Timnah (Hastings' Dictionary)

1. A place on the N. boundary of Judah, situated between Beth- shemesh and ' the side of Ekron ' (Jos 15'° B X(3a, A vtn-ov, Thamna). It was a Phili.stine town (Jg 14' Qa)iva6a, Thrimnatha), within the territory of Dan (Jos 19" B QaiivaBi, A Qap-vd, Themnatha), to which S.'unson went down from Zorah to take his wife (Jg 14', -° ; Jos. Ant. V. viii. 5, 6), whose father is called the Timnite in Jg 15'. There Samson slew the young lion, and propounded his well-known riddle at the marriage-feast. Timnah was taken by the Philistines during the reign of Ahaz, not long after they had been completely subdued by Uzziah(2Ch28'*6ci,KKi, Thmnna) ; and later it was occupied by Sennacherib after he had defeated the Egyptians at Elteke {Altaku). It is called in the inscriptions Tamnd, and is mentioned as lying between Elteke and Ekron (Schrader, KAT^ 170). Timnah retains its old name almost unchanged, and is now Tibneh, on the S. side of the valley of Sorek {Wddi/ es-Surar) and to the W. of Beth- shemesh ('Ain Sliems). The site is deserted, but is marked by ruined walls and rock-hewn caves, cisterns, and wine-presses. On the N. side of the ruins is a spring. Vineyards and olive grove» still cover the nill-slopes between Tibneh and iVddy es-Surar (PEF Mem. ii. 417, 441). TIMXATH TIMOTHY rc: 2. (B OafivaSi, A Qaiwd ; Thnmna) A toNSTi in the liill-couiitry of Judali, mentioned witli Cain nnil Gibeah (Jos 13"). It is now Tibnn near Jeb'a (Gibeah), ami about 8 miles west of Bethlehem. The site is mai keil by a few foundations onlj-, and is reached by a path from Bcil Neltif, about 'I^ miles to tlie west (P£F Mem. iii. 53). This is probably tlie Timnali (Gn 38', "• '■', Go^o-A, Tkam- natlut), to which Judali 'went up' to visit his sheep-shearers. The narrative gives no other in- dication of position. 3. (I'jcn ; Qaixvi ; T/iamna) The name of one of the 'dukes' of Edora, and probably also of a town or district (Gn 36", 1 Ch 1" : cf. Gn 3(5', ^, 1 Ch 1^). See also art. TimN'a. Eusebius and Jerome lOnoyn.) identify it with Thamna, a town of Edom in their day. C. W. WlLSON.