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Bible Dictionaries
Zebah
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or ZEBAH (‘victim’). A Midianite king, mentioned together with Zalmunna , who was killed by Gideon as the result of blood-revenge ( Judges 8:18-21 ); both kings had, however, been previously overcome in battle by Gideon, who championed the Israelites against their Midianite oppressors. This victory must have been of vital and far-reaching consequence to the Israelites, for it is more than once commemorated long after as a landmark in the nation’s history ( Isaiah 9:4; Isaiah 10:26 , Psalms 83:11 ). The death of Zebah and Zalmunna is very graphically described. Gideon commands Jether, his eldest son, to slay them, but being only a youth he is afraid; so the kings ask Gideon himself to kill them; he does so, and takes the crescents from the necks of their camels. This last action may conceivably Imply a kindly remembrance of the kings on the part of Gideon, for from Judges 8:19 it would seem that it was only reluctantly, and from a sense of duty, that he slew them.
W. O. E. Oesterley.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Zebah'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/z/zebah.html. 1909.
