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Bible Dictionaries
Zion
People's Dictionary of the Bible
or Zion (zî'on), and Sion (sî'on), dry, sunny mount. This hill in Jerusalem is first mentioned as a stronghold of the Jebusites. Joshua 15:63. It remained in their possession until captured by David, who made it "the city of David," the capital of his kingdom. He built there a citadel, his own palace, houses for the people, and a place for the ark of God. 2 Samuel 5:7; 1 Kings 8:1; 2 Kings 19:21; 2 Kings 19:31; 1 Chronicles 11:5; 2 Chronicles 5:2. In the prophetical and poetical books the name occurs no less than 148 times, viz., in Psalms 38:1-22 times. Song of Solomon 1:1-17, Isaiah 47:1-15, Jeremiah 17:1-27, Lamentations 15, Joel 7, Amos 2:1-16, Obadiah 1:2, Micah 9, Zephaniah 2:1-15, Zechariah 8:1-23. In the New Testament it occurs seven times as "Sion," making the total number of times the name occurs 161. It was in the later books no longer confined to the southwestern hill, but denoted sometimes Jerusalem in general, Psalms 149:2; Psalms 87:2; Isaiah 33:14; Joel 2:1, etc.; sometimes God's chosen people, Psalms 51:18; Psalms 87:5, etc.; sometimes the church, Hebrews 12:22, etc.; and sometimes the heavenly city. Revelation 14:1, etc. Hence, Zion has passed into its present common use in religious literature to denote the aspirations and hopes of God's children. A part of the hill is cultivated, and thus the traveller is frequently reminded of the prophecy, "Zion shall be ploughed like a field." Jeremiah 26:18; Micah 3:12. See Jerusalem.
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Rice, Edwin Wilbur, DD. Entry for 'Zion'. People's Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/rpd/z/zion.html. 1893.
