Hebrew word · H6860

צִקְלַג

tziklag

Ziklag

Place name of uncertain meaning, possibly non-Semitic. A town in the western Negev, listed among Judah's/Simeon's towns (Josh 15:31; 19:5) but under Philistine control in Saul's day.

Appears 15 times in 12 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Ziklag = "winding"

a town in the south of Judah, later allotted to Simeon; noted for its having been the city of David given to him by king Achish of Gath and his residence when he was joined by many of his mighty warriors and when he received word of the death of Saul

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 1 Samuel 30:1

Range of meaning

Place name of uncertain meaning, possibly non-Semitic. A town in the western Negev, listed among Judah's/Simeon's towns (Josh 15:31; 19:5) but under Philistine control in Saul's day.

Against the English

Rendered "Ziklag" universally.

Used elsewhere in the period

1 Sam 27:6 says Achish gave it to David, "therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day." David's supporters joined him there (1 Chr 12:1, 20). It was later resettled after the exile (Neh 11:28).

Where it appears

Joshua · 2

  1. Joshua 15:31 וְצִֽקְלַ֥ג and Ziklag

    Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah,

  2. Joshua 19:5 וְצִֽקְלַ֥ג and Ziklag

    Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah,

1 Samuel · 7

  1. 1 Samuel 27:6 צִֽקְלָ֑ג צִֽקְלַג֙ Ziklag

    That day Achish gave him Ziklag, and to this day it still belongs to the kings of Judah.

  2. 1 Samuel 30:1 צִֽקְלַ֖ג צִ֣קְלַ֔ג צִ֣קְלַ֔ג Ziklag

    On the third day David and his men arrived in Ziklag, and the Amalekites had raided the Negev, attacked Ziklag, and burned it down.

    Here: The town Achish granted David as a base. It was where the men's wives, children and goods were (27:3; 30:3). Here it is the goal of the movement: they came (to) Ziklag.

  3. 1 Samuel 30:14 צִקְלַ֖ג Ziklag

    We raided the Negev of the Cherethites, the territory of Judah, and the Negev of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”

  4. 1 Samuel 30:26 צִ֣קְלַ֔ג Ziklag

    When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the LORD’s enemies.”

2 Samuel · 2

  1. 2 Samuel 1:1 בְּצִקְלָ֖ג in Ziklag

    After the death of Saul, David returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days.

  2. 2 Samuel 4:10 בְּצִֽקְלָ֑ג in Ziklag

    when someone told me, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ and thought he was a bearer of good news, I seized him and put him to death at Ziklag. That was his reward for his news!

1 Chronicles · 3

  1. 1 Chronicles 4:30 וּבְצִֽיקְלָֽג׃ and in Ziklag

    Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag,

  2. 1 Chronicles 12:1 לְצִ֣יקְלַ֔ג to Ziklag

    Now these were the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still banished from the presence of Saul son of Kish (they were among the mighty men who helped him in battle;

  3. 1 Chronicles 12:20 צִֽיקְלַ֗ג Ziklag

    When David went to Ziklag, these men of Manasseh defected to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh.

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 11:28 וּבְצִֽקְלַ֥ג and in Ziklag

    in Ziklag; in Meconah and its villages;

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