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{{Short description|Biblical figure and son of Jacob and Leah}}
{{About|the Biblical figure|Israelite Tribe of Zebulun|Tribe of Zebulun}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Zebulun
| image              = Zebulun (Francisco de Zurbarán).jpg
| caption            = Painting by [[Francisco de Zurbarán]] from ''[[Jacob and His Twelve Sons]]'', c. 1640–45)
| native_name        = זְבֻלוּן
| native_name_lang   = he
| pronunciation      = Zəvulun
| birth_place        = [[Paddan Aram]]
| birth_date         = 7 [[Tishrei]]
| father             = [[Jacob]]
| mother             = [[Leah]]
| spouse             = Merishah
| children           = Sered (son)<br />Elon (son)<br />Jahleel (son)<br />
<ref name="Genesis 46:14">Genesis 46:14</ref>
| relatives          = [[Reuben (son of Jacob)|Reuben]] (brother)<br />[[Simeon (son of Jacob)|Simeon]] (brother)<br />[[Levi]] (brother)<br />[[Judah (son of Jacob)|Judah]] (brother)<br />[[Dan (son of Jacob)|Dan]] (half brother)<br />[[Naphtali]] (half brother)<br />[[Gad (son of Jacob)|Gad]] (half brother)<br />[[Asher]] (half brother)<br />[[Issachar]] (brother)<br />[[Dinah]] (sister)<br />[[Joseph (Genesis)|Joseph]] (half brother)<br />[[Benjamin]] (half brother)<br />[[Rachel]] (aunt/stepmother)
}}

'''Zebulun''' ({{hebrew Name|זְבֻלוּן/זְבוּלֻן/זְבוּלוּן|Zəvūlūn|Zăḇūlūn}};<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Geoffrey |title=The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition of Biblical Hebrew, Volume 1. |publisher=Open Book Publishers |year=2020 |isbn=1783746769}}</ref> also ''Zebulon'', ''Zabulon'', or ''Zaboules'' in ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'' by [[Josephus]]) was, according to the Books of [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] and [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]],<ref name="Genesis 46:14">Genesis 46:14</ref><ref>Numbers 26:26</ref> the last of the six sons of [[Jacob]] and [[Leah]] (Jacob's tenth son), and the founder of the [[Israelites|Israelite]] [[tribe of Zebulun]]. Some [[Biblical criticism|biblical scholars]] believe this to be an [[eponym]]ous [[metaphor]] providing an [[etiology]] of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite [[confederation]].<ref>''[[Peake's Commentary on the Bible]]''</ref>{{verify source|date=September 2020}} With Leah as a [[matriarch]], [[Biblical criticism|biblical scholars]] believe the tribe to have been regarded by the text's authors as a part of the original Israelite confederation.<ref>''Jewish Encyclopedia'', ''Tribe of Zebulun''</ref>

The Tomb of Zebulun is located in [[Sidon]], [[Lebanon]]. In the past, towards the end of [[Iyyar]], Jews from the most distant parts of the [[land of Israel]] would make a pilgrimage to this tomb.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PILGRIMAGE - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12149-pilgrimage |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
The name is derived from the [[triliteral root]] {{smallcaps|zbl}}, common in [[2nd millennium BCE]] [[Ugaritic]] texts as an epithet (title) of the god [[Baal]], as well as in [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] and (frequently) in [[Biblical Hebrew]] in personal names.<ref>[http://www.asor.org/seal.article.html "Precarious Scholarship: Problems with Proposing that the Seal of Yzbl was Queen Jezebel's", Christopher A. Rollston, BASOR 2007] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226065514/http://www.asor.org/seal.article.html |date=2007-12-26 }}. The article concerns a seal ascribed to Jezebel; the first paragraph gives an overview of the root /zbl/, which Jezebel shares with Zebulun.</ref>

The text of the [[Torah]] gives two different [[etymology|etymologies]] for the name ''Zebulun'', which [[Textual criticism|textual scholars]] attribute to different sources – one to the [[Jahwist]] and the other to the [[Elohist]];<ref>[[Richard Elliott Friedman]], ''Who wrote the Bible''</ref> the first being that it derives from ''zebed'', the word for ''gift'', from Leah's view that her gaining of six sons was a gift from [[El (god)|God]]; the second being that it derives from ''yizbeleni'', meaning ''honour'',  for Leah's hope that Jacob would give her honour now that she had given birth to six sons. In [[Deuteronomy 33]], however, an allusion is made to a third potential etymology: that it may be connected with ''zibhe'', literally meaning ''sacrifice'', about commercial activities of the tribe of Zebulun<ref name=JE>''Jewish Encyclopedia''</ref> – a commercial agreement made at [[Mount Tabor]] between the tribe of Zebulun and a group of non-Israelites was referred to as ''zibhe-tzedek'', literally meaning ''sacrifice to justice'' or ''sacrifice to Tzedek''.<ref name=JE/>

== Biblical account ==
The Torah states that Zebulun had three sons – Sered, Elon, and [[Jahleel]] – each the eponymous founder of a clan.

They risked their lives on the battlefield with [[Naphtali]] from [[Judges 5]]'s ''Song of [[Deborah]] and [[Barak]]'': "Zebulun is a people who exposed its soul to death, Naphtali also -- on high places of the field."

==Druze==
In the [[Druze]] faith, the prophet Sabalan is often identified with Zebulun. Sabalan's Tomb is located in the village [[Hurfeish]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Dr. Naim Aridi|url=https://d-nb.info/1211609197/34 |title=The Druze in Israel|access-date=2025-03-30}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*{{Commonscatinline}}
*{{Cite EB1911 |last=Cook |first=Stanley Arthur |author-link=Stanley Arthur Cook |wstitle=Zebulun |short=x}}

{{Sons of Jacob}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Founders of biblical tribes]]
[[Category:Children of Jacob]]
[[Category:Tribe of Zebulun]]
[[Category:Prophets in the Druze faith]]