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Zuzim (biblical people) According to the Hebrew Bible, the Zuzim or Zuzites (Hebrew: זוּזִים, Zūzīm) were a tribe who lived in Ham, a land east of the Jordan River between Bashan and Moab.[1] The etymology of the name is unknown, but may derive from the Hebrew zīz (זִיז) which roughly translates to "moving things"/"things which move" (perhaps "nomad", in this context).[2] According to the text, the Zuzim were conquered by an invading coalition of kings led by the Elamite King Chedorlaomer (Genesis 14:5). This is the only time in the Hebrew Bible that they are mentioned; however, because they are listed alongside the Emim, which is later described in the Book of Deuteronomy as the Moabite term for rephaim,[3] some scholars identify the Zuzim with the Zamzummim (Deuteronomy 2:20), a tribe of the Rephaim living in the same region later occupied by the Ammonites, who were also described as coterminous with the Emim.[2] References
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