Zeredah

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ZEREDAH

ZEREDAH (Heb. צְרֵדָה), home town of the Ephraimite Jeroboam the son of Nebat (i Kings 11:26). The reference to Zeredah in ii Chronicles 4:17 is a corruption of Zarethan, according to the parallel verse in i Kings 7:46. In talmudic sources it is mentioned as the home town of Yose b. Joezer, an early tanna (c. 150 b.c.e.), who, with his colleague Yose b. Johanan, formed one of the *zugot ("pairs") of Jerusalem (Avot 1:4; Eduy. 8:4; Sot. 9:9; Pes. 17b; Ned. 7:1, 40a; Tosef., bk 8:13). The accepted identification of Zeredah is with Deir Ghassāna in the district of Thamna, 16 mi. (c. 25½ km.) northeast of Lydda. The ancient name is preserved by the village spring, ʿAyn Ṣarīda, This area was originally part of Ephraim but was transferred to Judea, together with the rest of the district, in the time of Jonathan the Hasmonean. As such, it could well be the home town of the tanna Yose.

bibliography:

Press, Ereẓ, s.v.; Albright, in: basor, 49 (1933), 26–28; Yeivin, in: bjpes, 14 (1949), 88; Abel, Geog, 2 (1938), 457.

[Michael Avi-Yonah]

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