Sacred Texts Bible Index

Tin Heb. bedil (Num. 31:22; Ezek. 22:18, 20), a metal well known in ancient times. It is the general opinion that the Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon obtained their supplies of tin from the British Isles. In Ezek. 27:12 it is said to have been brought from Tarshish, which was probably a commercial emporium supplied with commodities from other places. In Isa. 1:25 the word so rendered is generally understood of lead, the alloy with which the silver had become mixed (ver. 22). The fire of the Babylonish Captivity would be the means of purging out the idolatrous alloy that had corrupted the people.

Tinkling ornaments (Isa. 3:18), anklets of silver or gold, etc., such as are still used by women in Syria and the East.

Tiphsah passing over; ford, one of the boundaries of Solomon's dominions (1 Kings 4:24), probably "Thapsacus, a great and wealthy town on the western bank of the Euphrates," about 100 miles north-east of Tadmor. All the land traffic between the east and the west passed through it. Menahem undertook an expedition against this city, and "smote Tiphsah and all that were therein" (2 Kings 15:16). This expedition implied a march of some 300 miles from Tirzah if by way of Tadmor, and about 400 if by way of Aleppo; and its success showed the strength of the Israelite kingdom, for it was practically a defiance to Assyria. Conder, however, identifies this place with Khurbet Tafsah, some 6 miles west of Shechem.

Tiras the youngest of the sons of Japheth (Gen. 10:2; 1 Chr. 1:5).

Tires "To tire" the head is to adorn it (2 Kings 9:30). As a noun the word is derived from "tiara," and is the rendering of the Heb. p'er, a "turban" or an ornament for the head (Ezek. 24:17; R.V., "headtire;" 24:23). In Isa. 3:18 the word saharonim is rendered "round tires like the moon," and in Judg. 8:21, 26 "ornaments," but in both cases "crescents" in the Revised Version.

Tirhakah the last king of Egypt of the Ethiopian (the fifteenth) dynasty. He was the brother-in-law of So (q.v.). He probably ascended the throne about B.C. 692, having been previously king of Ethiopia (2 Kings 19:9; Isa. 37:9), which with Egypt now formed one nation. He was a great warrior, and but little is known of him. The Assyrian armies under Esarhaddon, and again under Assur-bani-pal, invaded Egypt and defeated Tirhakah, who afterwards retired into Ethiopia, where he died, after reigning twenty-six years.

Tirshatha a word probably of Persian origin, meaning "severity," denoting a high civil dignity. The Persian governor of Judea is so called (Ezra 2:63; Neh. 7:65, 70). Nehemiah is called by this name in Neh. 8:9; 10:1, and the "governor" (pehah) in 5:18. Probably, therefore, tirshatha=pehah=the modern pasha.

Tirza pleasantness. (1.) An old royal city of the Canaanites, which was destroyed by Joshua (Josh. 12:24). Jeroboam chose it for his residence, and he removed to it from Shechem, which at first he made the capital of his kingdom. It remained the chief residence of the kings of Israel till Omri took Samaria (1 Kings 14:17; 15:21; 16:6, 8, etc.). Here Zimri perished amid the flames of the palace to which in his despair he had set fire (1 Kings 16:18), and here Menahem smote Shallum (2 Kings 15:14, 16). Solomon refers to its beauty (Cant. 6:4). It has been identified with the modern mud hamlet Teiasir, 11 miles north of Shechem. Others, however, would identify it with Telluza, a village about 6 miles east of Samaria.

(2.) The youngest of Zelophehad's five daughters (Num. 26:33; Josh. 17:3).

Tishbite Elijah the prophet was thus named (1 Kings 17:1; 21:17, 28, etc.). In 1 Kings 17:1 the word rendered "inhabitants" is in the original the same as that rendered "Tishbite," hence that verse may be read as in the LXX., "Elijah the Tishbite of Tishbi in Gilead." Some interpret this word as meaning "stranger," and read the verse, "Elijah the stranger from among the strangers in Gilead." This designation is probably given to the prophet as denoting that his birthplace was Tishbi, a place in Upper Galilee (mentioned in the apocryphal book of Tobit), from which for some reason he migrated into Gilead. Josephus, the Jewish historian (Ant. 8:13, 2), however, supposes that Tishbi was some place in the land of Gilead. It has been identified by some with el-Ishtib, a some place 22 miles due south of the Sea of Galilee, among the mountains of Gilead.

Tisri the first month of the civil year, and the seventh of the ecclesiastical year. See ETHANIM 狼0001261 (1 Kings 8:2). Called in the Assyrian inscriptions Tasaritu, i.e. "beginning."