Bible Location

Zelzah (biblical place)

Also known as: Zelzah

Zelzah was a location in the territory of Benjamin mentioned during the account of Saul's anointing by Samuel. Samuel told Saul that after leaving him he would meet two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah.

The men would tell Saul that the donkeys he had been searching for had been found and that his father was now worried about him. This encounter was the first of several signs Samuel gave Saul confirming his divine selection as king.

Zelzah is mentioned only once in Scripture, and its precise location is unknown.

Biblical Significance

After Samuel privately anointed Saul as ruler over Israel, he gave him a series of signs that would confirm what had happened.

The first sign was to occur near Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah. Saul would meet two men who would report that the lost donkeys had been found and that his father Kish was now concerned about his son.

The episode connects Zelzah with the beginning of Israel's monarchy and with Saul's transition from searching for his father's animals to discovering that he had been chosen for kingship.

Historical Background

Zelzah appears only in 1 Samuel 10:2, leaving very little information from which to reconstruct its history.

The Hebrew text associates it with Rachel's tomb and the border or territory of Benjamin. The location of Rachel's tomb itself presents geographical questions because biblical passages have been interpreted as preserving different geographical traditions.

The ancient Greek translation also reflects difficulty with the Hebrew expression translated as Zelzah, leading some scholars to question whether the surviving text necessarily preserves a place-name in its original form.

Modern Identification

The precise location of Zelzah is unknown.

First Samuel places it in Benjamin near Rachel's tomb, but no archaeological site preserving the name Zelzah has been securely identified.

Various proposed locations depend largely upon the disputed location of Rachel's tomb. AVWJ should therefore leave Zelzah unidentified rather than assign it to a particular modern site.

Scripture References

1 Samuel 10:2

Related Resources

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Sources

Bible: 1 Samuel 10:1-7; textual studies of 1 Samuel 10:2; biblical geographical studies concerning Zelzah, Rachel's tomb, Ramah, and the territory of Benjamin