Zaanaim
From Textus Receptus
Zaanaim is a place in northwest of Lake Merom, near Kedesh, in Naphtali; currently sited in Hulah Valley, Israel. Here Sisera was slain by Jael, "the wife of Heber the Kenite," who had pitched his tent in the "plain [R.V., 'as far as the oak'] of Zaanaim" (Judges 4:11).
Zaanaim means "wanderings", "the unloading of tents", the location was so called probably from the fact of nomads in tents encamping amid the cities and villages of that region.
It has been, however, suggested by some that, following the LXX. and the Talmud, the letter "b", which in Hebrew means "in," should be taken as a part of the word following, and the phrase would then be "unto the oak of Bitzanaim," a place which has been identified with the ruins of Bessum, about half-way between Tiberias and Mount Tabor.[1]
This article incorporates text from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), a publication now in the public domain.
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Easton's Bible Dictionary
Wanderings; the unloading of tents, so called probably from the fact of nomads in tents encamping amid the cities and villages of that region, a place in the north-west of Lake Merom, near Kedesh, in Naphtali. Here Sisera was slain by Jael, “the wife of Heber the Kenite,” who had pitched his tent in the “plain [R.V., 'as far as the oak'] of Zaanaim” (Jdg_4:11). It has been, however, suggested by some that, following the LXX. and the Talmud, the letter b, which in Hebrew means “in,” should be taken as a part of the word following, and the phrase would then be “unto the oak of Bitzanaim,” a place which has been identified with the ruins of Bessum, about half-way between Tiberias and Mount Tabor.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
Rather "oak" or "terebinth of Zaanaim"; 'elown (Jdg_4:11). Zaanannim (Jos_19:33). Heber the Kenite pitched his tent unto it when Sisera took refuge with his wife Jael. Near Kedesh Naphtali; "the plain of the swamp" (Targum). The Talmud (Megillah Jerus. i.) identifies it with Agniya (agne means "swamp") hak Kodesh, the marsh on the northern border of lake Huleh; still the Bedouins' favorite camping ground. Stanley, however, conjectures the "green plain with massive terebinths," adjoining on the S. the plain containing the remains of Kedesh. Possibly from a Hebrew root "to load beasts" as nomads do. But as the Kedesh meant in Judges 4 is that on the shores of the sea of Galilee, only 16 miles from Tabor the scene of the battle, and within the bounds of Naphtali, the place called Bessum in the plain between this Kedesh and Tabor (identical with Bitzaanaim, and near Adami (Jos_19:33), now ed Dameh, and Nekeb now Nakib) doubtless corresponds to Zaanaim. Thus, Sisera's flight will be but for five or six miles from the scene of his defeat, not too far for one already fatigued, and in a line just opposite to that of the pursuit of his army toward Harosheth. (See KADESH; KEDESH). (Palestine Exploration Quarterly Statement, October 1877, p. 191, 192.)
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
zā-a-nā´im. See ZAANANNIM.
Nave's Topical Bible
Called also Zaanannim, a plain near Kedesh. Jos_19:33; Jdg_4:11
Smith's Bible Dictionary
Za-ana'im. (removings). The plain of Zaanaim. Or more accurately, "the oak by Zaanaim," a tree -- probably a sacred tree -- mentioned as marking the spot near which Heber, the Kenite, was encamped when Sisera took refuge in his tent. Jdg_4:11. Its situation is defined as "near Kedesh," that is, Kedesh-naphtali, the name of which still lingers on the high ground north of Safed and two or three miles west of the lake of el-Huleh (waters of Merom). This whole region abounds in oaks.
