Hebrew word · H7865

שִׂיאֹן

si'on

(Mount )Sirion (KJV: Sion)

A proper name for Mount Hermon that occurs only in this verse. Its derivation is uncertain. Some connect it with roots meaning 'to rise, be lofty' ('the high one'). Others take it as a slip for שִׂרְיֹן (Sirion), the Sidonian name for Hermon given in Deuteronomy 3:9.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Sion = "lofty"

another name for Mount Hermon

Another name of cher.mon (חֶרְמוֹן "(Mount )Hermon" H2768)

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 4:48

Range of meaning

A proper name for Mount Hermon that occurs only in this verse. Its derivation is uncertain. Some connect it with roots meaning 'to rise, be lofty' ('the high one'). Others take it as a slip for שִׂרְיֹן (Sirion), the Sidonian name for Hermon given in Deuteronomy 3:9.

Against the English

BSB and WEB transliterate it 'Siyon', which keeps it visibly separate from Zion. KJV and YLT give 'Sion', the same spelling the KJV uses for Zion (Jerusalem) in the New Testament (e.g. Hebrews 12:22; Romans 11:26). Some modern versions follow the Syriac and print 'Sirion'.

How it drifted

The KJV spelling 'Sion' makes this northern peak look identical in English to Zion. In Hebrew the two names begin with different letters: sin (שׂ) here, tsade (צ) for Zion. They also have different consonants and different meanings.

Used elsewhere in the period

Deuteronomy 3:9 says the Sidonians call Hermon 'Sirion' and the Amorites call it 'Senir'. Psalm 29:6 pairs Lebanon with Sirion. Ugaritic texts mention 'Shryn', usually taken to be Sirion, alongside Lebanon. The Syriac Peshitta reads 'Sirion' in 4:48.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 4:48 שִׂיאֹ֖ן Siyon

    extending from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Siyon (that is, Hermon),

    Here: A name for Hermon found only here. It is spelled with the letter sin (שׂ) and has no connection with Zion (צִיּוֹן) in Jerusalem. It may be a variant of, or a copying error for, 'Sirion' (3:9).

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