SIDON

(Siʹdon), Sidonians (Si·doʹni·ans).

Canaan’s firstborn son Sidon was the progenitor of the Sidonians. The seaport town of Sidon was named after their forefather, and for many years it was the principal city of the Phoenicians, as the Greeks called the Sidonians. Today the city is known as Saida.

A colony of Sidonians also settled some twenty-two miles (35 kilometers) S of Sidon and called the place Tyre. In time Tyre surpassed Sidon in many respects, but she never completely lost her identity as a Sidonian settlement. The king of Tyre was sometimes called “the king of the Sidonians” (1 Ki. 16:31), and frequently Tyre and Sidon are mentioned together in prophecy. (Jer. 25:22; 27:3; 47:4; Joel 3:4; Zech. 9:2) Between the two cities was Zarephath, “which belongs to Sidon” and where Elijah was fed by a widow during a prolonged famine.—1 Ki. 17:9; Luke 4:25, 26.

Originally Sidon was considered the N limit of the Canaanite nations. (Gen. 10:19) After Joshua’s conquest of the kings of northern Canaan (who had been pursued as far N as “populous Sidon”) the land was divided among the nine and a half tribes who had as yet received no allotment. At that time land under Sidon’s control was yet remaining to be taken. (Josh. 11:8; 13:2, 6, 7; Num. 32:33) Asher received the coastal plains immediately S of Sidon, and, as had been prophesied, Zebulun’s territory lay with ‘his remote side toward Sidon,’ that is, in the N part of the Promised Land. (Josh. 19:24, 28; Gen. 49:13) The Asherites, however, instead of driving the Sidonians out of their God-assigned territory, were content to settle down among them. (Judg. 1:31, 32; 3:1, 3) During the period of the Judges the tribe of Dan annexed Laish, possibly a Sidonian colony, and renamed it Dan. The conquest was accomplished with apparent ease, for the people were “quiet and unsuspecting,” hence unprepared for the attack. (Judg. 18:7, 27-29) Sidon is also mentioned in connection with the census taken in David’s day.—2 Sam. 24:6.

A port city favored with two of the few harbors on the Phoenician coast, Sidon became a great trading center where overland caravans met and exchanged their wares for goods brought in vessels plying the shipping lanes of the Mediterranean. Among the Sidonians were wealthy merchants, skilled sailors and hardy rowers. (Isa. 23:2; compare Ezekiel 27:8, 9.) Sidonians were also famous for their craftsmanship in the manufacture of glass and perfumes, in their weaving and dyeing of cloth. They were also noted for their ability as loggers and lumbermen.—1 Ki. 5:6; 1 Chron. 22:4; Ezra 3:7.

SIDONIAN RELIGION AND ITS CONSEQUENCE

Religiously, the Sidonians were depraved, lewd sex orgies in connection with the goddess Ashtoreth being a prominent part of their worship. The Israelites, allowing the Sidonians to remain among them, were eventually ensnared into worshiping their false gods. (Judg. 10:6, 7, 11-13) Some of the foreign wives that Solomon married were Sidonians, and these caused the king to go after the disgusting fertility goddess Ashtoreth. (1 Ki. 11:1, 4-6; 2 Ki. 23:13) King Ahab also did what was bad in Jehovah’s eyes by marrying Jezebel, the daughter of a Sidonian king. Jezebel, in turn, zealously promoted false worship in Israel.—1 Ki. 16:29-33; 18:18, 19.

The Sidonians were made to drink of Jehovah’s wrath, first by hearing the pronouncements of his prophets, and later by the destruction meted out at the hands of the Babylonians and others. (Isa. 23:4, 12; Jer. 25:17, 22; 27:1-8; 47:4; Ezek. 28:20-24; 32:30; Joel 3:4-8; Zech. 9:1-4) Secular history reports that the empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome each in turn dominated Sidon.

SIDONIAN HISTORY DURING FIRST CENTURY C.E.

But, despite all the Sidonians’ corrupt manner of worship, they were not as reprehensible as wayward Israel. Hence, Jesus said it would be more tolerable on Judgment Day for the people of Sidon than for those Jews of Chorazin and Bethsaida who rejected Jesus as Messiah. (Matt. 11:20-22; Luke 10:13, 14) Sometime later, when Jesus was traveling through the district around Sidon, a Phoenician woman showed faith in him. (Matt. 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-31) However, the ‘crowds’ that Jesus had cured previously, among whom were some from around Tyre and Sidon, were no doubt in the majority Jews or proselytes. (Mark 3:7, 8; Luke 6:17) On his first trip to Rome as a prisoner Paul was permitted to visit with the brothers in Sidon.—Acts 27:1, 3.

For reasons not stated by history, Herod Agrippa I was in a “fighting mood” against the Sidonians, who were supplied with food from the king. When a day was set for reconciling matters, and the Sidonians were applauding Herod as speaking with “a god’s voice, and not a man’s,” Jehovah’s angel struck him so that he was soon eaten up with worms.—Acts 12:20-23.

SIGMA

SIGMA [C, Σ, σ, ς]. The eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, from which the English “s” originates. In the later cursive writing, when a word ends with sigʹma, its normal minuscular sign (σ) is not used, but ς is used in its place. However, when, as in the more ancient manuscripts, a word is in all capitals, the same letter (C or Σ) is used in all cases.

Sigʹma is derived from the Hebrew sin. As a number, accented sigma (σ΄) equals 200, and, with the subscript (,‏σ), 200,000. The final form of the letter when accented (ς΄) denotes six, as in Revelation 13:18.

SIGN

[Heb., ʼohth; Gr., se·meiʹon].

Among the many signs that Jehovah has provided for human guidance, the first mentioned as such are the heavenly luminaries, the sun and the moon. (Gen. 1:14) They are time indicators as well as visible signs of God’s existence and qualities. (Ps. 19:1-4; Rom. 1:19, 20) Evidently because of looking to these luminaries as well as to the stars for omens, as by astrology, the nations have been “struck with terror,” as stated at Jeremiah 10:2. Other “signs” might include any object, act, situation or unusual display that served as a guide for present or future action or attitude.

PURPOSES OF SIGNS

Jehovah gave signs as an assurance of truthfulness and dependability of his words. (Jer. 44:29; 1 Sam. 2:31-34; 10:7, 9; 2 Ki. 20:8-11) They gave evidence of God’s backing of Moses or other servants (Ex. 3:11, 12; compare Judges 6:17, 20-22); of an apostle (2 Cor. 12:12); of the Christian congregation.—1 Cor. 14:22.

Signs were not essential to prove God’s backing, as is seen in the case of John the Baptist. (John 10:41; Matt. 11:9-11) Also, a false prophet might perform a sign, but he could be identified as false by the means Jehovah provided.—Deut. 13:1-5; 18:20-22; Isa. 44:25; Mark 13:22; 2 Thess. 2:9; Rev. 13:13, 14; 19:20.

Certain signs are reminders, remembrancers, memorials. (Gen. 9:12-14; 17:11; Rom. 4:11) The sabbaths and the Passover constituted memorial signs for the Jews. (Ex. 13:3-9; 31:13; Ezek. 20:12, 20) A sign of a literal or symbolic nature could serve as an identification.—Num. 2:2; Ex. 12:13.

A SIGN DEMANDED OF JESUS

During Jesus’ ministry he performed numerous signs that helped many to believe in him. (John 2:23) But the signs did not produce faith in hardhearted ones. (Luke 2:34; John 11:47, 53; 12:37; compare Numbers 14:11, 22.) When on two occasions religious leaders asked Jesus to display to them a sign from heaven they likely were demanding that he perform, as proof that he was the Messiah, the sign foretold at Daniel 7:13, 14, namely, the “son of man” appearing with the clouds of the heavens to take his kingdom power. But it was not God’s time for that prophecy to be fulfilled, and Christ would not perform a showy display merely to gratify their selfish demand. (Matt. 12:38; 16:1) Rather, he told them that the only sign that would be given them was “the sign of Jonah the prophet.” (Matt. 12:39-41; 16:4) After about three days in the belly of a huge fish Jonah had gone and preached to Nineveh. Jonah thereby became a “sign” to the capital of Assyria. Jesus’ generation had the “sign of Jonah” when Christ spent parts of three days in the grave and was resurrected. In this Christ was a sign to that generation, but even that did not convince most of the Jews.—Luke 11:30; 1 Cor. 1:22.

SIGN OF CHRIST’S PRESENCE

Shortly before Jesus’ death his apostles asked him: “What will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?” (Matt. 24:3; Mark 13:4; Luke 21:7) There were distinct differences between this question and the requests for a sign that the religious leaders had made. While right there, able to see him and his works, those leaders would not accept him as Messiah and king-designate. (John 19:15) Once they asked for a sign “to tempt him” (Luke 11:16); also some may have been infected with idle curiosity about Jesus’ signs, as was Herod. (Luke 23:8) Quite the opposite, the disciples who asked about the sign of Christ’s presence already accepted him as Messiah and King. (Matt. 16:16) But Jesus had said that the Kingdom was “not coming with striking observableness.” (Luke 17:20) Consequently (though the apostles mistakenly believed that the Kingdom would be established on earth [Acts 1:6]), they did not want to be like the Jewish leaders when the Kingdom should arrive—blind to Jesus’ presence. Accordingly, they asked, not for a miraculous sign to be performed right there, but what the future identifying sign would be.

In response Jesus described a composite “sign,” one made up of many evidences, including wars, earthquakes, persecution of Christians and a preaching about the Kingdom. (Matt. 24:4-14, 32, 33) The destruction of Jerusalem and its temple was under consideration when the disciples asked Jesus for the “sign” (Luke 21:5-7), and his reply gave prophecies that applied to Jerusalem and Judea, that were fulfilled during their lifetime. (Luke 21:20; Matt. 24:15) But his answer also dealt with the establishment of the kingdom of God and its effects on all mankind.—Luke 21:31, 35.

“Sign of the Son of man”

On that occasion Jesus said to his disciples: “And then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in lamentation, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matt. 24:30; Luke 21:27) Just before this comment he had spoken of the prophet Daniel. (Matt. 24:15; Dan. 9:27; 11:31) And from the expression Jesus here used it is evident that he was now referring back to Daniel 7:13, 14, where the vision depicted “with the clouds of the heavens someone like a son of man” gaining access to the “Ancient of Days” and receiving a ‘kingdom that will not be brought to ruin.’ This linked the “sign of the Son of man” with the time when Jesus would be given Kingdom power. Jesus applied the expression “Son of man” and the prophecy at Daniel 7:13, 14 to himself.—Matt. 26:63, 64; Mark 14:61, 62.

About 96 C.E., twenty-six years after the destruction of Jerusalem, John wrote about things that would take place in the future, and he saw in vision Jesus Christ “coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him.” (Rev. 1:1, 7) Hence, both this statement about something that was to take place after 96 C.E. and what Christ said about the “sign of the Son of man” referred to Jesus as coming in the clouds and as being seen by all people. (See CLOUD.) It should be noted, however, that while the Greek verb ho·raʹo, “to see,” used at Matthew 24:30 and Revelation 1:7, can mean literally to “see an object, behold,” it can also be used metaphorically, of mental sight, to “discern, perceive.”—A Greek-English Lexicon by Liddell and Scott (Ninth ed., p. 1245a).

For a comparison of “miracles,” “portents” and “signs,” see MIRACLES; PORTENT.

SIGNAL

This commonly translates the Hebrew word nes. (NW, RS) The term appears to denote a stationary pole or stake occupying an elevated site and is used both literally and figuratively. Hence, it does not denote a signal for sending messages, such as a “smoke signal” (Judg. 20:38, 40) or a “fire signal” (Jer. 6:1), for which other Hebrew words are used. Rather, such a pole could serve as a rallying point to which people or armies could assemble themselves. (Isa. 5:26; 13:2; 18:3; 30:17; 31:9; Jer. 4:6, 21; 50:2; 51:12, 27; compare Psalm 60:4, NW, 1957 ed., ftn. a.) For example: When the Israelites on one occasion complained about manna and the lack of water. Jehovah punished them by sending poisonous serpents among them. After the Israelites manifested repentance, Jehovah instructed Moses to fashion a serpent and to place it upon a signal pole (nes). “Moses at once made a serpent of copper and placed it upon the signal pole; and it did occur that if a serpent had bitten a man and he gazed at the copper serpent, he then kept alive.” (Num. 21:5-9) Evidently this signal pole stood in a fixed location and was doubtless on an elevated place so that it was visible to the Israelites who had been bitten by serpents.

Similarly, in 537 B.C.E., Jerusalem (foretold to be rebuilt) became the signal that beckoned the Jewish remnant to leave the lands to which they had been dispersed and to return to the then desolated Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. (Isa. 11:11, 12; compare Isaiah 49:22; 62:10, 11.) The prophecy, however, is not limited to this sixth-century application. Isaiah 11:10 reads: “And it must occur in that day that there will be the root of Jesse that will be standing up as a signal for the peoples.” The apostle Paul applied these words to Christ Jesus, the one who would rule nations. (Rom. 15:8, 12) Also, Jesus spoke of himself as the ‘root of David’ the son of Jesse. (Rev. 22:16) Accordingly, the signal is Christ Jesus as reigning king standing on heavenly Mount Zion.—Compare Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 14:1.

SIGNATURE

In protesting his innocence before his three “companions” who were charging that sins against God were the cause for his suffering, Job presented evidence and argument as to his blamelessness. He called upon God to hear his case and give him an answer, saying: “O that I had someone listening to me, that according to my signature the Almighty himself would answer me! Or that the individual in the case at law with me had written a document itself!” (Job 31:35) Job here expressed willingness to present his case before God, affixing his own signature to it in attestation. The word “signature” is a translation of the Hebrew word taw, which is also the name of the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

A signature was evidently an identifying mark (compare the use of taw at Ezekiel 9:4, 6), and may have been, at times, the impression of one’s signet ring or cylinder seal, or it may have been a written mark peculiar to the user, or one selected by him as an identification. The apostle Paul wrote a greeting in his own handwriting at the end of his letters as a “sign” of the letter’s authenticity as coming from Paul.—2 Thess. 3:17, 18.

SIHON

(Siʹhon).

An Amorite king at the time Israel approached the Promised Land. Sihon’s kingdom at one time extended from the torrent valley of Jabbok, where it bordered King Og’s domain, down at least to the torrent valley of Arnon, and from the Jordan River eastward toward the desert. His capital city was Heshbon, E of the northern end of the Dead Sea. (Num. 21:23, 24; Josh. 12:2, 3) Sihon had seized the