Timnath-heres
Joshua's Inheritance and Burial Place
Timnath-heres was a city in the hill country of Ephraim that was given to Joshua son of Nun as his personal inheritance after the conquest of Canaan (Judges 2:9). Joshua had led Israel faithfully through the wilderness wandering and the military campaigns that secured the Promised Land, yet he waited until all the tribes had received their portions before claiming any territory for himself. He asked for Timnath-serah (the alternate form of the name) and was granted the city (Joshua 19:50). He rebuilt the city and settled there, and it became his final resting place: "They buried him within the borders of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash" (Judges 2:9; cf. Joshua 24:30).
The Two Names: Heres and Serah
One of the interesting textual puzzles surrounding this location is that it appears under two different names. In the book of Joshua (19:50; 24:30), it is called Timnath-serah, while in Judges 2:9 it is called Timnath-heres. The difference involves a reversal of the Hebrew consonants: "serah" becomes "heres" when the letters are rearranged. The meaning of "heres" is "sun," so Timnath-heres means "portion of the sun." Some scholars believe that the original name was Timnath-heres and that later scribes deliberately reversed the letters to form "serah" in order to avoid any association with sun worship, which was a persistent temptation in ancient Israel. Others argue that Timnath-serah was original and that Judges preserves a variant tradition.
Location in the Hill Country of Ephraim
Timnath-heres was located in the hill country of Ephraim, the tribal territory that was also home to important religious centers like Shiloh, where the tabernacle was established after the conquest (Joshua 18:1). The city is described as being north of Mount Gaash, a landmark that appears again in 2 Samuel 23:30 as the home of Hiddai, one of David's mighty warriors. The traditional identification places Timnath-heres at the site of Khirbet Tibneh, about 17 miles northwest of Bethel. This site sits in rugged hill country consistent with the biblical description.
The Death of Joshua
The account of Joshua's burial at Timnath-heres marks the end of an era in Israel's history. Joshua died at the age of 110 (Joshua 24:29; Judges 2:8), a number that in Egyptian culture signified the ideal lifespan. Under Joshua's leadership, Israel had conquered the land, divided it among the tribes, and renewed the covenant at Shechem. His last words to the nation included the famous declaration, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). The text notes that "Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua" (Joshua 24:31), suggesting that his death marked the beginning of a spiritual decline.
After Joshua: The Transition to the Judges
The mention of Timnath-heres in Judges 2:9 is significant because it appears in the transition passage between the era of Joshua and the cyclical pattern of apostasy, oppression, and deliverance that characterizes the book of Judges. Immediately after recording Joshua's burial, the text states, "And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel" (Judges 2:10). The burial at Timnath-heres thus marks the hinge point between faithfulness and decline in Israel's national story.
Biblical Context
Timnath-heres appears in Judges 2:9 as the burial place of Joshua. The alternate spelling Timnath-serah is used in Joshua 19:50 (where Joshua receives the city as his inheritance) and Joshua 24:30 (where he is buried). The site is located in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
Theological Significance
Timnath-heres serves as a reminder of Joshua's humble and faithful leadership. Though he conquered the entire land, he took only a modest inheritance in the hill country. His burial there marks the end of the generation that had witnessed God's mighty acts, and the text immediately notes that the next generation forgot the Lord. This transition underscores the importance of passing faith from one generation to the next.
Historical Background
The traditional identification of Timnath-heres with Khirbet Tibneh is based on the similarity of the names and the site's location in the Ephraimite hill country. The Samaritan tradition independently preserves the site as Joshua's burial place. Ancient Jewish and Samaritan sources generally agree that Heres was the original form of the name. The nearby Mount Gaash has not been definitively identified, though several candidates exist in the central hill country of Israel.