Tahtim Hodshi
Tahtim Hodshi is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Phoenicia in modern-day Israel. Known today as Tell Nebi Mend. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Tahtim Hodshi appears only once in the entire biblical corpus, in 2 Samuel 24:6, as part of the geographic account of Joab's census tour ordered by David throughout the land of Israel. The census journey traced a vast circuit from Aroer in Transjordan northward through Gilead and Dan, then westward to Sidon and Tyre, and through the land of the Hivites and Canaanites before turning south again. Tahtim Hodshi appears along this northern route, though its exact location remains uncertain, and some textual scholars suggest the Hebrew text may be corrupt at this point, with emendations proposed that would read "Kadesh in the land of the Hittites" or similar variants. The census itself, condemned by God and by Joab, resulted in a devastating plague that killed seventy thousand Israelites, a narrative that underscores the danger of royal self-reliance and the importance of trusting in divine provision rather than human military strength. The episode ends with David purchasing the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the site that would become the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Tahtim Hodshi is among the most geographically uncertain sites in the Old Testament, appearing only in a single, possibly textually problematic verse. The identification with Tell Nebi Mend in the Phoenician region of modern northern Israel or southern Lebanon is speculative and based on the general northern trajectory of the census route described in 2 Samuel 24. Tell Nebi Mend itself has been identified by some scholars with ancient Kadesh on the Orontes in Syria, a site of major historical importance as the location of the famous battle between Ramesses II and the Hittites in 1274 BC. Excavations there have revealed Bronze Age remains, but a secure connection to the biblical Tahtim Hodshi cannot be established.
Verse Appearances (1)
2Sam
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]