Sidon

Illustration of Sidon

Sidon was an ancient Phoenician port city on the Mediterranean coast north of Israel, often paired with Tyre in biblical accounts as a center of trade and pagan influence. The prophet Elijah stayed in the Sidonian town of Zarephath during a drought-induced famine, where God sustained him and a local widow through multiplied oil and flour before raising her son, illustrating divine provision beyond Israel's borders. Centuries later Jesus visited the district of Tyre and Sidon, healing the daughter of a Canaanite woman whose persistent faith he commended, an event he himself linked to Elijahโ€™s earlier ministry there. These episodes establish Sidon as a scriptural witness to Godโ€™s willingness to extend mercy and miracles to Gentiles, underscoring themes of inclusion that run through both Testaments.

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Details

Region
Asia Minor
Modern Location
Sidon (Saida), Lebanon
Strongest connections in Scripture
1 Kings 17 Mark 7 1 Kings 16

Nearby Places

(within ~40 km)

Key Passages

Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath

1 Kings 17:8-16

God sends Elijah to a Gentile widow near Sidon during famine - demonstrating that His provision extends beyond Israel's borders to those who trust Him.

A8nd the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. 13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. 15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.

Jesus Visits Tyre and Sidon

Mark 7:24-31

Jesus ministers in this Gentile region, healing a Syrophoenician woman's daughter - previewing the gospel's extension to all nations.

A24nd from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid.

25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. 27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the childrenโ€™s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. 28 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the childrenโ€™s crumbs. 29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. 30 And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed. 31 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.

Jezebels Origin

1 Kings 16:31

Jezebel comes from Sidon's royal family - her Phoenician background explains her devotion to Baal and her corrupting influence on Israel's worship.

A31nd it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.

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