Zion (; ) is a placename in the Tanakh, often used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole.
The name is found in 2 Samuel (), one of the books of the Tanakh dated to approximately the mid-6th century BCE. It originally referred to a specific hill in Jerusalem, Mount Zion, located to the south of Mount Moriah (the Temple Mount). According to the narrative of 2 Samuel 5, Mount Zion held the Jebusite fortress of the same name that was conquered by David and was renamed the City of David. That specific hill ("mount") is one of the many squat hills that form Jerusalem.
The term Tzion came to designate the area of Davidic Jerusalem where the Jebusite fortress stood, and was used as well as synecdoche for the entire city of Jerusalem; and later, when Solomon's Temple was built on the adjacent Mount Moriah (which, as a result, came to be known as the Temple Mount), the meanings of the term Tzion were further extended by synecdoche to the additional meanings of the Temple itself, the hill upon which the Temple stood, the entire city of Jerusalem, the entire biblical Land of Israel, and "the World to Come", the Jewish understanding of the afterlife.
Over many centuries, until as recently as the 16th century (Ottoman period), the city walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt many times in new locations, so that the particular hill known in biblical times as Mount Zion is no longer within the city walls, but its location is now just outside the Old City and southeast of it. Most of the original City of David itself is thus also outside the current "Old City" wall. Adding to the confusion, another ridge, the Western Hill rather than the original Southeastern Hill (City of David) or the Southern Hill (Temple Mount), has been called 'Mount Zion' for the last two millennia.
Etymology The etymology of the word Zion (ṣiyyôn) is uncertain.
Mentioned in the Old Testament in the Books of Samuel (2 Samuel 5:7) as the name of a Jebusite fortress conquered by David, its origin seems to predate the Israelites. If Semitic, it may be derived from the Hebrew root ṣiyyôn ("castle") or the Hebrew צִיָּה ṣiyya ("dry land" or "desert", Jeremiah 51:43). A non-Semitic relationship to the Hurrian word šeya ("river" or "brook") has also been suggested as also one of Hittite origin.
The form (Tzion, Tiberian transliteration: Ṣiyyôn) appears 108 times in the Tanakh, and once with article, as HaTzion.The Responsa Project: Version 13, Bar Ilan University, 2005Kline, D.E., A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for readers of English, Carta Jerusalem, University of Haifa, 1987, pp. xii–xiii
Tsade is usually rendered as z in English translations, hence the spelling Zion (rather than Tzion). This convention originates in German orthography,Joseph Dixon, A general introduction to the Sacred Scriptures: in a series of dissertations, critical hermeneutical and historical, J. Murphy, 1853, p. 132 where z stands for the consonant .
Judaism Hebrew Bible: Zion, daughter(s) of Zion
In the Hebrew Bible, Zion first appears as the stronghold captured by David from the Jebusites in the biblical narrative; in later poetic and prophetic texts, including Psalms and Isaiah, it became a designation for the whole Jerusalem, its inhabitants, the Temple, and, after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE, the hope of restoration after exile.
Zion is mentioned 152 times in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), most often in the Prophetic books, the Book of Psalms, and the Book of Lamentations, besides six mentions in the Historical books (Kings, Samuel, Chronicles) and a single mention of the "daughters of Zion" in the Song of Songs (3:11)
Out of the 152 mentions, 26 instances are within the phrase of "Daughter of Zion" (Hebrew "bat Tzion"). This is a personification of the city of Jerusalem, or of its population.Joseph Addison Alexander, Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah (1878), p. 65.
In Psalm 137, Zion (Jerusalem) is remembered from the perspective of the Babylonian Captivity. "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows[a] there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
Psalm 147 uses "Jerusalem" and "Zion" interchangeably to address the faithful: "The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!"
Religious practice; exegesis The location of the Temple, and in particular its Holy of Holies (innermost sanctum), is the most holy place in the world for the Jewish people, seen as the connection between God and humanity. Zion is frequently mentioned in Jewish prayer. Observant Jews recite the Amidah three times a day facing the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, praying for the rebuilding of the Holy Temple, the restoration of the Temple service, the redemption of the world, and for the coming of the Messiah.
In Joseph Gikatilla's medieval Kabbalistic work ''Sha'arei Orah'', Mount Zion is interpreted as corresponding to ''Yesod'', or "Foundation", one of the ten ''sefirot'', and is described as the place from which the world was originally created. It is mystically located in the Holy of Holies of the First, Second and future Third Temple. Links: Weekly parsha; Devarim (parashah); Tisha b'Av. According to Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, "Zion is not a symbol, but a home, and the land is not an allegory but a possession."Heschel, Abraham Joshua. Israel: An Echo of Eternity. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1967. p. 15.
When taking leave of a mourner, Ashkenazi Jews recite a traditional phrase that wishes comfort to a mourner with a reassurance that they will eventually reconnect to the person who died, in the same way that God comforts the Jewish people for the destruction of the Second Temple nearly 2,000 years ago through the promise of its eventual rebuilding in the times of the Messiah.Grumet, Zvi. "The Mourners of Zion and Jerusalem", The Times of Israel, October 19, 2023. Accessed July 13, 2026. "Ashkenazi Jews have a custom of reciting the following when visiting a shiva: Hamakom yenahem etkhem betokh she’ar aveilei Tzion ViYerushalayim. May the Omnipresent comfort you amongst all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem."Moss, Aron. "Who Are 'The Mourners of Zion and Jerusalem'?", Chabad.org. Accessed July 13, 2026. "I was wondering about the traditional words of consolation said to mourners: 'May the Almighty comfort you amongst the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.'... After two millennia we still mourn for the loss of Jerusalem, but the Jewish people have never lost hope that Jerusalem will one day be rebuilt. In a similar way, we mourn the loss of our loved ones, but we have faith that we will one day be reunited with them, for our prophets have promised that the dead will come back to life in the messianic era.... While the Romans were able to destroy the buildings of Jerusalem, its spirit and inner holiness were beyond their reach." The visitor says to the mourner:
הַמָּקוֹם יְנַחֵם אֶתְכֶם בְּתוֹךְ שְׁאָר אֲבֵלֵי צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלָיִם Hamakom y'nachem etkhem b'tokh sha'ar avelei tziyon viyrushalayim: "May The Omnipresent comfort you (pl.) among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem"
Jewish–Roman wars
The name "Zion" appears in the coins minted by the revolutionary government in Jerusalem during the Great Jewish Revolt against Rome (66–73 CE). Bronze coins from the revolt bear inscriptions such as 'freedom of Zion' (from years two and three) and 'for the redemption of Zion' (from year four). David Goodblatt argues that these slogans were used to communicate the rebels' goals to the masses, serving as a unifying rallying cry for the fight for Zion. James S. McLaren suggests that its appearance on the coins may specifically refer to the Temple Mount, as part of a set of terms conveying varying layers of identity: 'Jerusalem,' representing its location and the city's as the national capital, and 'Israel,' reflecting the new independent state. According to Ya'akov Meshorer, the name "Zion" was used on the coins as a 'poetic term' with nationalistic connotations, symbolizing not only Jerusalem but also "its history, religion, culture and desire for freedom".
Mourners of Zion Beginning in the ninth century, a group of Karaite Jews calling themselves the "Mourners of Zion" (Avelei Tziyon) moved to Jerusalem in an effort to hasten the redemption of Israel. Influenced by the leadership of Daniel al-Kumisi, who issued an epistle calling for a mass return to Zion, they advocated for a physical presence in the Land of Israel as a religious duty. Once in Jerusalem, they adopted ascetic practices and produced influential religious texts, including biblical commentaries and legal treatises that formed the basis of early Karaite thought.Daniel J. Lasker, "Karaite Mourning of Zion as an Ascetic Movement," Jewish Thought (2021), p. 38
Medieval poetry: The Zionides During the Middle Ages, the longing for Zion found its most famous literary expression in the "Zionides" (Hebrew: Shirei Tziyon). Among these was the poem "Zion, do you not ask" (Tzion halo tish'ali), written by the 12th-century Sephardic Jewish poet and philosopher Judah Halevi, and incorporated into the kinnot of Tisha B'Av. Halevi embarked on his own pilgrimage to the Land of Israel in 1140.
Zionism
Although modern "Zionism" emerged in nineteenth-century Europe, its name drew on the older Jewish religious and literary use of Zion as a term for Jerusalem, the Land of Israel, and restoration. The term "Zionism", coined by Austrian Jewish writer Nathan Birnbaum, was derived from the German rendering of Tzion in his journal Selbstemanzipation ("self emancipation") in 1890.De Lange, Nicholas, An Introduction to Judaism, Cambridge University Press (2000), p. 30. .
Zionism as a modern political movement started in 1897 (First Zionist Congress) and supported a "national home", and later a state in the Land of Israel as an expression of Jewish self-determination. The Zionist movement declared the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, following the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine. Since then, and with varying ideologies, Zionists have focused on developing and protecting this state.
Zionism is characterized by proponents as an indigenous national liberation movement. Critics often characterize it as a supremacist, colonialist, racist,
Quoting Mr. Abouchaer of Syria, on p. 31: Citing Soviet ideology, on p. 136: Harkabi, Yehoshafat, Arab attitudes to Israel, pp. 247–248 and settler colonialist movement.See for example: , or
Islamic tradition Ṣahyūn (, Ṣihyawn) is the word for Zion in Arabic and Syriac. Drawing on biblical tradition, it is one of the names accorded to Jerusalem in Arabic and Islamic tradition. A valley called Wādī Sahyũn seemingly preserves the name and is located approximately one and three-quarter miles from the Old City's Jaffa Gate.
For example, the reference to the "precious cornerstone" of the new Jerusalem in the Book of Isaiah 28:16 is identified in Islamic scholarship as the Black Stone of the Kaaba. This interpretation is said by ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (1292–1350) to have come from the People of the Book, though earlier Christian scholarship identifies the cornerstone with Jesus.
Latter Day Saint
Within the Latter Day Saint movement, Zion is often used to connote a peaceful ideal society. In the Latter Day Saints belief system the term Zion is often used to denote a place of gathering for the saints. It is also often used to denote an area or city of refuge for the saints.
Rastafari movement