za-a-nan'-im, elon betsa`anayim; or betsa`anannim Codex Vaticanus Besamiein; Codex Alexandrinus Besananim (Joshua 19:33); in Judges 4:11 Codex Vaticanus translates it as pleonektounton, and Codex Alexandrinus has anapauomenon): In Joshua 19:33 the King James Version reads "Allon to Zaanannim," the Revised Version (British and American) "the oak in Zaanannim," the Revised Version margin "oak (or terebinth) of Bezaanannim." In Judges 4:11 the King James Version reads "plain of Zaanaim," the Revised Version (British and American) "oak in Zaanannim." It is probable that the same place is intended in the two passages. It was a place on the southern border of the territory of Naphtali (Joshua), and near it the tent of Heber the Kenite was pitched (Judges). The absence of the article before 'elon shows that the "be" is not the preposition before "z", but the first letter of the name, which accordingly should be read "Bezaanannim." We should naturally look for it near Adami and Nekeb. This agrees also with the indications in Judges, if the direction of Sisera's flight suggested in MEROZ (which see) is correct. The Kadesh, then, of Judges 4:11 may be represented by the ruin Qadish on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee; and in the name Khirbet Bessum, about 3 miles Northeast of Tabor, there is perhaps an echo of Bezaanannim.

W. Ewing

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

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