Zorah (Tzorah)
צָרְעָה
Where was biblical Zorah? At Tel Tzora, on the ridge above Kibbutz Tzora, about 25 km west of Jerusalem. I mark it very likely.
Samson was born on this hilltop, a Nazirite growing up in the middle of wine country.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- Tel Tzora, on the ridge above Kibbutz Tzora
- How sure
- Very likely Strong evidence, with no serious rival.
- Other names
- Tzora, Zoreah, Sar'a, Zarha, Amarna letters, Tel Tzora
- Location
- 31.7754° N, 34.9855° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
The name never left. Until 1948 the Arab village on this hill was called Sar'a, which is Tzor'ah worn smooth by three thousand years of use. Egyptian letters from the 14th century BCE already mention a town here called Zarha.
The geography does the rest. The Book of Judges keeps placing Samson "between Tzorah and Eshtaol," in the camp of Dan. Stand on the tel and Eshtaol is the next hilltop over. Look down into the Sorek Valley and you see Tel Batash, biblical Timnah, low on the valley floor. That is why the text says Samson "went down" to Timnah. He was coming from up here. The text isn't being poetic. It's being literal.
At the top of the tel there is a winepress cut into the rock. Picture the harvest: the whole town dancing on the grapes, everyone drinking the fresh juice. Samson was a Nazirite from the womb, and he couldn't touch any of it. You start to understand why he grew up an outsider.
In the fields below the tel there's a block of bedrock carved into an altar. The Hebrew says Manoah brought his offering "on the tzur." That isn't an even, a loose stone, but an outcrop of the bedrock itself. This altar is exactly that, one of only two altars in the Land carved out of living rock. The local farmers called it the altar of Manoah long before archaeologists took an interest. I can't prove it's the one. But I think the case is very strong.
Watch: Samson's Secret
Walking Tanach, Episode 1. Filmed on the tel and at Manoah's altar.
Visiting today
Tel Tzora is a free hilltop walk with a view over the Sorek Valley. Manoah's Altar sits in a field at the edge of the Har Tuv industrial zone. I filmed both for the Walking Tanach episode Samson's Secret.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Tzorah on the interactive map →
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Get the print + free ebookNearby places
- Eshtaol 2 km east
- Beth Shemesh 3 km south
- Timnah 7 km west
- Jarmuth 7 km south
- Aijalon (Ayalon) 8 km northeast
- Azekah 10 km southwest