{
  "id": "dict_006148",
  "term": "Zephath",
  "slug": "zephath",
  "letter": "Z",
  "entry_type": "biblical_place",
  "entry_family": "theological_term",
  "depth_profile": "standard",
  "short_definition": "A biblical place in the Negev associated with Judah and Simeon’s victory over the Canaanites; Judges 1:17 says it was renamed Hormah.",
  "simple_one_line": "Zephath is a place name in the Old Testament, later associated with the name Hormah.",
  "tooltip_text": "A biblical place in the Negev, mentioned in Judges 1:17 and connected with Hormah.",
  "aliases": [],
  "scripture_references": [],
  "original_language_terms": [],
  "related_entries": [
    "Hormah",
    "Judah",
    "Simeon",
    "Negev"
  ],
  "see_also": [
    "Hormah",
    "Cities of refuge",
    "Canaan",
    "Negev"
  ],
  "lede_intro": "Zephath is an Old Testament place name in the Negev. In Judges 1:17 it is linked with Judah and Simeon’s victory over the Canaanites and with the name Hormah.",
  "at_a_glance_definition": "Zephath was a Canaanite city or settlement in southern Judah’s sphere of conquest.",
  "at_a_glance_key_points": [
    "A place name, not a theological concept",
    "Mentioned in Judges 1:17",
    "Connected with Israel’s defeat of the Canaanites",
    "Later associated with the name Hormah",
    "Exact location remains uncertain"
  ],
  "description_academic_short": "Zephath is an Old Testament place name, mentioned in Judges 1:17 in connection with Judah and Simeon striking the Canaanites. The city is said to have been devoted to destruction and renamed Hormah. Its exact location is uncertain, but it is best understood as a biblical geographic term.",
  "description_academic_full": "Zephath is a biblical place name mentioned most clearly in Judges 1:17, where Judah and Simeon attack the Canaanites, devote the city to destruction, and call the place Hormah. The site belongs to the southern tribal and conquest setting of Israel’s early settlement in Canaan. Scripture treats Zephath as a geographic location, not as a theological idea. Its exact historical location is uncertain, but the name is significant because it marks a conquest-era event and the renaming of a place associated with divine judgment and victory.",
  "background_biblical_context": "Judges 1:17 gives the main reference to Zephath, describing the defeat of the Canaanites and the renaming of the site Hormah. The broader context is Israel’s incomplete but real conquest activity in the land after the settlement period began.",
  "background_historical_context": "Zephath is associated with the southern hill country or Negev region. As with many biblical place names, the precise archaeological identification has not been established with certainty.",
  "background_jewish_ancient_context": "Ancient readers would have recognized Zephath as a remembered conquest site tied to tribal inheritance, judgment on Canaanite opposition, and the naming of a place after a decisive event.",
  "key_texts_primary": [
    "Judges 1:17"
  ],
  "key_texts_secondary": [
    "Numbers 21:3"
  ],
  "original_language_note": "The Hebrew form is זְפַת (Zephath). The related name Hormah reflects the idea of something devoted to destruction.",
  "theological_significance": "Zephath has indirect theological significance because it is tied to God’s help in Israel’s conquest and to the theme of judgment on persistent Canaanite resistance. The term itself, however, is primarily geographic.",
  "philosophical_explanation": "As a place name, Zephath shows how biblical geography often preserves historical memory. Locations in Scripture are not mere background; they can mark covenant events, judgment, deliverance, and the unfolding of redemptive history.",
  "interpretive_cautions": "The exact site of Zephath is uncertain, and interpreters differ on how to relate Zephath and Hormah across the relevant passages. The entry should be read as a biblical place name rather than a theological category.",
  "major_views_note": "Most interpreters treat Zephath as the pre-Renaming name of the site later called Hormah, though the details of identification and chronology are not fully settled.",
  "doctrinal_boundaries": "This entry should not be used to build doctrine beyond the clear biblical themes of divine help, judgment, and conquest-era history.",
  "practical_significance": "Zephath reminds readers that God’s faithfulness is woven into real places and real events in Israel’s history. Biblical geography can help anchor the historical reliability of Scripture.",
  "meta_description": "Zephath is a biblical place name in the Negev, mentioned in Judges 1:17 and connected with the name Hormah.",
  "public_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/zephath/",
  "json_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/data/dictionary/zephath.json",
  "final_disposition": "PUBLISH_CANONICAL"
}