Sidon

Sidon (also spelled Zidon; Hebrew meaning fishing or fishery) was the oldest and originally the most important of the Phoenician city-states, situated on the Mediterranean coast north of Tyre in modern Lebanon. Genesis 10:15 lists Sidon as the firstborn son of Canaan, reflecting the city's primacy among Canaanite coastal settlements. The territory of Sidon defined the northern boundary of Canaan (Genesis 10:19). Though allotted to the tribe of Asher (Joshua 19:28), Sidon was never conquered by Israel.

Sidon was renowned for its craftsmen, sailors, and merchants. Jezebel, whose marriage to Ahab brought Baal worship into Israel, was the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians (1 Kings 16:31). Jesus visited the region of Tyre and Sidon and healed the Syrophoenician woman's daughter there (Matthew 15:21; Mark 7:24). Paul stopped at Sidon on his voyage to Rome, where Julius the centurion allowed him to visit friends (Acts 27:3). Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Joel all include Sidon in their oracles against the nations.