Timnah
Easton's Dictionary
A portion. (1.) A town of Judah (Josh. 15:10). The Philistines took possession of it in the days of Ahaz (2 Chr. 28:18). It was about 20 miles west of Jerusalem. It has been identified with Timnatha of Dan (Josh. 19:43), and also with Timnath (Judg. 14:1, 5).
(2.) A city in the mountains of Judah (Josh. 15:57)= Tibna near Jeba’.
(3.) A “duke” or sheik of Edom (Gen. 36:40).
Smith's Dictionary
(portion).
A place which formed one of the landmarks on the north boundary of the allotment of Judah. (Joshua 15:10) It is probably identical with the Thimnathah of (Joshua 19:43) and that again with the Timnath, or, more accurately, Timnathah, of Samson (Judges 14:1,2,5) and the Thamnatha of the Maccabees. The modern representative of all these various forms of the same name is probably Tibneh, a village about two miles west of Ain Shems (Beth-shemesh). In the later history of the Jews, Timnah must have been a conspicuous place. It was fortified by Bacchides as one of the most important military posts of Judea. 1 Macc. 9:50. A town in the mountain district of Judah. (Joshua 15:57) A distinct place from that just examined. Inaccurately written Timnath in the Authorized Version, the scene of the adventure of Judah with his daughter in-law Tamar. (Genesis 38:12,13,14) There is nothing here to indicate its position. It may be identified either with the Timnah in the mountains of Judah No. 23 or with the Timnathath of Samson [No. 1].International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
tim'-na (timnah, timnathah (Jos 19:43; Jud 14:1,2,5), "allotted portion; Codex Vaticanus Thamnatha; also several Greek variations; King James Version has Timnath in Ge 38:12,13,14; Jud 14:1,2,5; and Thimnathah in Jos 19:43):
(1) A town in the southern part of the hill country of Judah (Jos 15:57). Tibna proposed by Conder, a ruin 8 miles West of Bethlehem, seems too far N. (PEF, III, 53, Sh XVII). It is possible this may be the "Timnah" of Ge 38:12,13,14.
(2) A town on the northern border of Judah (Jos 15:10), lying between Beth-shemesh and Ekron. It is probably the same Timnah as Judah visited (Ge 38:12-14), and certainly the scene of Samson's adventures (Jud 14:1 f); his "father-in-law" is called a "Timnite" (Jud 15:6). At this time the place is clearly Philistine (Jud 14:1), though in Jos 19:43 it is reckoned to Dan. Being on the frontier, it probably changed hands several times. In 2Ch 28:18 it was captured from the Philistines by Ahaz, and we learn from Assyrian evidence (Prison Inscription) that Sennacherib captured a Tamna after the battle of Alteka before he besieged Ekron (Schrader, Die Keilinschriften und das Altes Testament, 170). The site is undoubted. It is now a deserted ruin called Tibneh on the southern slopes of the Wady es Surar (Valley of Sorek), about 2 miles West of Beth-shemesh. There is a spring, and there are evident signs of antiquity (PEF, II, 417, 441, Sh XVI).
(3) There was probably a Timna in Edom (Ge 36:12,22,40; 1Ch 1:39,51). Eusebius and Jerome (in Onomasticon) recognized a Thamna in Edom at their time.
(4) The "Thamnatha" of 1 Macc 9:50 (the King James Version) is probably another Timnah, and identical with the Thamna of Josephus (BJ, III, iii, 5; IV, viii, 1). This is probably the Tibneh, 10 miles Northwest of Bethel, an extensive ruin.
E. W. G. Masterman