View source for Zerah

{{Short description|Biblical character}}
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'''Zerah''' or '''Zérach''' ({{Script/Hebrew|זֶרַח}} / {{Script/Hebrew|זָרַח}}{{ltr}} "sunrise" [[Standard Hebrew]] ''Zéraḥ'' / ''Záraḥ'', [[Tiberian Hebrew]] ''Zéraḥ'' / ''Zāraḥ'') refers to several people in the [[Hebrew Bible]].<ref name="BrandEngland2003">For the etymology see {{cite book |author1= Chad Brand |author2= Archie England |author3= Charles W. Draper |title= Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=OxG5AwAAQBAJ&pg=PT2403 |year= 2003 |publisher= B&H Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-4336-6978-1 |page= 2403}}</ref>

==An Edomite==
Zerah was the name of an [[Edom]]ite chief. He was listed as the second son of [[Reuel]], son of [[Basemath]], who was [[Ishmael]]'s daughter and one of the wives of [[Esau]] the brother of [[Jacob|Jacob (Israel)]] ({{bibleverse|Genesis 36:13, 17|multi=yes}}).

==Son of Tamar and Judah==
According to the [[Book of Genesis]], Zerah was the son of [[Tamar (Genesis)|Tamar]] and her father-in-law [[Judah (biblical figure)|Judah]], and was the twin of [[Perez (son of Judah)|Perez]] ({{bibleverse||Genesis|38:30|}}). This same Zerah is mentioned in the [[genealogy of Jesus]] in [[Matthew 1:3]].

Zerah is also listed as the ancestor of [[Achan (biblical figure)|Achan]], who was stoned to death as recounted in the [[Book of Joshua]] ({{bibleref2|Joshua|7:1|NLT}}). Achan is the son of Carmi, a descendant of Zimri, the son of Zerah.

=== Family Tree ===
{{Tribe of Judah}}

==Simeonite clan==
The Bible also identifies Zerah as the name of the founder of one of the [[tribe of Simeon|Simeonite]] clans.<ref>{{bibleverse||Numbers|26:13|}}</ref>

==The Cushite==
''Zerah the [[Cushitic_languages|Cushite]]'' is mentioned by the [[Book of Chronicles]] ({{bibleverse|2|Chronicles|14:9-15|}}). There he is said to have invaded the [[Kingdom of Judah]] with an enormous army in the days of [[Asa of Judah|Asa]]. According to the text, when Zerah's army reached that of Asa at the valley of Zephathah near Mareshah, Zerah's army was [[Battle of Zephath|utterly defeated]], by divine intervention, and Asa's forces collected a large volume of spoils of war.

The invasion, and its implied time-frame, means that the traditional view was to consider this Zerah to have actually been [[Osorkon II|Usarkon II]] or [[Osorkon I|Usarkon I]],<ref>[[Thomas Kelly Cheyne|Cheyne]] and Black, ''[[Encyclopedia Biblica]]'' (1899).</ref> both being rulers of [[Egypt]]. Usarkon II is known to have entered the Kingdom of Judah with a huge army in 853 BCE; however, rather than attacking Judah, the army was just passing through on its way to attack the [[Assyria]]n forces. In addition, Asa's reign is traditionally dated to have ended in 873 BCE. In the [[Books of Kings|Book of Kings]], which doesn't mention Asa's defeat of Zerah, Asa is described as being extremely weak from a defensive point of view ({{bibleverse|1|Kings|15:16-22|}}), and [[Biblical criticism|Biblical scholars]] regard the idea that Asa could defeat an enormous Egyptian army to be untenable.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica, Asa">''Encyclopædia Britannica'', "Asa"</ref> More recent scholars consider that Zerah the Cushite may have been a military commander under Osorkon I rather than a Pharaoh.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Ancient Israelite World |last=Pierce |first=Krystal V. L. |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-000-77324-8 |page=664 |editor-last=Keimer |editor-first=Kyle H. |chapter=Egypt and the Levant in the Third Intermediate Period (Iron IB–IIIA) |editor-last2=Pierce |editor-first2=George A. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4beREAAAQBAJ&dq=The+Ancient+Israelite+World+Late+Dynaste+22&pg=PA664}}</ref>

Furthermore, ''Cushite'' refers to [[Kingdom of Kush|Kush]]. It is unclear why either Usarkon should be described as a ''Cushite.''<ref name="ReferenceA">Cheyne and Black, ''Commentary on the Bible''</ref> The name “Zerah” may have been a corruption of “Usarkon” (U-Serak-on), to  which it closely resembles (see Petrie, Egypt and Israel, 74), but most scholars do not identify Zerah with Usarkon II. The publication by Naville (1891) of an inscription in which Usarkon II would claim to have invaded Lower and Upper Palestine suggests this Pharaoh as the victor over Asa. However, the Bible contends that Asa won the battle.

It is a possibility that ''Cushites '' gained dominance in Upper and Lower Egypt during the 9th and 8th century. Zerah was most likely a Cushite of Nubia located in Southern Egypt and Northern Sudan who came to power as ruler of Egypt or at the very least a Nubian commander of The Egyptian/Nubian armies. [[William F. Albright]] suggested that Zerah was the governor of a Cushite colony which had been established by Shishak after his campaign in Israel.<ref>Albright, W. F. (1924). ''Egypt and the Early History of the Negeb''. Palestine Oriental Society.</ref> {{bibleverse|Isaiah|18:2|}} tells us that the Cushites (Ethiopians) were feared far and wide for conquests and destruction (being a powerful nation who dominated ancient kingdoms). Cushites were a very formidable people who were expert archers famous in the ancient world for surprise attacks with the bow and arrow.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

==In the genealogies of the Book of Chronicles==
The Book of Chronicles mentions a Zerah who was a Gershonite [[Levite]] ({{bibleverse|1 Chr. 6:6; 6:26|multi=yes}}).

==References==
{{Americana Poster|Zerah}}
{{Reflist}}
*{{EBD|Zerah}}

==Further reading==
* Zerah the Kushite: A New Proposal Regarding His Identity (with Peter James), in: P. James and P. van der Veen (eds.), Solomon and Shishak, BAR International Series 2732, Archaeopress, Oxford, 2015 [https://www.academia.edu/13445553/Zerah_the_Kushite_A_New_Proposal_Regarding_His_Identity_with_Peter_James_in_P._James_and_P._van_der_Veen_eds._Solomon_and_Shishak_BAR_International_Series_2732_Archaeopress_Oxford_2015]

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[[Category:Book of Genesis people]]
[[Category:Biblical twins]]
[[Category:Tribe of Judah]]
[[Category:Set index articles on Hebrew Bible people]]

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