🔼The name Ziza(h): Summary
- Meaning
- Seasonal Migration
- Etymology
- From the verb זוז (zwz), to move cyclic like a tide.
🔼The name Ziza(h) in the Bible
There are two men named זיזא (Ziza) in the Bible and one more named זיזה (Zizah), which is essentially the same name. Here they are:
- A son of Shiphi and family head of the tribe of Simeon (1 Chronicles 4:37).
- The second son of Shimei, a Gershonite Levite (1 Chronicles 23:11). This is the one who's called זיזה (Zizah). And in the preceding verse, his name is זינא (Zina).
- A son of king Rehoboam and Maacah, the daughter of Absalom (2 Chronicles 11:20).
🔼Etymology of the name Ziza(h)
The name Ziza comes from the root group זוז:
זוז
Judging from its extant derivatives, unused verb זוז (zwz) appears to have described a cyclic or tidal "ebb and flow" motion. Noun זיז (ziz) denotes roving things such as certain animals, which obviously move about their territory in circles, depending on the season. Noun מזוזה (mezuza) denotes a "place or agent" of the parental verb's cyclic motion, and refers to a door- or gate-post (and of course humans' frequent return to some fundamental truth).
🔼Ziza(h) meaning
For a meaning of the name Ziza(h), NOBSE Study Bible Name List appears to erroneously relate our name Ziza to the name Ziz and reads Brightness for both. Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names goes with an assumed verb זוז II and reads Abundance. BDB Theological Dictionary doesn't interpret this name but does list it under root זוז I. Following BDB's listing, the name Ziza(h) would mean something like On The Move or Migration. Here at Abarim Publications we would add the cyclic clause to this and translate this name with Seasonal Migration.