ZION Laser engraved in Hebrew letters upon rustic deals red cherry wood that measures 5.5 by 3.5 inches

ZION Laser engraved in Hebrew letters upon rustic red cherry wood that measures 5.5 by 3.5 inches.

Zion (Hebrew: צִיּוֹן‎ Ṣîyōn, LXX Σιών, also variously transliterated Sion,[2] Tzion, Tsion, Tsiyyon[3]) is a placename in the Hebrew Bible used as a synonym for Jerusalem[4][5] as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole (see Names of Jerusalem).

The name is found in 2 Samuel (5:7), one of the books of the Hebrew Bible dated to before or close to 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 deals conquered by David and was renamed the City of David. That specific hill ("mount") is one of the many squat hills that form Jerusalem, which also includes Mount Moriah (the Temple Mount), the Mount of Olives, etc. Over many centuries, until as recently as the Ottoman era, the city walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt many times in new locations, so that the particular hill known as Mount Zion is no longer inside the city wall, but its location is now just outside the portion of the Old City wall forming the southern boundary of the Jewish Quarter of the current Old City. Most of the original City of David itself is thus also outside the current city wall.

The term Tzion came to designate the area of Davidic Jerusalem where the 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.

The etymology of the word Zion (ṣiyôn) is uncertain.[4][5][6] Mentioned in the Old Testament in the Books of Samuel (2 Samuel 5:7) as the name of the Jebusite fortress conquered by David, its origin likely predates the Israelites.[4][5] If Semitic, it may be derived from the Hebrew root ṣiyyôn ("castle") or the Hebrew צִיָּה ṣiyya ("dry land", Jeremiah 51:43). A non-Semitic relationship to the Hurrian word šeya ("river" or "brook") has also been suggested[6] as also one of Hittite [7] origin.

The form ציון (Tzion, Tiberian vocalization: Ṣiyyôn) appears 108 times in the Hebrew Bible, and once with article, as HaTzion.[8][9]

Tsade is usually rendered as z in English Bible translations, hence the spelling Zion (rather than Tzion). This convention apparently originates in German orthography,[10] where z is always pronounced [t͡s].

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.[11]

In Psalm 137, Zion (Jerusalem) is remembered from the perspective of the Babylonian Captivity. "[1] By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. [2] We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. [3] For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion." In verse 8, the phrase "Daughter of Babylon" appears as a personification of Babylon or its population: "[8] O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us."

Psalm 147 uses "Jerusalem" and "Zion" interchangeably to address the faithful: "[2] The Lord doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcast of Israel. [...] [12] Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion."