Zelah
Ze'lah (Heb. Tsela', צֵלִע [in pause, צֵלָע in Samuel], a rib; Sept. in Joshua Σηλά, in Samuel Πλευρὰ), a city in the tribe of Benjamin (Jos 18:28, where it is men'tioned in the south-western section between Taralah and Ha-Eleph); it contained the family tomb of Kish, the father of Saul (2Sa 21:14), in which the bones of Saul and Jonathan, and also apparently of the two sons and five grandsons of Saul sacrificed to Jehovah on the hill of Gibeah, at last found their resting-place (comp. ver. 13). The ancient geographers seem ignorant of the locality (Reland, Palaest. p. 1058); but1 modern travelers are inclined to identify it with Beit Jala (Wilson, Lands of the Bible, 1, 401; Bonar, Mission, p. 234), a considerable Christian village opposite Rachel's Tomb (Robinson, Bibl. Res. 2, 2 sq.). The suggestion of rabbi Schwarz (Palest. p. 128) is too vague. Lieut. Conder's suggestion of Rumm is equally a venture (Tent Work in Palest. 2, 340). SEE ZELZAH.
