How to Pronounce Zion

ZAI-uhn

Zion is pronounced ZAI-uhn (ˈzaɪən): two syllables, stress on the first. Also heard: ZIGH-un, ZYE-uhn.

What does Zion mean?

Zion means “monument; raised up; sepulcher”.

Hitchcock’s Bible Names (1869), public domain.

Where was Zion?

Sunny; height, one of the eminences on which Jerusalem was built. It was surrounded on all sides, except the north, by deep valleys, that of the Tyropoeon (q.v.) separating it from Moriah (q.v.), which it surpasses in height by 105 feet. It was the south-eastern hill of Jerusalem. When David took it from the Jebusites (Josh. 15:63; 2 Sam. 5:7) he built on it a citadel and a palace, and it became “the city of David” (1 Kings 8:1; 2 Kings 19:21, 31; 1 Chr. 11:5). In the later books of the Old Testament this name was sometimes used (Ps. 87:2; 149:2; Isa. 33:14; Joel 2:1) to denote Jerusalem in general, and sometimes God’s chosen Israel (Ps. 51:18; 87:5).

Adapted from Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897), public domain.

Also pronounced

ZIGH-un
ZYE-uhn

Found in Scripture

Other names from 2 Samuel

In other languages

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