Timnah

tim'-na (timna`; Thamna): A conbubine of Eliphaz, Esau's son, and the mother of Amalek (Gen 36:12). But in Gen 36:22 and 1 Chr 1:39 Timna is the sister of Lotan, and in Gen 36:40 and 1 Chr 1:51 a chief or elan of Edom (see TIMNAH (3)). These variations are to be expected when the origin of genealogies is recalled. (In Genesis, English Versions of the Bible read, contrary to rule, "Timnah.") Gunkel's theory is that Gen 36:12 is a later insertion in P.

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

(1) A town in the southern part of the hill country of Judah (Josh 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 Gen 38:12; Gen 38:13; Gen 38:14.

(2) A town on the northern border of Judah (Josh 15:10), lying between Beth-shemesh and Ekron. It is probably the same Timnah as Judah visited (Gen 38:12-14), and certainly the scene of Samson's adventures (Judg 14:1); his "father-in-law" is called a "Timnite" (Judg 15:6). At this time the place is clearly Philistine (Judg 14:1), though in Josh 19:43 it is reckoned to Dan. Being on the frontier, it probably changed hands several times. In 2 Chr 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 (Gen 36:12; Gen 36:22; Gen 36:40; 1 Chr 1:39; 1 Chr 1:51). 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