Zimran

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Zimran . A son of Abraham and Keturah,   Genesis 25:2 =   1 Chronicles 1:32 . The ethnological signification of the word is doubtful. The name is derived from zemer , ‘mountain-sheep or -goat,’ this animal having doubtless been the totem of the clan.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Zim'ran. (Celebrated). The eldest son of Keturah.  Genesis 25:2;  1 Chronicles 1:32. His descendants are not mentioned, nor is any hint given that he was the founder of a tribe. (B.C. 1855).

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Oldest son of Abraham by Keturah ( Genesis 25:2). Settled in the E. country. Zabram, an ancient city between Mecca and Medina (Ptolemy 6:7, Section 5), and the Zamereni a tribe in the interior of Africa, are names comparable with Zimran.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Son of Abraham and Keturah.  Genesis 25:2;  1 Chronicles 1:32 . His descendants have not been traced.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 25:2 1 Chronicles 1:32 Jeremiah 25:25

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 25:2

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

zim´ran ( זמרן , zimrān , from זמר , zemer , "wild sheep" or "wild goat," the ending - ān being gentilic; Skinner, Gen , 350): Son of Abraham and Keturah (  Genesis 25:2;  1 Chronicles 1:32 ). The various manuscripts of the Septuagint give the name in different forms, e.g. in Gen A, Ζεβράν , Zebrán  ; Codex Sinaiticus Ζεμράν , Zemrán  ; Codex Alexandrinus(1) Ζεμβράμ , Zembrám  ; Dsil Ζομβράν , Zombrán  ; and Lucian Ζεμράν , Zemrán  ; in Chronicles, Codex Vaticanus has Ζεμβράν , Zembrán , Codex Alexandrinus Ζεμράν , Zemrán , Lucian Ζεμράν , Zemrán (compare Brooke and McLean's edition of the Septuagint for Genesis).

Hence, some have connected the name with Zabram of Ptol. vi. 7,5, West of Mecca; others with the Zamareni of Pliny ( Ant. vi. 158) in the interior of Arabia; but according to Skinner and E. Meyer (see Gunkel, Gen3 , 261) these would be too far south. Curtis ( Chronicles , 72) says the name is probably to be identified with the "Zimri" of   Jeremiah 25:25 . It would then be the name of a clan, with the mountain sheep or goat as its totem. See Totemism .

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Zimran', זַמְרָן , Celebrated; Sept. Σομβρᾶν v.r. Ζεμβράμ, Σεβραν, etc.; Vulg. Zama and Zacinr-Imr ), first named of the nine sons of Abraham by Keturah ( Genesis 25:2; 1 Chronicles 1, 32). B.C. cir. 2020. His descendants are not mentioned, nor is any hint given that he was the founder of a tribe; the contrary would rather appear to be the case. Some would identify Zimran with the Zimri of  Jeremiah 25:25, but these lay too far to the north. The Greek form of the name, as found in the Sept., has suggested a comparison with Ζαβράμ, the chief city of the Cinaedocolpitae, who dwelt On the Red Sea, west of Mecca. But this is extremely doubtful, for this tribe, probably the same with the ancient Kenda, was a branch of the Joktanite Arabs, who in the most ancient times occupied Yemen, and may only have come into possession of Zabram at a later period (Knobe], Genesis ). Hitzig and Lengerke propose to connect the name Zimrari with Zimi? is a district of Ethiopia mentioned by Pliny (36, 25); but Grotius, with more plausibility, finds a trace of it in the Zameneni, a tribe of the interior of Arabia (Pliny, 6:32). ‘ The identification of Zimran with the modern Beni Omrnan and the ..Banin Zomneis of Diodorus, proposed by Mr. Forster (Geogr. of Arabia, 1, 431), cannot be seriously maintained. Winer (Handw. s.v.), suggests the Zimara of Asia Minor (Ptolemy, 5, 7, 2; Pliny, 10:20) or Zimycra (Zilpa) of Asia (Ptolemy, 6:17, 8). (See Arabia).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Zim´ran (sung, i.e. celebrated in song), a son of Abraham by Keturah, and the name of an Arabian tribe descended from him (; ). This name may perhaps be connected with the Zabram mentioned by Ptolemy as a city with a king, situated between Mecca and Medina.