Zerah or Zérach ( / "sunrise" Standard Hebrew ''Zéraḥ'' / ''Záraḥ'',
Tiberian Hebrew
Tiberian Hebrew is the canonical pronunciation of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) committed to writing by Masoretic scholars living in the Jewish community of Tiberias in ancient Galilee under the Abbasid Caliphate. They wrote in the form of Tiberian ...
''Zéraḥ'' / ''Zāraḥ'') refers to several different people in the
Edom
Edom (; Edomite: ; he, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan, located between Moab to the northeast, the Arabah to the west, and the Arabian Desert to the south and east.N ...
ite chief. He was listed as the second son of
Reuel
Reuel or Raguel (; Edomite: 𐤓𐤏𐤀𐤋, ''RʿʾL''), meaning "God shall pasture" or more specifically " El shall pasture" (as a shepherd does with his flock) is a Hebrew name associated with several biblical and religious figures.
Biblical ...
, son of
Basemath
Basemath (, Arabic: بسمة; "Sweet-smile"), in the Hebrew Bible, is one of the wives of Esau.
In , Basemath is the name of the first wife of Esau. She was the daughter of Elon the Hittite (). Because Basemath was a Canaanite, Esau’s marriage ...
, who was Ishmael's daughter and one of the wives of
Esau
Esau ''Ēsaû''; la, Hesau, Esau; ar, عِيسَوْ ''‘Īsaw''; meaning "hairy"Easton, M. ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', (, , 2006, p. 236 or "rough".Mandel, D. ''The Ultimate Who's Who in the Bible'', (.), 2007, p. 175 is the elder son o ...
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning" ...
, Zerah was the son of Tamar and Judah, and was the twin of Perez (). This same Zerah is mentioned in the
genealogy of Jesus
The New Testament provides two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew and another in the Gospel of Luke. Matthew starts with Abraham, while Luke begins with Adam. The lists are identical between Abraham and David, but ...
in Matthew 1:3.
Zerah is also listed as the ancestor of Achan, who was stoned to death as recounted in the Book of Joshua (). Achan is the son of Carmi, a descendant of Zimri, the son of Zerah.
Simeonite clan
The Bible also identifies Zerah as the name of the founder of one of the Simeonite clans.
The Cushite
''Zerah the Cushite'' is mentioned by the Book of Chronicles (). There he is said to have invaded the
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah ( he, , ''Yəhūdā''; akk, 𒅀𒌑𒁕𒀀𒀀 ''Ya'údâ'' 'ia-ú-da-a-a'' arc, 𐤁𐤉𐤕𐤃𐤅𐤃 ''Bēyt Dāwīḏ'', " House of David") was an Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. C ...
with an enormous army, in the days of Asa). According to the text, when Zerah's army reached that of Asa at the valley of Zephathah near Mareshah, Zerah's army was 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 Usarkon II or Usarkon I, both being rulers of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
. 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
Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...
n forces. In addition, Asa's reign is traditionally dated to have ended in 873 BCE. In the 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 () and
Biblical scholars
Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 For ...
regard the idea that Asa could defeat an enormous Egyptian army to be untenable.''Encyclopædia Britannica'', "Asa" More recent scholars consider that Zerah the Cushite may have been a military commander under Osorkon I, rather than a Pharaoh.
Furthermore, ''Cushite'' refers to
Kush
Kush or Cush may refer to:
Bible
* Cush (Bible), two people and one or more places in the Hebrew Bible
Places
* Kush (mountain), a mountain near Kalat, Pakistan Balochistan
* Kush (satrapy), a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire
* Hindu Kush, a ...
. It is unclear until now why either Usarkon should be described as a ''Cushite'',Cheyne and Black, ''Commentary on the Bible'' 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 was established by Shishak after his campaign in Israel.Albright, W. F. (1924). ''Egypt and the Early History of the Negeb''. Palestine Oriental Society. tell us that the Cushitic (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 ancient world for surprise attacks with the bow and arrow.
In the genealogies of the Book of Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles mentions a Zerah who was a Gershonite
Levite
Levites (or Levi) (, he, ''Lǝvīyyīm'') are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew de ...