xin

Some wonder, “What is the meaning of Zion in Hebrew?” Here’s the answer to that question from, David Richins, a Facebook friend of mine who LOVES exploring the origins of words. In short, David answers the question, “What is the meaning of Zion in Hebrew?” simply by saying that Zion is not a Hebrew word!

The Hebrew word Zion or Tsiyyon צִיּוֹן occurs 152 times in the Old Testament. But yet, there is no clear etymology for this word. Some people think that it means ‘fortress’ or ‘citadel.’ Others have proposed that it is related to the Hebrew word tsiyyah, which means ‘dryness’ or ‘drought.’ The reality is that no one really knows what Zion means or where the word came from. This seems strange, considering how important this concept is in Jewish culture.

Then later on in his blog post, David explains that a Chinese word for “heart” sounds very much like our word “Zion”.

So in Moses 7:18, we have a very clear explanation of the word Zion. The Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind. That means that in the original language, the word Zion must be somewhere in the phrase “of one heart and one mind.” However, I am not aware of any Hebrew word resembling Zion that comes close in meaning to this phrase or any part of it. The conclusion that we can draw from this is that Zion is not a Hebrew word. It must, therefore, be a transliteration of a foreign word, or a word that predates the Hebrew language.

He goes on to explain that…

…in China, the phrase “one heart and one mind” is actually a fairly common idiom: 一心一意 (yi xin yi yi). This expression is best translated as “wholehearted devotion.”

Xin (heart)

Then he concludes that section of his fascinating article by saying,

Could xin be the basis for the word Zion? It’s hard to prove a connection between Hebrew and Chinese. But it certainly seems possible that Zion is based on very ancient ideas about the heart – ideas that have been preserved for millennia in Asian culture.

To read all of Richin’s article, go here: Zion: The Pure in Heart