Hebrew word · H6882

צׇרְעָתִי

hatzare'i

Zorathite

Names meaning the people of Zorah (tsorʿah) and Eshtaol (ʾeshtaʾol), two towns that stand side by side on the north edge of the Sorek valley in the low hill country (the Shephelah), about a dozen kilometres west of Kiriath-jearim.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Someone descended from Zorath(?), first mentioned at 1Ch.2.53; also called Zorite at 1Ch.2.54;

§ Zorites or Zorathites, of Zorah "hornet"

the inhabitants of Zorah

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 Chronicles 2:53

Range of meaning

Names meaning the people of Zorah (tsorʿah) and Eshtaol (ʾeshtaʾol), two towns that stand side by side on the north edge of the Sorek valley in the low hill country (the Shephelah), about a dozen kilometres west of Kiriath-jearim. The meanings of both names are uncertain; Zorah has been linked to a word for 'hornet' and Eshtaol to the root 'ask', but these are guesses.

Against the English

KJV and YLT have 'Zareathites… Eshtaulites', which follows the vowels of this verse closely. Modern versions even out the spelling to match the town names Zorah and Eshtaol. Verse 54 has another form, 'Zorites' (ha-tsorʿi), which most scholars take to be the same group.

Used elsewhere in the period

Joshua lists both towns under Judah (Josh 15:33) and under Dan (Josh 19:41). They are Samson's home ground (Judg 13:2, 25; 16:31). The Danite scouts and 600 warriors set out from them when the tribe moved north, and camped 'at Mahaneh-dan, behind Kiriath-jearim' (Judg 18:2, 8, 11–12). Nehemiah 11:29 mentions Zorah among Judahite settlements after the exile.

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 3

  1. 1 Chronicles 2:53 הַצָּ֣רְעָתִ֔י the Zorathite[s]

    and the clans of Kiriath-jearim—the Ithrites, Puthites, Shumathites, and Mishraites. From these descended the Zorathites and Eshtaolites.

    Here: The people of Zorah, a town in the low hills west of Kiriath-jearim. In Judges it is the hometown of Samson's family and a base of the tribe of Dan (Judg 13:2; 18:2).

  2. 1 Chronicles 2:54 הַצָּרְעִֽי׃ the Zorite[s]

    The descendants of Salma: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, half the Manahathites, the Zorites,

    Here: People of Zorah, Samson's home town in the Sorek valley. In v.53 they are said to come from the Kiriath-jearim clans, so these clan lines overlap and cross.

  3. 1 Chronicles 4:2 הַצָּֽרְעָתִֽי׃ ס the Zorathite[s]

    Reaiah son of Shobal was the father of Jahath, and Jahath was the father of Ahumai and Lahad. These were the clans of the Zorathites.

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