TIBNI

(Tibʹni) [perhaps, straw].

A contender for the kingship of the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel following the seven-day rule of Israel’s fifth king Zimri in 951 B.C.E. The populace was divided over whether Tibni or Omri should now be king. Four years later, during which time civil war presumably raged, the issue was finally settled; Tibni lost to Omri’s supporters and met death. He was a son of Ginath.—1 Ki. 16:15, 21-23.

TIDAL

(Tiʹdal).

The king of Goiim and an ally or vassal of Elamite King Chedorlaomer when they and two other monarchs subjugated five kings near the Dead Sea. Following twelve years of domination, the five defeated kings staged a rebellion. Tidal, Chedorlaomer and the others came W to put it down, and in doing so took spoil and captives, including Abraham’s nephew Lot. Abraham pursued the oppressors and recovered the prisoners and pillaged goods, but there is no indication that Tidal or those kings with him were captured or slain.—Gen. 14:1-17.

There are some inscriptions that possibly refer to Tidal, but none are certain. On one tablet dealing with an altogether unrelated event are found the names of all four kings, though spelled somewhat differently. Other inscriptions contain the spellings Tud-khula and Tud-ghula.

TIGLATH-PILESER (III)

(Tigʹlath-pil·eʹser) [my trust is the son of Esharra (that is, the god Ninib), or, my trust is the son (of the temple) Esharra].

A powerful king of Assyria (whose name is also spelled Tilgath-pilneser) and the first such to be mentioned by name in the Bible record. Though some consider Tiglath-pileser III to have been of royal blood while others classify him as a usurper of the throne, his origin and the manner of his attaining the kingship are in reality unknown. His reign, however, marked an era of reorganization, growing expansion and strength that brought the Assyrian Empire to new heights. He is considered to have been the first Assyrian monarch to establish as a definite policy the mass deportation and transplantation of conquered peoples. As many as 154,000 persons are stated to have been forcibly shifted around within the realm of conquered lands in one year. The apparent purpose behind such harsh policy was to break the spirit of the national groups and weaken or eliminate any unity of action in attempts to throw off the Assyrian yoke.

This king first appears in the Bible account as “Pul.” (2 Ki. 15:19) 1 Chronicles 5:26 also states that God “stirred up the spirit of Pul the king of Assyria and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser the king of Assyria, so that he took into exile” peoples of certain tribes of Israel. While this would seem to indicate two separate kings, the ancient secular records apply both names to the same individual, the name “Pulu” appearing in what is known as the “Babylonian King List A,” while the “Synchronistic Chronicle” lists Tiglath-pileser (Tukultiapilesharra) in the corresponding position. It is also of note that, in the Hebrew, the above-quoted scripture uses the verb “took” in the singular rather than in the plural. It is commonly suggested that “Pull” was the monarch’s personal name and that he assumed the name “Tiglath-pileser” (the name of an earlier and famous Assyrian king) upon ascending the throne.

It appears that during the early part of his reign Tiglath-pileser was occupied in hammering out stronger borders for the empire in the S, E and N. The menacing shadow of Assyria, however, soon loomed large over the lands of Syria and Palestine to the W.

The Assyrian inscriptions prominently mention Azriau of Judah (Ya·uʹda·a·a) in connection with a campaign by Tiglath-pileser III in Syria. This would seem to be a reference to King Azariah of Judah, more commonly known as Uzziah (829-777 B.C.E.), but the matter is a debated one, as some hold that the small kingdom of Samʽal in Syria was on occasion also called Judah. The likelihood of such a pagan king having a name including the name of Jah (the abbreviated form of Jehovah) and living at the same time as the Judean king of the same name seems slight; however, the Bible does not mention Tiglath-pileser in connection with Azariah (Uzziah) and the Assyrian records are considerably mutilated.

During the reign of King Menahem of Israel (c. 790-780 B.C.E.), Tiglath-pileser III (“Pul”) advanced into Palestine and Menahem sought the Assyrian’s favor by paying him tribute to the amount of “a thousand talents of silver” ($1,423,590 in current values). Temporarily appeased, Tiglath-pileser withdrew his forces. (2 Ki. 15:19, 20) The Assyrian documents refer to Menahem, along with Rezin of Damascus and Hiram of Tyre, as tributary to Tiglath-pileser.

Subsequently, in the time of King Ahaz of Judah (c. 762-746 B.C.E.), King Pekah of Israel formed a confederation with King Rezin of Damascus and attacked Judah. (2 Ki. 16:5, 6; Isa. 7:1, 2) Though assured by the prophet Isaiah that within a short time the two conspiring kingdoms would be wiped off the scene, King Ahaz chose to send a bribe to Tiglath-pileser to come to his rescue. (2 Ki. 16:7, 8; Isa. 7:7-16; 8:9-13) An Assyrian inscription describes the tribute paid by Yauhazi (Jehoahaz or Ahaz) of Judah and other kings of that area as follows: “. . . gold, silver, tin, iron, antimony, linen garments with multicolored trimmings, garments of their native [industries] [being made of] dark purple wool . . . all kinds of costly objects be they products of the sea or of the continent, the [choice] products of their regions, the treasures of [their] kings, horses, mules [trained for] the yoke.” The aggressive Assyrian responded to Ahaz’ urging by invading Israel and capturing several northern cities and overrunning the regions of Gilead, Galilee and Naphtali, carrying many off into exile. (2 Ki. 15:29; 1 Chron. 5:6, 26) Damascus was attacked and fell to the Assyrian forces and its King Rezin was slain. Here at Damascus, Tiglath-pileser received the visit of King Ahaz of Judah, coming either to express gratitude or submission to Assyria.—2 Ki. 16:9-12.

Isaiah had been inspired to foretell that Jehovah would use the king of Assyria like a “hired razor” to “shave” the kingdom of Judah. (Isa. 7:17, 20) Whether the “hired razor” referred specifically to Tiglath-pileser, whom Ahaz bribed, or not, the record does show that he caused great distress to the Judean king and that Ahaz’ bribe proved to be “of no assistance to him.” (2 Chron. 28:20, 21) This may have marked the initial phase of the “flood” of Assyrian invasion of Judah, which eventually was to ‘reach up to the very neck of the kingdom,’ as it clearly did in Hezekiah’s time.—Isa. 8:5-8; 2 Ki. 18:13, 14.

Tiglath-pileser, in his inscriptions, says concerning the northern kingdom of Israel: “They overthrew their king Pekah [Paqaha] and I placed Hoshea [Ausi’] as king over them. I received from them 10 talents of gold [nearly $386,610], . . . talents of silver as their [tri]bute and brought them to Assyria.” Thus the Assyrian king assumes credit for the assumption of the kingship of Israel by Hoshea (c. 748-740 B.C.E.) following his conspiratorial assassination of Pekah.—2 Ki. 15:30.

Most reference works assign a reign of about eighteen years to Tiglath-pileser III. However, the Biblical references to him indicate that his kingship was of considerably longer duration, inasmuch as he appears from the time of Menahem down to that of Hoshea. (See chart, pages 344, 345.) It is therefore worth noting that the period prior to the time generally assigned for the start of Tiglath-pileser’s reign is one of relative obscurity as far as the ancient records are concerned and is considered to have been a time of great decline for the Assyrians. Thus the