Timnah

a portion.

forbidding

(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 Judges 14:2 Judges 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 Macc. 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 Genesis 38:13 Genesis 38:14 ) There is nothing here to indicate its position. It may be identified either with the Timnah in the mountains of Judah No. 23 or with the Timnathath of Samson [No. 1].

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