A coastal city situated between Beirut and Tyre on the Phoenician coast, known as Zidon in the King James Version of the Bible.
Saida, the present town, is not a direct continuation of the ancient city. It is a development of post-Crusader times. The names Sidon and Sidonian appear 38 times in the Old Testament, and Sidon occurs 12 times in the New Testament.
The "table of nations" (Genesis 10) can date Byblos (Gebal, Jebeil), Tyre, and Sidon. It names Sidon as Canaan's firstborn son, and Canaan was a son of Ham. The territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon to Gaza and east to the Cities of the Plain.
Sidon is 35.4 kilometers (22 miles) north of Tyre. They are often associated (for example, Isaiah 23:1–2; Jeremiah 47:4; Matthew 11:21–22). Both cities were very focused on trade and industry. Sidon was built on a headland that jutted into the sea toward the southwest. It had two harbors, the northern one having inner and outer ports. Sidon was also a center for the manufacture of the purple dye made from the Murex shellfish.
The Bible mentions Sidon several times in connection with the conquest of Palestine. Joshua defeated Jabin, king of Hazor, and pursued the enemy to "Great Sidon"(Joshua 11:8). Joshua also stated that the land of Israel included all of Lebanon, “even all the Sidonians” (Joshua 13:4–6). The tribal allotment of Asher extended as far north as “Sidon the Great” (Joshua 19:28). But Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Sidon (Judges 1:31).
The gods of Sidon are among the foreign deities that Israel served (Judges 10:6); David’s census included Sidon and Tyre (2 Samuel 24:6–7). During a famine in Ahab's time, the prophet Elijah was sent to a widow's home in Zarephath (Sarepta) in Sidon (1 Kings 17:9; Luke 4:25–26). Sidon is referred to often by the Hebrew prophets (Isaiah 23:2, 4, 12; Jeremiah 25:22; 27:3; 47:4; Ezekiel 27:8; Joel 3:4; Zechariah 9:2).
In the New Testament, Jesus healed the daughter of a woman of that area (Matthew 15:21–28). People came from as far away as Tyre and Sidon to hear Jesus and to be healed by him (Luke 6:17). On his voyage to Rome to appear before Caesar, the ship stopped first at Sidon. There, the centurion, Julius, allowed Paul to visit friends ashore (Acts 27:3).