Timnah - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

TIMNAH

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

(1) A town in the southern part of the hill country of Judah (Joshua 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 Genesis 38:12,13,14.

(2) A town on the northern border of Judah (Joshua 15:10), lying between Beth-shemesh and Ekron. It is probably the same Timnah as Judah visited (Genesis 38:12-14), and certainly the scene of Samson's adventures (Judges 14:1); his "father-in-law" is called a "Timnite" (Judges 15:6). At this time the place is clearly Philistine (Judges 14:1), though in Joshua 19:43 it is reckoned to Dan. Being on the frontier, it probably changed hands several times. In 2 Chronicles 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 (Genesis 36:12,22,40; 1 Chronicles 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

Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'TIMNAH'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.