Bible Dictionary
Zaanaim
Zaanaim was a place near Kedesh in Naphtali, associated with the encampment of Heber the Kenite. Near its oak or plain, Sisera sought refuge in Jael’s tent and was killed.
Definition
Zaanaim was a place near Kedesh in Naphtali, associated with an oak or plain where Heber the Kenite encamped. The name is connected with the movements or encampments of nomads among the cities and villages of the region.
Biblical Usage
Sisera sought refuge in the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, near Zaanaim, and was killed there. The place is mentioned in the account of the conflict involving Deborah, Barak, Sisera, and Jael.
Historical Background
Zaanaim was situated near Kedesh, north of Safed and near the waters of Merom. The region was noted for its oaks. Some interpretations connect the wording with “the oak of Bitzanaim,” identified by some with ruins called Bessum.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Wanderings; the unloading of tents, so called probably from the fact of nomads in tents encamping amid the cities and villages of that region, a place in the north-west of Lake Merom, near Kedesh, in Naphtali. Here Sisera was slain by Jael, “the wife of Heber the Kenite,” who had pitched his tent in the “plain [R.V., ’as far as the oak’] of Zaanaim” (Judg. 4:11). It has been, however, suggested by some that, following the LXX. and the Talmud, the letter b, which in Hebrew means “in,” should be taken as a part of the word following, and the phrase would then be “unto the oak of Bitzanaim,” a place which has been identified with the ruins of Bessum, about half-way between Tiberias and Mount Tabor.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(removings), The plain of, or more accurately, “the oak by Zaanaim,” a tree-probably a sacred tree—mentioned as marking the spot near which Heber the Kenite was encamped when Sisera took refuge in his tent. (Judges 4:11) Its situation is defined as “near Kedesh,” i.e. Kedesh-naphtali, the name of which still lingers on the high ground north of Safed and two or three miles west of the lake of el-Huleh (waters of Merom). This whole region abounds in oaks.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>za-a-na'-im.</p><p>See ZAANANNIM.</p>