View source for Sion - Zion

The two place-names (used [[Literal - figurative|literally and figuratively]]) '''Sion''' and '''Zion''' have the same [[denotation]]. They are different [[Transliterate|transliteration]]s of the Hebrew צִיּוֹן (''Tsiyyon''), and both are pronounced with the [[Voice (phonetic)|voiced]] consonant 'z-', {{IPA|ˈzaɪ ɒn}}. There is no reason to prefer one English spelling over the other, except perhaps for some the fact that the [[Authorized Version]] uses 'Sion', and for others the fact that 'Zion' is still a recognized topographical name in Israel.

::'Zion' began as the name of a Jebusite fortress captured by [[King David#King David of Israel|David]]. 'Zion' was then applied to the hill on which the fortress stood - '''Mount Zion'''. (That name is now applied to a different hill, still within the city of Jerusalem.) By a process of using a part to mean the whole ([[Synecdoche]]), '''Zion''' has become a name for the whole of Jerusalem, and even, as in the name of the political movement '''Zionism''', a name for the nation of which Jerusalem is the capital (currently Israel, and previously Palestine, Judah, Judea, Judaea etc). Then it became used [[figuratively]] to denote larger units, such as the Jewish people; the household of God; heaven, or the afterlife; the Christian church, or a sect thereof. It often indicates an ideal state, such as 'the new Jerusalem'. This may be seen in the hymn [[Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken]].

::::A house in west London, owned by the Percy family, including the Dukes of Northumberland, since 1594, is called '''Syon House'''. It was built on the lands of '''Syon Abbey''', a nunnery closed in 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.It had been founded in 1415. '''Syon Lane''' and '''Syon Park''' share the spelling, as they owe their names to the convent.

::::'''Daughters of Zion''' is a phrase used to mean the Jewish  people, or, more limitedly, Jerusalem. The term was later used [[figurative]]ly, for example among American slaves. '''Zion''' is also to be found among church names. The similar "Zion's children" is used in the hymn [[Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken]].

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