- ZEPHATH beacon; watch-tower, a Canaanite town; called also Hormah
(q.v.), Judges 1:17. It has been identified with the pass of es-Sufah, but
with greater probability with S’beita. - ZEPHATHAH a valley in the west of Judah, near Mareshah; the scene of
Asa’s conflict with Zerah the Ethiopian (2 Chronicles 14:9-13). Identified
with the Wady Safieh. - ZERAH sunrise. (1.) An “Ethiopian,” probably Osorkon II., the
successor of Shishak on the throne of Egypt. With an enormous army, the
largest we read of in Scripture, he invaded the kingdom of Judah in the
days of Asa (2 Chronicles 14:9-15). He reached Zephathah, and there
encountered the army of Asa. This is the only instance “in all the annals of
Judah of a victorious encounter in the field with a first-class heathen
power in full force.” The Egyptian host was utterly routed, and the
Hebrews gathered “exceeding much spoil.” Three hundred years elapsed
before another Egyptian army, that of Necho (B.C. 609), came up against
Jerusalem.
(2.) A son of Tamar (Genesis 38:30); called also Zara (Matthew 1:3).
(3.) A Gershonite Levite (1 Chronicles 6:21, 41).