Who were the Zidonians in the Bible?

In the Hebrew the name is Tzidon, as in the margin of Gen. 10:15. Sidon is the Greek form of the name.

The inhabitants of Zidon and its neighbourhood. At times the term was applied to the Phoenicians generally. They were renowned for cutting timber and as being fishermen and seamen. Deut. 3:9; Joshua 13:4, 6; Judges 3:3; Judges 10:12; Judges 18:7; 1 Kings 5:6; 1 Kings 11:1, 5, 33; 1 Kings 16:31; 2 Kings 23:13; 1 Chr. 22:4; Ezek. 32:30. The Zidonians were idolators: Baal and Ashtoreth were their gods. This is mentioned on the sarcophagus of Ashmanezer, apparently one of their kings.

Eldest son of Canaan, son of Ham, and the city in Phoenicia founded by his descendants. Gen. 10:15, 19. In scripture Tyre is nearly always mentioned first, though it is probable that in early days Zidon had the supremacy, which led to the district of Phoenicia being called Sidon, and the people thereof Zidonians. In Joshua 11:8; Joshua 19:28, it is called 'great Zidon.' It fell to the lot of Asher, but they did not drive out the inhabitants, which led to the Israelites serving the gods of the place. Judges 1:31; Judges 10:6. Solomon also loved some of their women, and imitated their form of idolatry. 1 Kings 11:1, 33.

Zidon is denounced by the prophets for destruction. It is charged with being a 'pricking brier' to the house of Israel, and a 'grieving thorn' around them. Ezek. 28:21-24. Jehovah says of Zidon, in conjunction with Tyre, that they had taken His gold and silver and pleasant things, and carried them into their heathen temples, and had also sold the children of Judah unto the Grecians, to remove them far from their border. Joel 3:4-8. A warning message from Jeremiah was sent to the king of Zidon and neighbouring kings, exhorting them to submit to Nebuchadnezzar, who was Jehovah's servant. Jer. 27:3. We do not read that Nebuchadnezzar took Zidon, indeed his lengthy siege of Tyre probably enriched Zidon. The city is mentioned in Gen. 49:13; Isa. 23:2-12; Jer. 25:22; Jer. 47:4; Ezek. 27:8; Zech. 9:2, etc.

The Lord Jesus visited its coasts, and said that it should be more tolerable in the day of judgement for Tyre and Sidon than for the cities in which He had done his mighty works. Matt. 11:21-22; Matt. 15:21; Acts 12:28; Acts 27:3.

This city, named probably after Sidon, the eldest son of Canaan, and therefore a great-grandson of Noah, gave its name to the people of Phoenicia, who are called in consequence in Scripture Sidonians (Deut.3:9, Josh.13:4,6), but never Tyrians; for Tyre, the prophet Isaiah teaches us, was a daughter of Sidon (Isa.23:12). Figuring though it does in prophecy, the mother city is not, however, so prominently the object of Divine denunciation as her more wealthy and more renowned daughter Tyre, nor has she sunk so low.

We subjoin an extract from an eyewitness describing the present appearance of the two. Of Tyre he first writes: "New Tyre is now represented by a poor village. The ancient 'mistress of the seas' can only boast of a few fishing-boats. The modern houses of a better class have had their walls so shattered by earthquakes that the inhabitants have deserted them; and the modern ramparts are so ruinous that I went in and out over them in several places." Of Sidon he writes: "The aspect of Tyre is bleak and bare, but that of Sidon rich and blooming. In fact, it is one of the most picturesque towns in Syria. It stands on a low hill which juts out into the Mediterranean, and is defended by old but picturesque walls and towers. On a rocky islet, connected with the city by a broken bridge, is a ruined castle, once the defence of the harbour. The ancient architectural remains about Sidon are few - some marble and granite columns, some pieces of mosaic pavement, and some fragments of sculptured cornice. But the tombs are interesting. They dot the plain and the mountain side beyond, and have already yielded a rich harvest to the antiquary - Phonician sarcophagi, Greek coins, funeral ornaments, and crystal vases. They would still repay a fuller inspection. The gardens and orchards of Sidon are charming. Oranges, lemons, citrons, bananas, and palms grow luxuriant, and give the environs of the old city a look of eternal spring. Sidon is one of the few spots in Syria where Nature's luxuriance has triumphed over neglect and ruin, and where a few relics of ancient prosperity still remain in street, and mart, and harbour. It is instructive to compare Tyre and Sidon. The former far outstripped the latter in grandeur, wealth, and power, but its history has been briefer and more momentous. Once and again the tide of war swept over Tyre, first leaving the old city desolate, and then the new in ruins. Sidon has been more fortunate, or perhaps I should say less unfortunate. The tide of war swept over it too, but the wave was not so destructive." [94]

Tyre and Sidon, or Zidon, were cities of great antiquity, the latter being the elder; for Zidon, first-born of Canaan, founded the city, and called it by his own name (Gen. 10:15, 19). Hence, in Matthew the woman of Tyre and Sidon is called a Canaanitess (Matt. 15:22). In the time of Joshua, it had grown to be a place of considerable size and importance, and was known as "great Zidon" (Joshua 11:8; 19:28). Zidon was included in the inheritance apportioned to the tribe of Asher (Joshua 19:24-31), but the Asherites failed to take full possession of their inheritance. They did not drive out the inhabitants of Zidon, but dwelt among the Canaanites (Judges 1:31-32).

Of these races we need dwell on no more than the first two. These can be more easily severed, as they only are personal names, the rest Gentilic. "And Canaan begat Zidon [or Sidon] the firstborn, and Heth" (ver. 15). The name of the first means, like Saida its modern appellation, "fishing." The city was built on the northern slope of a spur projecting into the sea with its citadel behind on the south. The plain was narrower between Lebanon and the sea. But the daughter city of Tyre in time outshines it, as the later prophets indicate. In earlier days we hear of "great Zidon" (Joshua 11:8, Joshua 19:28). So even Homer, who repeatedly speaks of it and its people, never named Tyre. They were then skilled in manufactures, later celebrated for their marine and as merchants. But they corrupted even Solomon's house by their abominations.

The Canaanites ("traffickers") were also determined to stay in the land. They represent the mercenary spirit of seeking material gain from spiritual things, an evil that Israel failed to banish from their land. The Sidonians (meaning "hunters") were also a test to Israel. Hunting is generally seen in scripture in an unfavorable light, as David expresses to Saul, "For the king of Israel has come out to seek a flea, as when he hunts a partridge in the mountains" (1 Sam. 26:20). This spirit of inquisition has terribly affected the Church of God through the years. There are those who hunt out what they claim to be evil and have by this means exterminated more true believers than they have heretics. Added to these were the Hivites (meaning "livers"). They stand for the hypocrisy of claiming that a decent life without any confession of Christ is sufficient to give one a favorable position before God. This is a subtle enemy indeed. May we be preserved from this wickedness.

Where does he get his statements from, that the Danites were closely associated with the Phoenicians? In the days of Israel in Palestine the strip of country to the north was not called Phoenicia at all, nor its inhabitants Phoenicians. The country was called Zidon, from its chief city, and its inbabitants Zidonians, or Canaan and Canaanites.

These are the southern foes, afterward to prove such thorns in Israel's sides. In the north were genuine Canaanites, especially the Sidonians. They were pre-eminently the merchant-race, the first-born of Canaan (Gen. 10), and had their characteristics. With them are joined the Giblites ("borderers"?) on the northern slopes of Lebanon, which belonged, all of it to Israel, though never possessed by them. Of all this we can say little to purpose here.

In Elijah's case, Jehovah was not merely sending him out of Israel's land, He was sending him into the kingdom of Jezebel's father. Israel's calamities throughout Ahab's reign proceeded principally from Zidon. This is the more remarkable when we go back somewhat in Scripture. Zidon — "called great Zidon" — was a part of the promise to Abraham, and at the time of Joshua's conquest, was actually allotted to Asher, but Asher never had sufficient faith and energy to extirpate the evils which had their seat there, and take possession of the city. Judges 1 is a miserable chapter of slothfulness and indifference; and Asher is specially mentioned in verses 31 and 32 as having failed to drive the Amorites out of Zidon, and various other cities. (Read also Joshua 11:8 and Joshua 19:28). Let us not miss the lesson of Asher's failure. If we do not in faith get the mastery over evils within ourselves, they will acquire terrible influence over us as the years pass.

This, the third chapter of the series, closes the burden of Tyre, adding a brief denunciation against Zidon, its mother city, but generally inferior in power and splendour to the daughter, not more than twenty miles apart. Each had its distinctive points: as the first brought out the shortlived pleasure of the great city of ancient commerce at Jerusalem's fall, and the second its all-concentrating traffic suddenly come to nought amidst the general consternation of men, so here "the prince of Tyrus" comes into relief, and the irremediable downfall of his pride.