Zoar

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Zo'ar. (Smallness). One of the most ancient cities of the land of Canaan. Its original name was Bela .  Genesis 14:2;  Genesis 14:8. It was in intimate connection with the cities of the "plain of Jordan" - Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, see also  Genesis 13:10, but not  Genesis 10:19. In the general destruction of the cities of the plain, Zoar was spared to afford shelter to Lot.  Genesis 19:22-23;  Genesis 19:30. It is mentioned in the account of the death of Moses as one (of the landmarks which bounded his view from Pisgah,  Deuteronomy 34:3, and it appears to have been known in the time both of Isaiah,  Isaiah 15:5, and Jeremiah.  Jeremiah 48:34.

These are all the notices of Zoar contained in the Bible. It was situated in the same district with the four cities already mentioned, namely, In the "plain" or "circle" of the Jordan, and the narrative of  Genesis 19:1 evidently implies that it was very near to Sodom.  Genesis 19:15;  Genesis 23:27. The definite position of Sodom is, and probably will always be, a mystery; but there can be little doubt that the plain of the Jordan was at the north side of the Dead Sea and that the cities of the plain must therefore have been situated there instead of at the southern end of the lake, as it is generally taken for granted they were. See Sodom . (But the great majority of scholars from Josephus and Eusebius to the present of the Dead Sea).

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 14:8; Genesis 14:10). Connected with the cities of the plain, Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim (Gen_13:10). The southern division of the Dead Sea (apparently of comparatively recent formation), abounding with salt, and throwing up bitumen, and its shores producing sulphur and nitre, answers to the valley of Siddim, "full of slime pits,";  Jeremiah 49:18;  Jeremiah 50:40;  Zephaniah 2:9;  2 Peter 2:6). Josephus speaks of Sodomitis as burnt up and as adjoining the asphaltite lake (B. J., 4:8, Section 4).

 Jeremiah 48:34).

 Genesis 13:10;  Genesis 12:8) is not to be pressed as though he could see all the plain of Jordan as far as to the S. of the Dead Sea

 Genesis 19:30). God's assurance "I will not overthrow this city ... for the which thou hast spoken"

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Zoar ( Zô'Ar ), Smallness.  Genesis 19:22-23;  Genesis 19:30. One of the cities of Canaan. Its earlier name was Bela.  Genesis 14:2;  Genesis 14:8. In the general destruction of the cities of the plain, Zoar was spared to afford shelter to Lot. It was one of the landmarks which Moses saw from Pisgah,  Deuteronomy 34:3, and it appears to have been known in the time of Isaiah,  Isaiah 15:5, and Jeremiah.  Jeremiah 48:34. It was situated in the same district with the four cities of the "plain" of the Jordan, and near to Sodom.  Genesis 19:15;  Genesis 19:23;  Genesis 19:27. See Sodom.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

One of the five cities of the plain in the land of Canaan, and which alone survived when they fell under the judgement of God. It was formerly called BELA. Lot fled to it when Sodom was destroyed, but feared to remain there.  Genesis 13:10;  Genesis 14:2,8;  Genesis 19:22-30;  Deuteronomy 34:3;  Isaiah 15:5;  Jeremiah 48:34 . Identified by some with ruins at Tell esh Shaghur, 31 50' N, 35 40' E .

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A city on the south-east side of the Dead sea, was destined, with the other four cities, to be consumed by fire from heaven; but at the intercession of Lot it was preserved,  Genesis 14:2;  19:20-23,30 . It was originally called Bela; but after Lot entreated the angel's permission to take refuge in it, and insisted on the smallness of this city, it had the name Zoar, which signifies small.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 14:2 Genesis 14:17 Genesis 19:23-24 Genesis 19:30 Isaiah 15:5 Jeremiah 48:34

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 19:22,23 Isaiah 15:5 Jeremiah 48:34 2 Kings 3

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

The city of Lot's refuge. The very name signifies little. ( Genesis 19:22)

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ZOAR . See Plain [Cities of the], Lot.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. צעִר , [fully צוֹעִר ,  Genesis 19:22-23;  Genesis 19:30], Smallness; Sept. Σηγώρ , Ζογορ , or Ζόγορα '; Josephus ᾿Ζοώρ , Τὰ Ζόαρα or Ζώαρα ; Vulg. Segor), one of the cities of the Jordan and Dead-Sea valley, and apparently, from the way in which it is mentioned, the most distant from the western highlands of Palestine ( Genesis 13:10). Its original name was BELA, and it was still so called at the time of Abram's first residence in Canaan ( Genesis 14:2;  Genesis 14:8). It was then in intimate connection with the cities of the "plain of Jordan" — Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim (see also  Genesis 13:10; but not  Genesis 10:19)- and its king took part with the kings of those towns in the battle with the Assyrian host which ended in their defeat and the capture of Lot. The change is thus, explained in the narrative of Lot's escape from Sodom. When urged by the angel to flee to the mountain, he pointed to Bela, and said, "This city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one ( מצער ) . Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not A Little One? ) and my soul shall live." The angel consented and the incident proved a new baptism to the place, "Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar ," that is, "little" ( Genesis 5:22).

This incident further tends to fix its site, at least relatively to Sodom. It must have been nearer than the mountains, and yet outside the boundary of the plain or vale of Siddim, which was destroyed during the conflagration. It would seem from  Genesis 19:22-23;  Genesis 30:30 that it lay at the foot of the mountain into, which Lot subsequently went up, and where he dwelt. That mountain was most probably the western declivity of Moab, overlooking the Dead Sea. In.  Deuteronomy 34:3 there is another slight indication of the position of Zoar. From the top of Pisgah Moses obtained his view of the Promised Land. The east, the north, and the west he viewed, and- lastly "the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, into Zoar. This is not quite definite; but, considering the scope of the passage, it may be safely concluded that the general basin of the Dead Sea is meant, and that Zoar was near its southern end. Isaiah reckons Zoar amon

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

zō´ar ( צער , צוער , cō‛ar  ; the Septuagint usually Σηγώρ , Sēgṓr , Ζόγορα , Zógora ): The name of the city to which Lot escaped from Sodom (  Genesis 19:20-23 ,  Genesis 19:30 ), previously mentioned in  Genesis 13:10;  Genesis 14:2 ,  Genesis 14:8 , where its former name is said to have been Bela. In  Genesis 19:22 , its name is said to have been given because of its littleness, which also seems to have accounted for its being spared. The location of Zoar has much to do with that of the cities of the Plain or Valley of Siddim, with which it is always connected. In  Deuteronomy 34:3 , Moses is said to have viewed "the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, unto Zoar," while in  Isaiah 15:5 and   Jeremiah 48:4 (where the Septuagint reads unto "Zoar," instead of "her little ones") it is said to be a city of Moab. The traditional location of the place is at the south end of the Dead Sea. Josephus says ( BJ , IV, viii, 4) that the Dead Sea extended "as far as Zoar of Arabia," while in Ant. , I, xi, 4, he states that the place was still called Zoar. Eusebius ( Onomasticon , 261) locates the Dead Sea between Jericho and Zoar, and speaks of the remnants of the ancient fertility as still visible. Ptolemy ( Jeremiah 48:17 ,  Jeremiah 48:5 ) regards it as belonging to Arabia Petrea. The Arabian geographers mention it under the name Zughar , Sughar , situated 1 degrees South of Jericho, in a hot and unhealthful valley at the end of the Dead Sea, and speak of it as an important station on the trade route between Akkabah and Jericho. The Crusaders mention "Segor" as situated in the midst of palm trees. The place has not been definitely identified by modern explorers, but from  Genesis 19:19-30 we infer that it was in the plain and not in the mountain. If we fix upon the south end of the Dead Sea as the Vale of Siddim, a very natural place for Zoar and one which agrees with all the traditions would be at the base of the mountains of Moab, East of Wâdy Ghurundel , where there is still a well-watered oasis several miles long and 2 or 3 wide, which is probably but a remnant of a fertile plain once extending out over a considerable portion of the shallow south end of the Dead Sea when, as shown elsewhere (see Dead Sea ), the water level was considerably lower than now.

Robinson would locate it on the northeast corner of el - Lisân on the borders of the river Kerak, but this was done entirely on theoretical grounds which would be met as well in the place just indicated, and which is generally fixed upon by the writers who regard the Vale of Siddim as at the south end of the Dead Sea. Conder, who vigorously maintains that the Vale of Siddim is at the north end of the Dead Sea, looks favorably upon theory of W.H. Birch that the place is represented by the present Tell Shaghur , a white rocky mound at the foot of the Moab Mountains, a mile East of Beth - haram ( Tell er - Râmeh ), 7 miles Northeast of the mouth of the Jordan, a locality remarkable for its stone monuments and well-supplied springs, but he acknowledges that the name is more like the Christian Segor than the original Zoar.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Zo´ar a town originally called Bala, and one of the five cities of the plain of Siddim. It was doomed with the rest to destruction, but spared at the intercession of Lot as a place to which he might escape. He alleged the smallness of the city as a ground for asking this favor; and hence the place acquired the name of Zoar, or 'smallness' (; ; ; ; ; ). It is only again mentioned in ; ; ; which passages indicate that it belonged to the Moabites, and was a place of some consequence. Eusebius and Jerome describe it as having in their day many inhabitants, and a Roman garrison. Stephen of Byzantium calls it a large village and fortress. In the Ecclesiastical Notitia it is mentioned as the seat of a bishop of the Third Palestine, down to the centuries preceding the Crusades. The Crusaders seem to have found it under the name of Segor, and they describe the place as pleasantly situated, with many palm-trees. Dr. Robinson supposes that it must have lain on the east of the Dead Sea, and he thinks that Irby and Mangles have rightly fixed its position at the mouth of the Wady Kerak, at the point where the latter opens upon the isthmus of the long peninsula which stands out from the eastern shore of the lake towards its southern end. At this point Irby and Mangles discovered the remains of an ancient town. Here 'stones that have been used in building, though for the most part unknown, are strewed over a great surface of uneven ground, and mixed with bricks and pottery. This appearance continues without interruption, during the space of at least half a mile, quite down to the plain, so that it would seem to have been a place of considerable extent. We noticed one column, and we found a pretty specimen of antique variegated glass. It may possibly be the site of the ancient Zoar' (Travels, p. 448).

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

A small village of Ohio, U.S., 91 m. S. of Cleveland, and the seat of a German Socialistic community.