Dictionaries :: Timnah

Timnah:

a portion. (1.) A town of Judah (Jos 15:10). The Philistines took possession of it in the days of Ahaz (2Ch 28:18). It was about 20 miles west of Jerusalem. It has been identified with Timnatha of Dan (Jos 19:43), and also with Timnath (Jdg 14:1,5).

(2.) A city in the mountains of Judah (Jos 15:57)= Tibna near Jeba'.

(3.) A "duke" or sheik of Edom (Gen 36:40).

Timnah:

forbidding

Timnah:

tim'-na (timnah, timnathah (Jos 19:43; Jud 14:1,2,5), "allotted portion; Codex Vaticanus Thamnatha; also several Greek variations; King James Version has Timnath in Ge 38:12,13,14; Jud 14:1,2,5; and Thimnathah in Jos 19:43):

(1) A town in the southern part of the hill country of Judah (Jos 15:57). Tibna proposed by Conder, a ruin 8 miles West of Bethlehem, seems too far N. (PEF, III, 53, Sh XVII). It is possible this may be the "Timnah" of Ge 38:12,13,14.

(2) A town on the northern border of Judah (Jos 15:10), lying between Beth-shemesh and Ekron. It is probably the same Timnah as Judah visited (Ge 38:12-14), and certainly the scene of Samson's adventures (Jud 14:1 f); his "father-in-law" is called a "Timnite" (Jud 15:6). At this time the place is clearly Philistine (Jud 14:1), though in Jos 19:43 it is reckoned to Dan. Being on the frontier, it probably changed hands several times. In 2Ch 28:18 it was captured from the Philistines by Ahaz, and we learn from Assyrian evidence (Prison Inscription) that Sennacherib captured a Tamna after the battle of Alteka before he besieged Ekron (Schrader, Die Keilinschriften und das Altes Testament, 170). The site is undoubted. It is now a deserted ruin called Tibneh on the southern slopes of the Wady es Surar (Valley of Sorek), about 2 miles West of Beth-shemesh. There is a spring, and there are evident signs of antiquity (PEF, II, 417, 441, Sh XVI).

(3) There was probably a Timna in Edom (Ge 36:12,22,40; 1Ch 1:39,51). Eusebius and Jerome (in Onomasticon) recognized a Thamna in Edom at their time.

(4) The "Thamnatha" of 1 Macc 9:50 (the King James Version) is probably another Timnah, and identical with the Thamna of Josephus (BJ, III, iii, 5; IV, viii, 1). This is probably the Tibneh, 10 miles Northwest of Bethel, an extensive ruin.

Written by E. W. G. Masterman

Timnah: 1. A Duke of Edom

Gen 36:40; 1Ch 1:51

Timnah: 2. A City in the Territory of the Tribe of Judah

Jos 15:10; 2Ch 28:18

Timnah: 3. A City in the Mountains of Judah

Jos 15:57

Timnah:

(portion).

(1.) A place which formed one of the landmarks on the north boundary of the allotment of Judah (Joshua 15:10). It is probably identical with the Thimnathah of Joshua 19:43 and that again with the Timnath, or, more accurately, Timnathah, of Samson (Judges 14:1-2; 14:5) and the Thamnatha of the Maccabees. The modern representative of all these various forms of the same name is probably Tibneh, a village about two miles west of Ain Shems (Beth‐shemesh.) In the later history of the Jews, Timnah must have been a conspicuous place. It was fortified by Bacchides as one of the most important military posts of Judea (1 Maccabees 9:50).

(2.) A town in the mountain district of Judah (Joshua 15:57). A distinct place from that just examined.

(3.) Inaccurately written Timnath in the Authorized Version, the scene of the adventure of Judah with his daughter in‐law Tamar (Genesis 38:12, 13, 14). There is nothing here to indicate its position. It may be identified either with the TIMNAH in the mountains of Judah or with the Timnathah of Samson. SEE [TIMNAH, 2.], [SAMSON, 1.].