Timnah standard
; 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):
Where is Timnah in the Bible?
Timnah was a Canaanite city located on the border between the territories of Judah and Dan in ancient Israel, in the region of the central hill country. The name appears most prominently in the biblical accounts of Samson, who visited Timnah to pursue a Philistine woman, an event that triggered conflict with the Philistines (Judges 14:1-5). Timnah is also mentioned in the story of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38:12-14, where it serves as the setting for a significant family narrative. The city is referenced in the books of Joshua as part of the territorial divisions among the Israelite tribes, appearing in the boundary descriptions of both Judah and Dan. Archaeological evidence suggests Timnah lay in the foothills between Beth-shemesh and Ekron, placing it in a strategic location near Philistine territory.
In Scripture3 biblical books; 2 with study content
- Genesis
- Joshua
- Judges
Timnah
ISBE 1915 (Public Domain); 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.
E. W. G. Masterman
tim'-hath.
See TIMNAH.
tim-nath-he'rez (timnath cherec, "portion of the sun"; Codex Vaticanus Thamnathares; Codex Alexandrinus Th