a city at the southeast end of the Dead Sea grouped with Sodom and Gomorrah as being one of the 5 cities slated for destruction by God; spared at Lot's plea as his place of refuge

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Deuteronomy 34:3

Range of meaning

A town name connected with the root ṣ'r, 'to be small'. Genesis 19:20–22 plays on this: Lot pleads, 'is it not a little one?', and so 'the name of the city was called Zoar'. Its earlier name was Bela (Gen 14:2, 8).

Against the English

All versions have 'Zoar'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Zoar appears in the oracles against Moab (Isa 15:5; Jer 48:34). Later it is the Byzantine town of Zoora, marked on the 6th-century Madaba mosaic map at the south-eastern end of the Dead Sea and usually identified with the area of Ghor es-Safi. The Septuagint spells it Sēgōr.

From the study of Genesis 19:22

Range of meaning

A proper name. Hebrew hears it as coming from the root ṣ-ʿ-r, 'to be small, insignificant' (compare ṣāʿîr, 'young, little,' Gen 19:31, 'the younger'; and miṣʿār, 'a small thing,' Gen 19:20; Job 8:7). So the name sounds like 'Little' or 'Smallville.'

Against the English

English versions transliterate it as 'Zoar,' so the reader loses the pun that the verse depends on. Some study editions add a footnote ('Zoar means little'). Without it, 'That is why the town was called Zoar' makes no sense in English.

Used elsewhere in the period

Earlier name: Bela (Gen 14:2, 8), one of five allied 'cities of the plain.' Zoar is a landmark in Gen 13:10 and Deut 34:3, and a Moabite town in Isa 15:5 and Jer 48:34. The Greek Septuagint spells it Segōr (Σηγωρ), and the Latin Vulgate follows with Segor. The 'g' preserves an older guttural pronunciation of the Hebrew letter ʿayin, as in Gaza and Gomorrah. Josephus (Antiquities 1.204) explains the name as Hebrew for something small. The Byzantine town Zoara, marked on the 6th-century Madaba mosaic map, is usually located at Ghor es-Safi, southeast of the Dead Sea.

Where it appears

Genesis · 7

  1. Genesis 13:10 צֹֽעַר׃ Zoar

    And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

    Here: Zoar, the small town at the edge of the Circle. It was earlier called Bela (14:2) and was spared when Lot fled there (19:20-23). Naming it 'Zoar' here shows the narrator writing from a later time.

  2. Genesis 14:2 צֹֽעַר׃ [is] Zoar

    went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).

  3. Genesis 14:8 צֹ֑עַר [is] Zoar

    Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and arrayed themselves for battle in the Valley of Siddim

  4. Genesis 19:22 צֽוֹעַר׃ Zoar

    Hurry! Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you reach it.” That is why the town was called Zoar.

    Here: The town's name, heard as 'Little.' It plays on Lot's plea in v.20: 'it is a little one (miṣʿār)... is it not little (miṣʿār)?' The name keeps alive the memory of a small town spared because it was small.

  5. Genesis 19:23 צֹֽעֲרָה׃ Zoar towards

    And by the time the sun had risen over the land, Lot had reached Zoar.

  6. Genesis 19:30 מִצּ֜וֹעַר בְּצ֑וֹעַר from Zoar, in Zoar

    Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains—for he was afraid to stay in Zoar—where they lived in a cave.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 34:3 צֹֽעַר׃ Zoar

    the Negev, and the region from the Valley of Jericho (the City of Palms) all the way to Zoar.

    Here: A small town at the Dead Sea, usually placed at its south-eastern end. In Genesis 19:20–22 it is the 'little' town where Lot escaped when Sodom was destroyed, and its name is explained by a word meaning 'small'. It marks the southern end of the Jordan 'Circle'.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 15:5 צֹ֖עַר Zoar

    My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath-shelishiyah. With weeping they ascend the slope of Luhith; they lament their destruction on the road to Horonaim.

    Here: A town at the southern end of the Dead Sea. It is the 'little' town where Lot, Moab's ancestor, took refuge from the destruction of Sodom (Gen 19:22, 30–37).

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 48:34 מִצֹּ֙עַר֙ from Zoar

    There is a cry from Heshbon to Elealeh; they raise their voices to Jahaz, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah; for even the waters of Nimrim have dried up.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.