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Sidon - location profile

Location and Setting

• The home of the sea-faring Phoenicians, Sidon, along with Tyre, guarded the eastern Mediterranean coast. It served as an important seaport, not only for Phoenicia, but also for Israel and Syria.
• Sidon’s identity was often linked with Tyre, another Phoenician seaport, twenty-five miles to the south. Together with Sidon and Tyre, the coastal cities of Byblos and Aradus farther to the north formed the four major seaports of the Phoenicians. Each city functioned as an independent city-state, with little political unity among them.
• In addition to being an important seaport, the city of Sidon was known for two industries. The mountains of Lebanon, just inland from the coast, produced the "cedars of Lebanon" as well as cypress trees. Traders from throughout the Mediterranean world sailed to Sidon to obtain cedar timbers for construction. The Sidonians had also learned to harvest purple dye from the murex shells found in the sea. This dye was used to color textiles. (The name ‘Phoenicia’ was derived from the Greek word meaning "purple dye.")
• The Hebrew name, tsidon, means "fishing" or "fishery," reflecting Sidon’s important fishing industry in ancient times.

Historical and Biblical Significance

• Sidon is mentioned very early in the biblical record. Noah's great-grandson was named Sidon. It is possible that Sidon gave his name to the city because of the territory of Canaan, Sidon's father, which extended from the city of Sidon to Gaza in the south (Gen 10:15,19).
• During the northern campaign of the Conquest, Joshua defeated the coalition of northern kings and pursued them as far as Sidon (Josh 11:8). Joshua assigned the surrounding region to the tribe of Asher (Josh 19:28). The Asherites did not completely drive out the inhabitants of Sidon, but lived among the Canaanites, tolerating them and eventually following them in their idolatrous worship and evil practices (Judg 1:31-32; 10:6). During David’s reign, Israelites were living in the region; Joab traveled as far north as Sidon to take the census of fighting men (2 Sam 24:6).
• The Sidonians provided large quantities of cedar to King Solomon for building the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Chr 22:4). The cedar logs were bound together in rafts and floated down the Mediterranean coast and then transported by oxcart from the coast to Jerusalem.
• Ahab, king of the Northern Kingdom, formed an alliance with Ethbaal, king of Sidon. This alliance was sealed by the marriage of Ahab to Jezebel, King Ethbaal’s daughter. Ahab then built a temple to Baal in Samaria, his capital, and began to worship Baal. Jezebel, from Sidon, thus played a major role in introducing Baal worship into Israel.
• Several of the prophets spoke about Sidon. Isaiah prophesied that Sidon would "pass over to Cyprus" (Isa 23:2, 4, 12). Jeremiah foretold that Sidon would fall "into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar" (Jer 27:3, 6). Ezekiel delivered the message that God was against Sidon (Ezek 28:21-22). Joel spoke out against the people of Sidon because they "sold the sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks…" (Joel 3:4-6).
• Sidon remained an influential city during the first century A.D. People from Sidon came to Galilee to see Jesus’ miracles. (Mark 3:8; Luke 6:17).
• On one occasion, Jesus and His disciples passed through the region of Tyre and Sidon. There He healed the daughter of a Syrophoenician woman (Matt 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-31).
• In rebuking unbelief in Galilee, Jesus said that even though the people of Tyre and Sidon were pagans, they would have repented if they had seen as many miracles as Chorazin and Bethsaida had seen (Luke 10:13-14).
• On Paul’s final journey from Caesarea to Rome, the ship on which he was sailing made a brief stop at Sidon, where Paul had opportunity to visit some friends (Acts 27:3).

Bibliography

1. Aharoni, Y. and M. Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993.
2. DeVries, LaMoine F. Cities of the Biblical World. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997.
3. Lockyer, Sr., Herbert, ed. Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986.
4. Smith, William. The New Smith’s Bible Dictionary. Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1966.
5. Van Elderen, B. "Sidon" The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.