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.

TAHAN

(Taʹhan), Tahanites (Taʹhan·ites).

Tahan was the founder of an Ephraimite tribal family, the Tahanites. (Num. 26:35) It is not certain whether he is the same Tahan mentioned at 1 Chronicles 7:25, 27.

TAHASH

(Taʹhash) [sealskin].

A son of Abraham’s brother Nahor by his concubine Reumah.—Gen. 22:23, 24.

TAHATH

(Taʹhath) [the underpart; underneath].

1. A descendant of Ephraim through Shuthelah.—1 Chron. 7:20.

2. Another Ephraimite, related to No. 1 above.—1 Chron. 7:20.

3. A Kohathite Levite; forefather of Samuel and Heman.—1 Chron. 6:22, 24, 33, 37, 38.

4. A wilderness campsite of Israel; its location is unknown.—Num. 33:26, 27.

TAHCHEMONITE

(Tah·cheʹmo·nite).

A designation for one of David’s mighty men, Josheb-basshebeth. (2 Sam. 23:8) Spelled Hachmonite at 1 Chronicles 11:11, it indicates a descendant of Hachmoni.

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

(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.

TAHREA

(Tahrʹe·a) [possibly, assembly].

A ‘son’ of Micah and descendant of King Saul. (1 Chron. 9:39-41) He is called Tarea at 1 Chronicles 8:35.

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

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 weighing one talent, as referred to at Revelation 16:21, would in either case be unusually great.

TALITHA CUMI

(Talʹi·tha cuʹmi) [Maiden, I say to you, Get up!].

The Semitic expression used by Jesus Christ at the time he resurrected Jairus’ daughter. (Mark 5:41) The transliterations of this expression vary in Greek manuscripts. While it is often referred to as Aramaic, at least the latter part of the phrase (“cuʹmi”) could be either Hebrew or Aramaic, according to W. E. Vine (Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Vol. IV, p. 109). Lexicographer Gesenius derives “talʹi·tha” from the Hebrew word for “young lamb” (ta·lehʹ).

TALMAI

(Talʹmai) [furrows, plowman].

1. Son of Anak, and brother to Ahiman and Sheshai, who dwelt in Hebron when the land was spied out by the Israelites in 1512 B.C.E. (Num. 13:22, 28, 33; see ANAKIM.) Upon entering the land forty-five years later, Caleb, one of the original twelve spies, drove Talmai and his brothers out of Hebron. (Josh. 14:10-15; 15:13, 14; Judg. 1:10) Some authorities think that the name Tanmahu, found in a hieroglyphic inscription depicting a tall, light-complexioned man, is the Egyptian equivalent for Talmai. This Canaanite name also occurs in the Ras Shamra Tablets of the period of the Judges.

2. A son of Ammihud; king of Geshur. (2 Sam. 13:37) Talmai’s daughter Maacah bore Absalom to David. (2 Sam. 3:3; 1 Chron. 3:2) After having Amnon killed for violating his sister Tamar, Absalom fled to his grandfather Talmai.—2 Sam. 13:28, 29, 37, 38.

TALMON

(Talʹmon).

Head of a postexilic Levitical family of gatekeepers. After having returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel, he ‘and his brothers’ were chosen to live in Jerusalem.—1 Chron. 9:3, 17; Ezra 2:42; Neh. 7:45; 11:1, 19; 12:25.

TAMAR

(Taʹmar) [palm tree].

1. Daughter-in-law of Jacob’s son Judah. Tamar married Judah’s first son Er, but Jehovah put Er to death for his wickedness, leaving Tamar a widow. She was then given Onan, but Jehovah put him to death for failure to perform brother-in-law marriage, and Tamar still remained a childless widow. Judah procrastinated in giving her his third son; so as to conceal her identity she disguised herself as a prostitute in order to get Judah himself to have relations with her, cleverly taking his seal ring, cord and rod as security. When Judah learned that Tamar was pregnant, he at first wanted her (stoned and then) burned. (Compare Joshua 7:15, 25.) But on learning that through her maneuvering to get an heir he had become the father, Judah exclaimed, “She is more righteous than I am.” In the difficult birth that followed, Tamar produced twins, Perez and Zerah. (Gen. 38:6-30) The Messianic lineage is traced through her son Perez.—Ruth 4:12, 18-22; 1 Chron. 2:4; Matt. 1:3.

2. A beautiful daughter of King David and full sister of Absalom. (1 Chron. 3:9; 2 Sam. 13:1) Her oldest half-brother Amnon became infatuated with her and through craftiness succeeded in violating her, though she resisted him. Absalom consoled her, kept her in his house, and two years later avenged Tamar by having Amnon murdered.—2 Sam. 13:1-33.

3. Daughter of Absalom, likely named after her aunt (No. 2 above). (2 Sam. 14:27) Like her father, she was very attractive in appearance. She may have married Uriel, which would have made her the mother of Rehoboam’s favored wife Maacah.—2 Chron. 11:20, 21; 13:1, 2.

4. One of several cities built (possibly rebuilt or fortified) by King Solomon.—1 Ki. 9:17-19; see TADMOR.

TAMARISK

[Heb., ʼeʹshel].

The Hebrew name of this tree is evidently related to the Arabic ʼathl and the Aramaic ʼath·laʼʹ, which identify one type of tamarisk tree. The tamarisk grows as a tree or shrub. Though its trunk is gnarled, the branches are often wandlike, giving the tree a feathery appearance. The evergreen leaves are tiny, scalelike, and pressed close to the branches, so they lose very little moisture by transpiration, enabling the trees to live in desert regions and even on sand dunes. In spring the tree blossoms with spikes of tiny pink or white flowers, which give welcome color to otherwise barren regions. Salt-loving tamarisks will often grow very near the ocean and on salt marshes. Abundant tamarisks along the banks of the Jordan form junglelike thickets that are the habitat of wild animals, and in Bible times they may have helped compose the “proud thickets along the Jordan” where lions once found cover.—Jer. 49:19; Zech. 11:3.

Though the tamarisk is generally shrub-size, W. Corswant’s Dictionary of Life in Bible Times (p. 269) states that in Egypt, Palestine and Syria the tree can attain remarkable proportions and become of great height. Abraham is recorded as having planted one at Beer-sheba (Gen. 21:33), King Saul sat in the shade of a tamarisk at Gibeon (1 Sam. 22:6), and his bones and those of his sons were buried under a large tamarisk tree in Jabesh-gilead.—1 Sam. 31:13; compare 1 Chronicles 10:12, where the Hebrew word for “big tree” (ʼe·lahʹ) is used.

Dr. Joseph Weitz, a noted authority on reforestation in Israel, said: “The first tree Abraham put in the soil of Beersheba was a tamarisk. Following his lead, four years ago we put out two million in the same area. Abraham was right. The tamarisk is one of the few trees we have found that thrives in the south where yearly rainfall is less than six inches.”—Reader’s Digest, March 1954, pp. 27, 30.

One type of tamarisk (Tamarix mannifera), when pierced by a scale insect, exudes drops of honeylike sap that are gathered and sold to pilgrims in some places as “manna.” This has no relation, however, to the manna provided for Israel in the wilderness, since such true manna was miraculously provided and gathered from the ground.—Ex. 16:13-15.

TAMBOURINE

[Heb., toph].

A percussion instrument used since patriarchal times. The Hebrew word has also been translated as “timbrel,” “tambour” and “tabret.” (Gen. 31:27, Kx, Da, AS) All these renderings essentially are descriptive of the same instrument—a small hand drum of animal skin or parchment stretched on one or both sides of a wooden or metal frame, likely about ten inches (25.4 centimeters) in diameter. In view of its festive use, some models may have had pieces of metal, perhaps jingles, attached to the sides and could have been played like a modern tambourine. Other types probably had more the appearance and use of a tom-tom, being beaten with both hands.

Although the tambourine is not mentioned in connection with temple worship, it was used by both men and women in praising Jehovah and on other joyful occasions such as feasts and weddings. (1 Sam. 10:5; 2 Sam. 6:5; Ps. 150:4; Isa. 5:12) Women especially would accompany themselves with tambourines in singing and dancing. (Ex. 15:20; Judg. 11:34; 1 Sam. 18:6) The tambourine is also associated with the prospective gladness of Israel when the time of her restoration would arrive.—Jer. 31:4.

TAMMUZ, I

(Tamʹmuz).

A deity identified in Babylonian texts as the youthful consort or lover of the fertility goddess Ishtar. Annually the Babylonians bewailed the death of Tammuz, and this feature of his worship was practiced by apostate Hebrew women. (Ezek. 8:14) It has been suggested that Tammuz was the actual name of Adonis, and that the Greeks, who, it is thought, adopted his worship from the Semites of Syria and Babylonia, converted the title “Adonis” (lord) into a proper name. Tammuz or Adonis is generally identified with other gods who were believed to die and come back to life annually, such as