Zorah

Zorah was a town of the tribe of Dan in the foothills overlooking the Sorek Valley, and the hometown of Manoah and his wife. There the angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah's barren wife and announced that she would bear a son who would be 'a Nazarite unto God from the womb' and would begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. The child was Samson, and Scripture says the Spirit of the LORD began to move him in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol. After his death at Gaza, Samson's family carried his body home and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. Zorah's story is a reminder that God's deliverers often began in small, ordinary towns.

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Details

Region: Canaan
Modern Location: Tel Tzora, near Kibbutz Tzora west of Jerusalem, Israel

Strongest connections in Scripture

Judges 13 2× Judges 16

Journey Paths

Samson's Journey

Jezreel Valley → Timnah (Timnath) → Zorah

Key Passages

A Son Promised in Zorah

Judges 13:2-5

The angel of the LORD promises a Nazarite son to a barren woman of Zorah.

A²nd there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.

³ And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. ⁴ Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: ⁵ For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

The Spirit Begins to Move Samson

Judges 13:24-25

Samson grows up blessed by the LORD in the hills between Zorah and Eshtaol.

A²⁴nd the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.

²⁵ And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

Samson Buried Near Zorah

Judges 16:31

Samson's brothers bring him home to be buried in his father's tomb.

T³¹hen his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the buryingplace of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years.