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Zorah

Biblical
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A Danite town, birthplace of Samson, associated with divine promise and Nazirite consecration.

Detailed Definition
Zorah (Judges 13) is where an angel announced Samson’s birth. In poetry, it symbolizes miraculous beginnings, the tension between destiny and weakness, and the sacredness of ordinary villages chosen for extraordinary purposes.
Example
Example in poetry:
Zorah—Samson’s birthplace—inspires Nazirite poetry: “In Zorah, Manoah’s wife heard: ‘You shall conceive a deliverer’”; A modern poem: “My Zorah is the ordinary town where extraordinary calling begins”; In a sonnet on consecration: “Samson’s strength came not from hair, but from vow—and Zorah kept it”; Liturgical verse: “Blessed Zorah, cradle of flawed but chosen strength.”
Additional Notes
Zorah (Judges 13:2, 25; 18:2) was a Danite town where Manoah and his wife received the angelic announcement of Samson’s birth. Consecrated as a Nazirite from the womb, Samson’s life embodies both divine empowerment and tragic flaw. In poetry, Zorah symbolizes the intersection of promise and peril, the burden of vocation, and the tension between holiness and human weakness—ideal for exploring the complexities of charismatic leadership and the cost of covenantal calling.
Also Known As
Zoreah
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