• Tabernacle
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • the Gershonites and on the N the Merarites. (Num. 3:23, 29, 35, 38) Farther away were the other twelve tribes: Judah, Issachar and Zebulun on the E, Reuben, Simeon and Gad on the S, Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin on the W, and Dan, Asher and Naphtali on the N. (Num. 2:1-31) From any part of the camp the tabernacle could always be easily located, because of the cloud by day and the fire by night, that stood over the Most Holy, where the ark of the covenant was situated.—Ex. 40:36-38.

      HOW TRANSPORTED

      In moving the tabernacle and its furniture and utensils, the priests carried the ark of the covenant, and the Kohathites the holy furniture. They transported these things on their shoulders, walking. (Josh. 3:8, 14; 4:10, 16-18; Num. 4:4-15; 7:9) The Gershonites, having two wagons, transported the tent cloths (except the curtain to the Most Holy, which was placed over the Ark [Num. 4:5]), the tabernacle coverings, screen, the related tent cords and certain service utensils. (Num. 4:24-26; 7:7) The Merarites, with four wagons, took care of the very heavy items, the panel frames and the pillars, socket pedestals and related tent pins and cords of both the tabernacle and the courtyard.—Num. 4:29-32; 7:8.

      HISTORY

      After Israel crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, the tabernacle was set up at Gilgal. (Josh. 4:19) It was relocated at Shiloh during the time of dividing the land (Josh. 18:1), where it remained for years (1 Sam. 1:3, 24) before being moved to Nob. (1 Sam. 21:1-6) Later it was at Gibeon. (1 Chron. 21:29) When the ark of the covenant was moved to Zion by David, it had not been in the tabernacle for many years. But until the temple was built by Solomon, sacrifices were still offered at the tabernacle in Gibeon, it being called “the great high place.” (1 Ki. 3:4) After the construction of the temple, Solomon had it brought up and apparently stored there.—1 Ki. 8:4; 2 Chron. 5:5; see ARK OF THE COVENANT; BOOTH; HOLY PLACE; MOST HOLY; TEMPLE.

      FIGURATIVE USE

      The apostle Paul throws light upon the pictorial significance of the tabernacle. In a context discussing the pattern made by the tabernacle and the services carried on therein, he speaks of Jesus Christ as “a public servant of the holy place and of the true tent, which Jehovah put up, and not man.” (Heb. 8:2) Farther on he says: “Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come to pass through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.” (Heb. 9:11) The tent in the wilderness was an arrangement set up by God’s command for approach to him in true worship, an arrangement for typical removal of sins. Being an illustration (Heb. 9:9), it would foreshadow the arrangement that God established in which the great High Priest Jesus Christ could serve, appearing in heaven before his Father with the value of his sacrifice that can actually remove sins. (Heb. 9:24-26) Through this arrangement faithful men can have real approach to God. (Heb. 4:16) The heavenly “tent of the witness” or tabernacle was seen by the apostle John in vision.—Rev. 15:5.

      The apostle Peter, being a spirit-begotten son of God with the hope of heavenly life in association with Christ Jesus, spoke of his fleshly body as a “tabernacle.” It was a ‘dwelling place,’ but was only temporary, since Peter knew his death was near and his resurrection would not be in the flesh, but in the spirit.—2 Pet. 1:13-15; 1 John 3:2; 1 Cor. 15:35-38, 42-44.

      For the various articles of furniture and equipment used in the tabernacle, see articles under individual names.

  • Tabor
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • TABOR

      (Taʹbor) [possibly height, lofty place].

      1. An outstanding mountain in the territory of Issachar on its northern boundary. (Josh. 19:17, 22) In Arabic it is called Jebel et-Tor. It is situated about twelve miles (c. 19 kilometers) W of the southern end of the Sea of Galilee and about five miles (8 kilometers) E-SE of the city of Nazareth.

      Isolated from other mountains, Tabor rises abruptly from the Jezreel valley to an altitude of 1,843 feet (562 meters) above sea level. From the W-NW it looks like a truncated cone, and from the SW like the segment of a sphere. From its summit it affords a magnificent view in all directions. The impressive prominence of this mountain probably explains why the psalmist mentions Tabor and Mount Hermon together as outstanding examples of the Creator’s majestic craftsmanship. (Ps. 89:12) Jehovah also used the striking massiveness of Tabor—standing alone in the Jezreel valley—to illustrate the impressiveness of the force Nebuchadnezzar was bringing against Egypt.—Jer. 46:13, 18.

      Tabor was made particularly famous when Barak, at God’s direction, assembled 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun against Sisera and his army including 900 chariots with “iron scythes.” At the given signal Barak and his forces hurried down the slopes of Tabor, and after Jehovah had thrown the Canaanites into confusion, the Israelites won a decisive victory over the fleeing forces of Sisera.—Judg. 4:4-16.

      Some years later Tabor witnessed the killing of Gideon’s brothers by Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. (Judg. 8:18, 19) By the middle of the eighth century B.C.E. the unfaithful priestly and regal houses of Israel were “as a net spread over Tabor,” possibly using that mountain W of the Jordan as a center for idolatry to snare the Israelites; Mizpah may have been so used E of the Jordan.—Hos. 5:1.

      The summit of Tabor, a rather flat elliptical area about a quarter of a mile (.4 kilometer) wide from N to S and twice as long from E to W, provided a commanding position and a most suitable location for a fortified city. The ruins show that such a city flourished there before and after the first century C.E. This fact gives reason to question the tradition that Tabor was the location of Jesus’ transfiguration, for the accounts say that Jesus and his three companions were in the mountain “by themselves,” “to themselves alone.” Mount Hermon is more likely that “lofty mountain” and it is near Caesarea Philippi at the headwaters of the Jordan, where Jesus was shortly before the transfiguration.—Matt. 17:1, 2; Mark 8:27; 9:2.

      2. One of the cities in the territory of Zebulun given to the Levitical sons of Merari. Today its location is unknown.—1 Chron. 6:1, 77.

      3. The “big tree of Tabor” was presumably in Benjamin’s territory. It was a landmark that Samuel referred to in his instructions to Saul after Saul’s anointing, where he was to meet three men en route to Bethel. The site is unknown today.—1 Sam. 10:1-3.

  • Tadmor
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • TADMOR

      (Tadʹmor) [apparently from ta·marʹ, palm tree].

      A wilderness location where Solomon did building work sometime after 1017 B.C.E. (2 Chron. 8:1, 4) Tadmor is commonly identified with the city known to the Greeks and Romans as Palmyra. Its ruins lie in an oasis on the northern edge of the Syrian Desert about 130 miles (209 kilometers) NE of Damascus. A nearby village is still called Tudmur by the Arabs. If correctly identified with Palmyra, Tadmor may have served as a garrison city for defending the distant northern border of Solomon’s kingdom and also as an important caravan stop.

      The Tamar (“Tadmor,” marginal reading of the Masoretic text) mentioned at 1 Kings 9:18 as being “in the land” is perhaps the same as Tadmor. Its being “in the land” may simply mean that Tamar was part of Solomon’s dominion (1 Ki. 9:19) and, therefore, Tamar could be Palmyra. However, if the phrase “in the land” is more restricted, then the names “Tamar” and “Tadmor” may designate two different locations, Palmyra (Tadmor) in the N and a city of Judah in the S (Tamar); or both names could apply to a Judean Tamar.—Compare Ezekiel 47:19; 48:28.

  • Tahpanes
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • TAHPANES

      (Tahʹpan·es), Tahpanhes (Tahʹpan·hes), Tehaphnehes (Te·haphʹne·hes) [perhaps, mansion of the Nubian].

      A city in Egypt regularly mentioned with other cities of northern (Lower) Egypt, such as Noph (Memphis), On (Heliopolis), and Pibeseth (Bubastis).

      During the last years of the Judean kingdom, the prophet Jeremiah consistently warned against political alliances with Egypt or reliance on Egypt for help against the rising power of Babylon. Noph (Memphis), the Egyptian capital, and Tahpanhes are spoken of as “feeding on [Judah and Jerusalem] at the crown of the head” due to the apostasy of the Jews. Any support from Egypt was doubtless obtained at a high cost to the royal leaders of Judah; but they would become ashamed of Egypt, even as they had become ashamed of Assyria.—Jer. 2:1, 2, 14-19, 36.

      AFTER JERUSALEM’S FALL, REMNANT FLEE THERE

      Following the Babylonian conquest of Judah in 607 B.C.E., and the subsequent assassination of Gedaliah, the remnant of Jews went down to Egypt, taking the prophet Jeremiah with them. The first place mentioned at which they arrived (or settled) in Egypt is Tahpanhes. (Jer. 43:5-7) This would evidently locate Tahpanhes in the eastern Delta region, that is, the NE corner of Lower Egypt. Some of the refugees settled in Tahpanhes. (Jer. 44:1, 7, 8) On arrival at Tahpanhes, Jeremiah enacted a prophetic scene directed by Jehovah, placing stones in the mortar of “the terrace of bricks that is at the entrance of the house of Pharaoh in Tahpanhes” in the presence of the other Jews. Then he made the proclamation that Nebuchadnezzar would come and place his throne and extend his state tent right over those very stones.—Jer. 43:8-13; compare 46:13, 14.

      EZEKIEL FORETELLS OVERTHROW

      In faraway Babylon (in the twenty-seventh year of the first exile, that is, 591 B.C.E.), the prophet Ezekiel also foretold that Nebuchadnezzar would conquer Egypt and “in Tehaphnehes the day will actually grow dark,” for Jehovah would there break the yoke bars and the pride of Egypt’s strength. This statement and Ezekiel’s reference to the “dependent towns” of Tahpanhes indicate that the city was one of importance and size.—Ezek. 29:19; 30:1, 2, 10-18.

      SUGGESTED ORIGIN OF NAME

      Some authorities translate the name Tahpanhes as meaning (in Egyptian) “the fortress of Penhase,” Penhase being a general from the southern city of Thebes who overcame rebellious elements in the Delta region of Egypt, apparently in the latter part of the second millennium B.C.E. Professor T. O. Lambdin states that this “resulted in the perpetuation of his fame in the names of several places.” (The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, Vol. 4, p. 510) Professor K. A. Kitchen also refers to the finding in Egypt of a Phoenician letter considered to be of the sixth century B.C.E., bearing the same consonants (Thpnhs) as in the Hebrew spelling of Tahpanhes, though not identifying the location of such place.

      The Greek Septuagint Version renders Tahpanhes as Taphʹnas, and it is generally believed that this name coincides with that of an important fortified city on Egypt’s eastern border called Daphnai by the Greek writers of the classical period. For this reason most geographers identify Tahpanhes with Tell Defneh, nearly thirty miles (48.3 kilometers) S-SW of Port Said and about twenty-two miles (35.4 kilometers) SW of Pelusium, the suggested site of Sin.

  • Tahpenes
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • TAHPENES

      (Tahʹpe·nes).

      Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh contemporary with David and Solomon. Tahpenes’ sister was given in marriage to Hadad, a resister of Solomon. Tahpenes raised Genubath, the child of this marriage, with her own children in the house of Pharaoh.—1 Ki. 11:19, 20.

  • Tahtim-hodshi
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • TAHTIM-HODSHI

      (Tahʹtim-hodʹshi).

      A “land” on the route of the census takers sent out by David. (2 Sam. 24:4-6) The exact location of Tahtim-hodshi is not known. However, it is mentioned between Gilead and Dan-jaan, placing it in the northern part of the Promised Land. The Lagardian edition of the Greek Septuagint says “land of the Hittites toward Kadesh,” a similar reading being used by some modern translations.—JB, NE (1970 ed.), RS.

  • Talent
    Aid to Bible Understanding

    • TALENT

      The largest of the Hebrew units of weight and of monetary value. (Ex. 38:29; 2 Sam. 12:30; 1 Ki. 10:10; 2 Ki. 23:33; 1 Chron. 29:7; 2 Chron. 36:3; Ezra 8:26) Calculated on the basis of its equaling 60 minas or 3,000 shekels (Ex. 38:25, 26; see MINA), a talent weighed about seventy-five pounds avoirdupois or ninety-two pounds troy (c. 34 kilograms). In modern values a talent of silver would be reckoned at about $1,423.59 and a talent of gold at about $38,661.00. Since a mina equaled 100 Greek drachmas in the first century C.E., a talent of 60 minas weighed less (about 45 pounds avoirdupois or 55 pounds troy [c. 20 kilograms]) than in Hebrew Scripture times. Accordingly, in modern values, a first-century silver talent would be worth $845.64, and a gold talent $22,965.21.

      Whether reckoned according to the ancient Hebrew or the later Greek standard, the symbolic hailstones