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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

ZION

The Jebusite fortress in Jerusalem conquered by David. Thereafter, Zion was used by biblical writers to identify other areas of Jerusalem and was used as a designation of the entire city. Zion was also used to describe, spiritually speaking, the eternal city of God.

Geographical Sites

The Jebusite Fortress

The first occurrence of the word “Zion” is in the narrative of David’s conquest of Jerusalem (2 Sm 5:6-10; 1 Chr 11:4-9). David captured the “fortress of Zion,” which was thereafter known as the “city of David.” The “fortress of Zion” may refer to the entire walled perimeter of the approximately 11-acre (4.5-hectare) site on the southeastern ridge (the Ophel Ridge), or to a smaller fortified area within that site.

The Temple Mount

Changes in the perimeter of the city by incorporating more territory within the walls extend the term Zion. When Solomon built the temple and his palace and extended the walls north of the Ophel Ridge to encompass the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite (2 Sm 24:16-18; 1 Chr 21:15-18, 28), the name Zion was applied to these areas as well. The transfer of the ark “from the city of David which is Zion” (1 Kgs 8:1; 2 Chr 5:2) to the temple hill brought both an extension and a reduction of the territory embraced by the term “Zion.” The whole city could still be called Zion, but from this point on, there would be a close identification between Zion and the temple hill. The temple precincts became the primary Zion; references to Zion in the poetic books and the preaching of the prophets are primarily to the temple area as the dwelling place of God.

The Entire City

The word “Zion” can be used as a designation of the entire city or its population without any particular reference to the temple area. This use is clearest in poetic passages where Zion is the parallel term to Jerusalem (Pss 51:18; 76:2; 102:21; 135:21; 147:12; Is 2:3; 30:19; 33:20; 37:32; 40:9; 41:27; 62:1; Jer 26:18; 51:35; Am 1:2; Zep 3:14) or to the villages of Judah (Pss 69:35; 97:8; Is 40:9).

Theological Motifs

In the Old Testament

Many theological motifs attach to the Zion theme as it develops in redemptive history. The dominant motif of Zion as the dwelling place of God, the place where God is in the midst of his people, is conjoined to the larger theme of Immanuel, “God in our midst.” Just as the pillar of fire and cloud stood above the tabernacle during the wilderness wandering, so once Israel had attained the place of God’s choosing (Dt 12:5-14), he would dwell there. When Jerusalem became David’s capital and Solomon had completed the temple, the glory cloud filled the temple (1 Kgs 8:10; 2 Chr 5:13-14) and Jerusalem became the dwelling place of God (Pss 74:2; 76:2; 135:21; Is 8:18; Jl 3:17-21). The Lord loved and chose Zion (Pss 78:68; 132:13). His glorious presence was there, and from there he would speak (50:1-2). His fire was in Zion, his furnace in Jerusalem (Is 31:8-9). There he was enthroned above the cherubim (Pss 9:11; 99:1-2) and ruled over his people and the nations (Is 24:23). His chosen king ruled from that holy hill (Pss 2:6; 48:1).

Though the size of the site of ancient Jerusalem is not particularly impressive and ordinarily would not be considered a large hill, for the psalmist Zion is God’s holy hill (Ps 99:9). The prophets describe it as “chief among the mountains, raised above the hills” (Is 2:2; Mi 4:1). The Canaanite god Baal was thought to dwell on a great mountain to the north, Mt Zaphon, so the psalmist describes Zion as “beautiful in its loftiness, like the utmost heights of Mt Zaphon” (Ps 48:1-2). God’s sanctuary is “like the high mountains” (Ps 78:68; Ez 40:2).

An adequate water supply has been a problem for Jerusalem throughout its history. During the OT period, the city’s water came from one small spring. But in the eyes of the poets and prophets, Zion is gladdened by a great river that brings life wherever it flows (Ps 46:4; Ez 47:1-12; Jl 3:18; Zec 13:1; 14:8; see Rv 22:1-2). The threatening waters of chaos cannot shake the city of God (Ps 46:1-3).

Because Zion is the city of God, it is the object of pilgrims, Jew and Gentile alike, who thirst to be in the presence of God in Zion’s temple (Pss 42:1-2; 63:1). The pilgrim psalms give vivid expression to their longing (84; 122; 125–128). All humanity will come to God in Zion (65:1-4). The Gentiles will make annual pilgrimages bringing gifts (Ps 76; Is 18:7; Zep 3:9-10); even former enemies will be regarded as native-born citizens of Zion (Ps 87; Is 60:14; Zec 14:21). The nations will stream into Jerusalem to inaugurate an era of peace (Is 2:1-5; Mi 4:1-8). Year after year the festivals of Israel will be celebrated in Zion by Gentiles (Zec 14:16-19).

In the New Testament

The NT further develops the emphasis on both the heavenly and the eschatological Zion. For example, the author of Hebrews said that the OT saints looked “forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God . . . longing for a better country—a heavenly one” (Heb 11:10, 16, niv), but none of them received the promises because God had planned something even better (vv 39-40). The church now enjoys what believers of the old covenant could never know: unlimited access to the presence of God in that Holy City, “Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God” (12:22; see vv 18-24). Earthly Zion is but a shadow of the heavenly reality. The present city of Jerusalem is likened to a slave woman, but the heavenly Jerusalem is free and the mother of both Jew and Gentile (Gal 4:21-27; see Is 49:14-23; 54:1). The NT also looks forward to the eschatological expectation of the re-creation of heaven and earth and the revelation of the new Jerusalem (Rv 21:2). It is a city on a great high mountain (Rv 21:10; see Pss 48:1-2; 78:68; Is 2:2; Ez 40:2; Mi 4:1), and a river of life flows within (Rv 22:1-2).