Thyatira – Timothy

Thyatira

There is a long valley extending northward and southward and connecting the valleys of the Hermus and Caicus. Down this valley a stream flows southwards, and on the left bank of this stream was Thyatira. An important road also ran along this valley, the direct route between Constantinople and Smyrna, and the railway takes this route now. Thyatira was also in the 1st cent. a.d. a station on the Imperial Post Road (overland route) from Brundisium and Dyrrhachium by Thessalonica, Neapolis (for Philippi), Troas, Pergamum, Philadelphia ... to Tarsus, Syrian Antloch, Caesarea of Palestine, and Alexandria. In its connexion with Pergamum this road had always a great importance. Thyatira was built (in the middle of the valley, with a slight rising ground for an acropolis) by Seleucus, the founder of the Seleucid dynasty, whose vast kingdom extended from W. Asia Minor to the Himalayas. The city was founded between B.C. 300 and 282 as a defence against Lysimachus, whose kingdom bordered that of Seleucus on the N. and W., and the colonists were Macedonian soldiers. In 282, Philetaerus revolted from Lysimachus and founded the kingdom of Pergamum. After the death of Lysimachus, Thyatira was a useful garrison to hold the road. In the Interests first of the Seleucids and afterwards of the Pergamenians. The latter were safe from the former if they were in possession of Thyatira. The relation between Pergamum and Thyatira was thus of the closest. The city, though weak in position, was a garrison city, and had to be carefully fortified, and everything was done to foster the military spirit. The character of the city’s religion is illustrated by the hero Tyrimnos, who is figured on its coins. He is on horseback and has a battle-axe on his shoulder. This hero is closely related to the protecting god of the city, whose temple was In front of the city. He was considered the divine ancestor of the city and its leading families, and was Identified with the sun-god. He also had the title Pythian Apollo, thus illustrating the strange mixture of Anatolian and Greek ideas and names which is so common a feature in the ancient religions of Asia Minor. In conformity with this, he was represented as wearing a cloak fastened by a brooch, carrying a battleaxe, and with a laurel branch in his right hand, symbolizing his purifying power. (It Is certain that the place was Inhabited before the time of Seleucus, but merely as a village with a temple.) The city had Pythian games on the model of those in Greece proper, and In the 3rd cent. A.D. the Emperor Elagabalus was associated with the god In the worship connected with them, showing the closer relation which had been effected between the popular and the Imperial religion. It is probable that Seleucus i. had settled Jews in Thyatira, as he certainly did in some of the cities of Asia. Lydia of Thyatira (Acts 16:14) had come within the circle of the synagogue, possibly in her native place.

Little is known of the history of the city. It surrendered to the Romans in b.c. 190. It was occupied by Aristonicus during his revolt in b.o. 133-2. It must have suffered severely and repeatedly during the fighting between Arabs and Christians, and Turks and Christians, in the Middle Ages. Its situation demands that it be captured and re-fortified by every ruling power. In Roman times it had been a great trading city, dating its greatest period of prosperity from about the time when the Seven Letters were written. There is evidence of more trade-guilds there than in any other Asian city: wool-workers, linen-workers, makers of outer garments, dyers, leather-workers, tanners, bronze-smiths, etc. Lydia probably belonged to one of those guilds. The purple in which Lydia dealt must have been a product of the region of Thyatira, and the well-known Turkeyred must therefore be meant. It is obtained from madder-root, which grows abundantly in that region. The name ‘purple’ had a much wider meaning among the ancients than among us. The bronze work of Thyatira was also remarkably fine (cf. Revelation 2:18).

The letter addressed to the Church at Thyatira (Revelation 2:18–29) is the most obscure and difficult of all the seven, as we know so little of local conditions. It is remarkable that the. city, which was the least of all the seven (with perhaps the exception of Philadelphia), should be promised strength and power. The exact nature of the Nicolaitans with their prophetess cannot be precisely determined. The principles they represented were regarded by the author as subversive of true Christianity. A. Soutek.

Thyine Wood

Thyine wood (Revelation 18:12) is the citrus wood of the Romans, used for the manufacture of costly furniture. The tree Thuia articulata, in appearance like a cypress, about 25 feet high, was the source of this wood.

E. W. G. Mabterman.

Tiberias

A town built by Herod (a.d. 16-22) on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee (called the ‘Sea of Tiberias’ in John 6:1 21:1. and in modern Arabic), and named in honour of the Roman Emperor. That it was erected over the site of an ancient graveyard (Jos. Ant. xvjii. ii. 3) in itself proves that no city had previously existed here. This circumstance made it an unclean place to the Jews, and Herod was obliged to use force in order to people it with any but the lowest of the nation. It was designed entirely on Greek models, and the fact that it was in spirit and civilization entirely foreign is perhaps the reason why it is hardly alluded to in the Gospels — the sole reference being John 6. There is no evidence that it was ever visited by Christ. The city surrendered to Vespasian and by him was restored to Agrippa. After the fall of Jerusalem many of the Jews took up their abode in Tiberias, and by a strange reversal of fate this unclean city became a most important centre of Rabbinic teaching. Here lived Judah the Holy, editor of the Mishna. Here the ‘Jerusalem Talmud’ was compiled. In the neighbourhood are the tombs of ‘Aqiba and of Maimonides.

Constantine built a church and established a bishopric at Tiberias, but Christianity never flourished there. The Arabs seized it in a.d. 637; the Crusaders lost it to Saladin in 1187. The city was almost destroyed by a great earthquake in 1837. The principal objects of Interest are the ruins of alarge castle (possibly Herodian) , a very ancient synagogue, and — half an hour’s journey to the south — the hot springs of Bmmaus (the Hammath of Joshua 19:35). mentioned by Josephus and Pliny. The city is dirty, and proverbial lor its vermin. There is a population of about 4000, more than half of whom are Jews, principally refugees from Poland. There is here an important mission of the United Free Church of Scotland.

For the ‘Sea o£ Tiberias,’ see Galilee [Sea op].

R. A. S. Macalister. TIBERIUS, whose designation as Emperor was Tiberius CEsar Augustus, was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero (a Roman noble) and Livia, whose second husband was the Emperor Augustus. He was born B.C. 42 and diedA.D.37. Augustus, as he grew old, appointed in succession four of his relatives as co-regents, or marked them out as his intended successors. It was clear that he did not desire the succession of his stepson Tiberius, who was reserved, morose, and unlovable. The successive deaths of his nominees compelled him to fall back upon Tiberius, who in A.D. 11 was made co-emperor. ‘Three years later he succeeded to the purple. It is probable that the’ thirteenth year ‘in Luke 3:1 runs from the first of these dates, and thus means a.d. 25-26. Tiberius was an able general and a competent Emperor, but the unhappy experiences of his early life made him suspicious and timorous, and he put many of his rivals or supposed rivals to death. In his later years he was much under the influence of a villainous schemer Sejanus. He spent these years in retirement at Capri. A. Souter.

Tibhath

A city of Hadarezer, king of Zobah (1 Chronicles 18:8). In 2 Samuel 8:8 the name of the town is Betah, but the original reading was probably Tebah, as in the Syriac version, and as a tribal name in Genesis 22:24. The site of Tibhath is unknown, but It was possibly on the eastern slopes of Anti-Lebanon.

Tibni

A rival who disputed the throne for four years (compare 1 Kings 16:15 with v. 23) with Omri.

TIDAL.^A king of Goiim, or ‘the nations,’ who accompanied Amraphel of Shinar and Arioch of EUasar in the expedition made by Chedorlaomer of Elam against Sodom and the cities of the plain (Genesis 14:1). This name is probably the Tudhvl or Tudhvla of a British Museum tablet of late date, which mentions also Kudur-lahmal (?) (Chedorlaomer?) and Durmah-ilani son of Eri-Eaku (Arioch?). Tudhul is stated to have been son of Gazza[ni?]. Whether it was he who smote (shattered) his father’s head ‘with the weapon of his hands,’ the mutilation of the text leaves uncertain.

T. G. Pinches.

TIGLATH-PILESER [in 1 Chronicles 5 and 2 Chronicles 28:20 corruptedtothe form Tilgath-Pilneser] . -This Assyrian ruler, the TukuUi-apil-esharra of the monuments, was the third of the name. He began to reign about B.C. 745 (13th of lyyar), and is supposed to have been a usurper. In the Babylonian chronological list he is called Pulu, the Pul of 2 Kings 15:19. and the Poros of the Canon of Ptolemy. His reign was a very active and important one. Five months after his accession he marched into Babylonia to overthrow the power of the Aramsean tribes. In B.C. 744 he went to Narari to punish the tribes who harassed the Assyrian border. In b.c. 743 he defeated the forces of Sarduris ii. of Ararat at Arpad. Among those who gave tribute on this occasion were Rezin of Damascus, Hiram of Tyre, and Plsiris of Carchemish. Arpad, however, revolted again, and was for three years the objective of Tiglath-pileser’s expeditions (b.c. 742- 740). In 739 he went to UUuba in Mesopotamia, and the presence of his armies there enabled him, in B.C. 738, to make head against Syrian and Phoenician resistance. On this occasion he subjected KuUani, supposed to be the Calno of Isaiah 10:9. Rest suggests that Azriau or Izriau (Azariah) of Judah played some part in this expedition, and among those who gave tribute was Menahera of Samaria (2 Kings 15:19). In b.c. 737 his objective was the Medes, in many of whose cities he set up bas-reliefs with the royal image. After this (B.C. 736) his forces were again directed against Mesopotamia, and reached the mountain of Nal. This led the way to the conquest of Ararat in B.C. 735. In B.C. 734 the Assyrian army invaded Pillshta (Pliilistia) — according to Rost, the Mediterranean coastland S. of Joppa. Gaza wag captured, and Hanun, the Icing, having fled, Tiglath-pileser mounted the throne and set up his image in the palace there. In b.c. 733 came the turn of Damascus and also of Israel, the Immediate cause being affairs in Judah. Azariah had died, and after the short reign of his son Jotham, Jehoahaz or Ahaz came to the throne. Taking advantage of the change, Pelcah of Israel made an alliance with Rezin of Damascus to attack Judah, and captured Elath (2 K lefi"). Feeling that Judah would be compelled to submit to the allied powers in the end, Ahaz turned to Assyria, sending the best of his own treasures and those of the Temple at Jerusalem to make a worthy present to the Assyrian king (2 Kings 16:8), who therefore came to his aid. Pekah and Rezin withdrew their forces from Judah, but, instead of uniting against the common foe, awaited the Assyrian king’s attack each in his own territory. Marching by the coast-route, Tiglath-pileser assured himself of the submission of his vassals in N. Phoenicia, and attacked N. Israel, capturing Ijon, Abel-beth-maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali (2 Kings 15:29). These names are not preserved in the annals, though ‘the broad (land of) . . . -li’ may be, as Hommel suggests, the last named. Pekah saved his land from further harm by paying tribute, but things went harder with Rezin, his ally, who shut himself up in Damascus. The siege which followed ended, in 732, in the capture of the city; 591 towns, including Hadara, Rezin’s own city, were razed to the ground. An attack upon Samsi, queen of the Arabians, followed, the result being that a number of tribes — Sabaeans, Mas’seans, etc., — hastened to propitiate the Assyrian king with gifts. Idi-bi’il, a N. Arabian prince, was made governor on the Musrian border. Meanwhile a number of Israelitish nobles, with Hoshea as leader, revolted, and Pekah fled, but seems to have been murdered. Hoshea thereupon mounted the throne, and bought the recognition of the Assyrian king, who had continued to ravage Syria. Mitinti of Ashkelon, seeing the fate of Rezin of Damascus, seems to have gone mad. He was succeeded by his son RQkipti, who tried to atone for his father’s disaffection by sending tribute and gifts. Metenna of Tyre likewise became tributary. After the fall of the capital, Damascus became an Assyrian province. According to 2 Kings 16:9, the people were taken captive to Kir, and Rezin was slain. It was in Damascus that Ahaz made homage to the conqueror, and seeing there an altar which took his fancy, had one made like it. Tiglath-pileser, confident, seemingly, of his hold upon Palestine, did not again invade the country. Its States remained for many years more or less tributary to Assyria, according as that power seemed strong or weak. In B.C. 731 Tiglath-pileser was attracted by events in Babylonia. Ukin-zgr, a Chaldaean prince, having seized the Babylonian throne, the Assyrian king besieged him in his capital Sapia, which he captured in b.c. 729, taking Ukin-zBr prisoner. In b.c. 728 Tiglath-pileser became king of Babylon, but beyond ‘grasping the hand of Bel’ (Merodach) as its ruler, took part in no further Important event. He probably died when making an expedition against a city whose name is lost; and Shalmaneser iv. mounted the throne (25th of Tebeth, B.C. 727). When at home, Tiglath-pileser resided in Nineveh or in Calah, where he restored the central palace in Hittite style, decorating it with bas-reliefs and the annals of his reign. This building was partly destroyed by Esarhaddon. T. G. Pinches.

Tigris

Only In RVm of Genesis 2:14 and Daniel 10:4, where both AV and RV have Hiddekel (wh. see). The Tigris rises a little S. of Lake GOljik and flows southward to Diarbekr. After passing Diarbekr it receives the eastern Tigris (which rises in the Niphates mountains) at Osman Kieui. Then it flows through narrow gorges Into the plateau of Mesopotamia, where it receives from the east the Greater and Lesser Zab, the Adhem or Radanu, and the Diyaleh or Tornadotus. On the E. bank, opposite Mosul, were Nineveh and Calah, a little N. of the junction of the Tigris and Greater Zab; and on the W. bank, N. of the Lesser Zab, was Assur (now Kalah Sherghat), the primitive capital of Assyria. ■The Tigris is about 1150 miles in length, and rises rapidly in March and April owing to the melting of the snows, falling again after the middle of May. Cf. also Eden [Gaeden of].

Tikvah

1. The father-in-law of Huldah (2 Kings 22:14) ; called in 2 Chronicles 34:22 Tokhath. 2. The father of Jahzeiah (Ezra 10:15) called in 1 Esdras 9:14 Thocanus.

Tile, Tiling

The former occurs only in Ezekiel 4:1 for ‘brick’ — the usual rendering of the original. For plans of a city drawn on ‘bricks’ or ‘tablets’ of soft clay, which were afterwards baked hard, see ‘Ezekiel,’ in SBOT, in loc. ‘Tiling’ is found only in Luke 5:19 AV, for which RV has ‘through the tUes.’ St. Luke seems here to have adapted the narrative of Mk. (for which see House, § 6) to the style of roof covered with tiles (see ‘Tegula’ in Rich’s Diet, of Antiq.), with which his Western readers were more familiar; or ‘through the tiles’ is here simply synonymous with ‘through the roof (cf. our expression ‘on the tiles’).

A. R. S. Kennedy.

Tilgath-pilneser

See TiQLATH-PiLESEH.

" TILON.— A son of Shimon (1 Chronicles 4:20).

TDlffilUS.- Father of Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46).

Timbrel

See Tabret, and Music, etc., 4 (3) (a).

Time

The conception that we seem to gather of time from the Holy Scriptures is of a small block, as it were, cut out of boundless eternity. Of past eternity, if we may use such an expression, God is the only inhabitant; in future eternity angels and men are to share. And this ‘block’ of time is infinitesimally small. In God’s sight, in the Divine mind, ‘a thousand years are but as yesterday’ (Psalms 90:4; cf. 2 Peter 3:8 ‘one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day’). Time has a beginning; it has also, if we accept the usual translation of Revelation 10:6 ‘there shall be time no longer,’ a stated end. The word ‘time’ in Biblical apocalyptic literature has another meaning — ‘time’ stands for ‘a year’ both in Daniel (4 »2 T^, where the plural ‘times’ seems to stand for two years) and in Revelation 12:14 (derived from Daniel 7:25).

When once the idea of time formed itself in the human mind, subdivisions of it would follow as a matter of course. The division between light and darkness, the rising, the zenith, and the setting of the sun and the moon, together with the phases of the latter, and the varying position of the most notable stars in the firmament, would all suggest modes of reckoning time, to say nothing of the circuit of the seasons as indicated by the growth and development of the fruits of the field and agricultural operations. Hence we find in Genesis 1 day and night as the first division of time, and, because light was believed to be a later creation than matter, one whole day Is said to be made up of evening and morning; and the day is reckoned, as it still is by the Jews and, in principle, by the Church In her ecclesiastical feasts, from one disappearance of the sun to the next, the divisions between day and night being formed by that appearance and disappearance. In this same cosmogony we meet with a further use of the lights in the firmament of heaven; they are to be " for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years’ (Genesis 1:14). The day would thus be an obvious division of time for intelligent beings to make from the very earliest ages. As time went on, subdivisions of this day would be made, derived from an observance of the sun in the heavens — morning, noonday or midday, and evening; and, by analogy, there would be a midnight. The only other expression we meet with is ‘between the two evenings’ (Exodus 12). used most probably for the time between sunset and dark, though others take it as equivalent to ‘the time of the going down of the sun,’ i.e. any time in the afternoon: any shorter subdivisions of time were not known to the Jews till they were brought into contact with Western civilization and the Roman military arrangements. The only exception to this is the ‘steps’ on the dial of Ahaz (2 Kings 20:9–11). In the passages in Daniel where the word hour occurs in the EV, the term is quite an indefinite one, the ‘one hour’ of Daniel 4:19 in AV becoming ‘a while’ in RV. The Aram, word used in that book was used in the New Hebrew for the word " hour." In the Apocrypha the word ‘hour’ is quite Indefinite. But in the NT we find the Western division of the day into twelve hours, reckoning from sunrise to sunset, quite established. ‘Are there not twelve hours in the day?’ said our Lord, in an appeal to the Jews (John 11:9). Westcott holds that in St. John’s Gospel (1:39 4 19:14) the modern mode of reckoning the hours from midnight to midnight is followed. The strongest passage in support of this view is 19:14. These twelve hours were divided Into the four military watches of three hours each (cf. Matthew 14:25 ‘the fourth watch of the night’), as distinguished from the three watches which seem to have prevailed among the Jews (‘if he shall come In the second watch, and If In the third,’ Luke 12:38). The only other measure of time, quite indefinite and infinitesimal, is the ‘moment,’ common to OT, Apocr., and NT (‘we shall all be changed. In a moment. In the twinkling of an eye,’ 1 Corinthians 15:52). To-morrow (Exodus 8) and yesterday (Exodus 5:14), and even yesternight (Genesis 31:29), would soon take their place on either side of to-day. The Hebrew word meaning literally ‘the day before yesterday,’ is generally used vaguely of previous time, ‘heretofore.’

The next obvious division of time would be the month. The phases of the moon would be watched, and It would soon be noticed that these recurred at regular Intervals. Each appearance of the new moon would be noted as the beginning of a new period. The first mention of the new moon in Biblical history Is in 1 Samuel 20, though ‘the beginnings of the months’ are mentioned in the ritual laws of Numbers 10:10 28:11. Of the two Heb. words for ‘month,’ one is identical with the word for ‘moon,’ the other means ‘newness.’ Though the actual period of each moon is rather more than 29 days, the actual time of its visibility could scarcely be more than 28 days. The first appearance of the new moon would be eagerly watched for and made a matter of rejoicing. We find, in fact, that a keen lookout was kept for it, and the ‘new moon’ feast was kept with great rejoicings, as well as, apparently In later times, a ‘full moon’ feast (‘Blow up the trumpet in the new moon. At the full moon, on our solemn feast day,’ Psalms 81:3). .

Given this period of 28 days, together with the recurrent phases of the moon. It would naturally be subdivided, like the day itself. Into four divisions or weeks of seven days each. The first occurrence of a week is in Genesis 29:27, though the Creation is represented as having been completed, including the rest of the Almighty, in a period of seven days, and periods of seven days occur in the history of the Flood. Of the two Heb. names for ‘week’ one is derived from the number seven, and the other is Identical with ‘Sabbath,’ the day which completes the Jewish week. The NT takes over the latter word, and makes a Greek noun of it, whilst to the Christian and to the Christian Church, the first day of the week becomes the important day. Instead of the seventh, and is for Christians the day of gathering together ‘to break bread’ (Acts 20:7), and of making collections for the needs of the faithful (1 Corinthians 16:2), and also wins for Itself the name of ‘the Lord’s day ‘(Rev 1:10). The word ‘week’ was given other applications. The seventh year completed a week of years and was a sabbath; seven times seven years formed seven sabbaths of years, i.e. forty-nine years, and was followed by the jubilee. From the constant occurrence of the tenth day of the month in the dating of events, it has been supposed that the month of 30 days was also subdivided into periods of ten days each (see, e.g.. Exodus 12, Leviticus 16:29, Joshua 4:19, 2 Kings 25:1 etc.).

There are no names in the OT for the days of the week except for the seventh — the Sabbath. In the Apocrypha (Judith 8:6) there is a name for Friday which is translated ‘the eve of the Sabbath’; so in Mark 15:42 ‘the day before the Sabbath.’ This day Is also called the Preparation (Matthew 27:62. Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, John 19:31). In Roman Catholic service-books Good Friday is still called ‘Feria Sexta In Parasceue’ (i.e. the Preparation), and the following Saturday ‘Sabbatum Sanctum."

Whilst these various divisions of time were being arrived at, there would be, concurrently with them, the obvious recurrence of the|seasons in their due order. One of the promises represented as having been made by God to Noah immediately after the Flood was that seedtime (i.e. spring), summer, harvest (i.e. autumn), and winter should not cease (Genesis 8:22). This is the earliest time in the world’s history to which a knowledge of the seasons is attributed in the Bible. Afterwards summer and winter are frequently mentioned. In AV the word ‘spring,’ to mean that season, occurs only in Wisdom 2:7, and ‘autumn’ not at all, though the word translated ‘winter’ In Amos 3:15, Jeremiah 36:22, might equally be rendered ‘autumn,’ as the time referred to is the border time between autumn and winter. It would in due course be noticed that the seasons recurred practically after a series of twelve moons or months; hence would come in the division of time into years of twelve lunar months. A year of 360 days is implied In the history of the Flood (Gn 6-8), but no satisfactory explanation has yet been given of the scheme of years and chronology in the genealogical account of antediluvian times (Genesis 5).

The twelve months of the year would be given names. The Biblical names we find for them are:

1. Abib (Exodus 13:4). the month of the green ears of com, about the same aa our April, called in post-exilic times, in correspondence with its Bab. name, Nisan (Nehemiah 2:1). ‘This was the month in which the Passover came.

2. Ziv (1 Kings 6:1). seemingly the bright month, called later lyyar.

3. Sivan (Esther 8:9). another Bab. name, occurring only in this one passage in the OT.

4. This month has no Biblical name, but was called in later times Tammuz, after the god of that name, in whose honour a fast was kept during the month,which is mentioned in Zee 8 as ‘the fast of the fourth month.’

5. This month also has no Biblical name, but was called later Ab.

6. Klul (Nehemiah 6:15, 1 Mao 14). The etymology of this name is unknown: it occuis in Assyrian.

7. Ethanim (1 Kings 8:2). the month of constant Sowings, in later times called Tishri. This was the first month of the civil year.

8. Bui (1 Kings 6:38), a word of doubtful etymology, called later Marcheshvan.

9. Chlslev (Nehemiah 1:1. Zee 7:1, 1 Mao 1" etc.), a Bab. word of uncertain derivation.

10. Tebeth (Esther 2:16). taken over from the Assyrian. It has been conjectured to mean ‘the month of sinking in,* i.e. the muddy month.

11. Shebat(Zeo 1:7. IMac 16), from the Babylonian; of doubtful meaning, but, according to some, the month of destroying rain.

12. Adar (Ezra 6:15. Esther 3:7 etc.), aBab. word, perhaps meaning darkened. In 2 Mao 15 we are informed that the twelfth month ‘is called Adar in the Syrian tongue.’

The names given are, it will be seen, of rare occurrence, and only four of them are pre-exilic. Biblical writers are generally content to give the number of the month. Some of the months were notable for their ecclesiastical feasts. In the first came the Passover, on the 14th day; In the third, the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost); in the seventh, the Feast of Trumpets and the Feast of Tabernacles, as also the Fast of the Day of Atonement; in the ninth, the Feast of Dedication; and in the twelfth, the Feast of Purim.

Though at first all the months seem to have been reckoned of equal length, in later times they contained 30 and 29 days alternately. This rendered an intercalation in the Calendar necessary, .to keep the Passover in the right season of the year; and this intercalary period was called the second Adar, and was inserted as required to bring Abib to its proper place in the year.

It remains to mention that in the Apocrypha we have traces of the Macedonian Calendar. In 2 Maccabees 11:21. a month is named Dioscorinthius, a name which does not occur elsewhere, and which is either a corruption of the text for Dystrus, a name for the twelfth month, which occurs in the Sinaitic text of Tobit 2:12. or the name of an intercalary month inserted at the end of i the year. In 2 Maccabees 11:30 Xanthicus, the name for the first month of the Macedonian year, occurs. It answers to the month Abib. These names, with other Macedonian names, are used by Josephus. In 3 Maccabees 6:38 two Egyptian months, Pachon and Epiphi, occur, the former being omitted in some texts. They are the ninth and eleventh months of the Egyptian year.

Of epochs or eras there is but little trace. There were the periods of seven years and fifty years already mentioned, but they never occur in any chronological statement. 430 years is the time assigned to the sojourning in Egypt, both in OT and NT (Exodus 12:40. Galatians 3:17), and the commencement of the building of Solomon’s Temple is dated 480 years after the Exodus. The chronology of the two kingdoms is reckoned by regnal years, though in some cases a regency period is counted as part of the length of the reign. Twice in Isaiah (6:1 147) the date noted is that of the year of the death of a king, in another case the date is the invasion by the Tartan (20) ; whilst in Amos (1:1) a date is given as ‘two years before the earthquake,’ apparently a particularly severe one which happened during the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah (Zee 14). The ‘seventy years’ of the Captivity is also a well-known period, as is the thousand years of the Apocalypse (Revelation 20), with all the speculations it has given rise to. In later times the years were reckoned by the names of those who filled the office of high priest ; in Luke 3:1 f.: , we have a careful combination of names of various offices held by various persons at the time of the commencement of the preaching of John the Baptist, to indicate the date.

Of instruments to measure time we hear of only one, the sun-dial of Ahaz (2 Kings 20:9–11. Isaiah 38:8). but what shape or form this took we do not know.

H. A. Redpath.

Timb'a

1. A concubine of Eliphaz, son of Esau (Genesis 36:12). 2. A woman of the Esau clan of Horites (Genesis 36:22. 1 Chronicles 1:39). 3. A ‘duke’ of Edom (1 Chronicles 1:51. Genesis 36:40 [where RV has, by a slip, Timnah]).

H. L. WiLLETT.

TDtlKAH. — 1. A town in the high region of S. Judah, S.E. of Hebron (Joshua 15:57). It is possible that this was the Timnah visited by Judah at the time of sheepshearing (Genesis 38:12). Or it may have been — 2. A place on the N. frontier of the tribe of Judah between Beth-shemesh and Ekron (Joshua 15:10). At one time it was counted in the territory of Dan (Joshua 19:43). but at another it was in Philistine possession (Judges 14:1). Here Samson celebrated his marriage. His father-in-law is called the Timnite (Judges 15:6). The town was held by the Hebrews in the reign of Uzziah, but was lost to the Philistines by Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:18). It is now identified with Tibneh, on the S. side of the Wady Sarar, 2 miles W. of Beth-shemesh. 3. For Genesis 36:40 see Timna, 3.

H. L. WiLLETT.

Tbh

Tbh irATH.— A strong city built by Bacchides (1 Mac 95"). It is possibly the Thamna of Jos. BJ nr. iii. 6, the mod. Tibneh, some 10 miles N.W. of Bethel. Cf.

TiMNATH-SEKAH.

Timkath-heres

Timkath-heres (in Joshua 19:50 24 written Timnath-serah). — A place assigned to Joshua as an inheritance and burying-place (Judges 2:9). It is described as being ‘in Mt. Ephraim, on the N. side of the Mountain of Gaash.’ See next article. H. L. Willett.

Timnath-serah

The city in Mount Ephraim given to Joshua (19"‘), where he was buried (Joshua 24:30), lying on the N. of the Mountain of Gaash (Judges 2:9 Timnath-herea). Josephus calls the burial-place of Joshua Thamna, and this probably corresponds to Timnath of 1 Maccabees 9:50. although there it is reckoned to Judasa. It was head of a Jewish toparchy, and is named with Lydda and Emmaus {BJ ni. iii. 5, etc.). The Onomasticon identifies it with Tibneh, where there are remains of an important place, with a spring and ancient tombs, on the Roman road from Caesarea to Jerusalem, about 14 miles N.E. of Licdd (Lydda). The tombs are on the S. of the road. One, distinguished by size and workmanship, may be that pointed out as Joshua’s in the time of Eusebius and Jerome. The Samaritans place the burial of Joshua at Kefr Hdris, a village some 10 miles S. of Nablus, with two sanctuaries to the E., one of which, Neby Kifl (‘the prophet of the portion or lot’), may be identified with Joshua. In this case, only the second element in the name has survived. Heres, it will be observed, simply reverses the order of the letters in Seraft. W. Ewing.

Tehon

One of ‘the Seven’ (Acts 6:5).

Thhotheus

1. A leader of the Ammonites who was defeated in many battles by Judas Maccabaeus (1 Maccabees 5: 2 Maccabees 8:30 9:3 10:24–37). 2. The AV form of the name Timothy everywhere in NT except 2 Corinthians 1:1. 1 Timothy 1:2, 2 Timothy 1:2. Philem’, Hebrews 13:23.

Timothy

A young disciple, a native of Lystra, chosen as companion and assistant by Paul when, during his second missionary journey, he visited that city for the second time. He was the child of a mixed marriage, his father (probably dead at the time of his selection by Paul) being a Greek and his mother a Jewess (Acts 16:1). From earliest childhood (‘babe’ RV) he had received religious training, being taught the Jewish Scriptures by his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois (2 Timothy 1 3:15). Probably both he and his mother were converted during Paul’s first sojourn at Lystra, for on the Apostle’s second visit he was already ‘a disciple’ of some standing, ‘well reported of by the brethren’ (Acts 16:1, 2). Indeed, Paul seems to claim him as a personal convert in 1 Corinthians 4:17. describing him as his ‘beloved and faithful child in the Lord.’

The selection of Timothy was due not only to the wish of Paul (Acts 16:3). but also to the opinion of the Church at Lystra. In his case, as in the case of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:2). the local prophets ‘led the way’ (1 Timothy 1:18 RVm) to him; and he was then set apart by imposition of hands by Paul (2 Timothy 1) in conjunction with the local presbyters (1 Timothy 4:14). Possibly it was on this occasion that he ‘confessed the good confession’ (1 Timothy 6:12). Paul caused him to be circumcised (Acts 16:3). judging that, as his mother was a Jewess, his not having submitted to the rite would prove an obstacle to his ministry among Jews, and, further, that from his semi- Jewish parentage, he did not come within the scope of the Church’s decree which released Gentiles from circumcision.

Timothy at once accompanied Paul through Asia to Troas, and thence into Macedonia. He was left behind at Bercea when the Apostle moved on to Athens, but was summoned to rejoin him (Acts 17:14, 15). He was thence despatched back again to Macedonia to confirm the Church at Thessalonica, and to bring news of its state to Paul. He rejoined the Apostle in Corinth and cheered him by a favourable report (1 Thessalonians 3:1–8. Acts 18:5). While in Corinth, Paul wrote his Epistles to the Thessalonians, and included Timothy in the greetings (1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2 Thessalonians 1:1). He is next mentioned at Ephesus with Paul on his third missionary journey, and thence is sent with Erastus to Macedonia la advance of the Apostle (Acts 19:22). Shortly after Timothy’s departure, Paul despatched by direct sea route his First Epistle to the Corinthians. In this he mentions that Timothy (travelling via Macedonia) would shortly reach them (1 Corinthians 4:17) he bespeaks a kindly welcome for him, and adds that he wishes him to return with ‘the brethren’ (i.e. probably those who had borne the Epistle) to Ephesus (16:10, 11 and 8). Timothy may not have reached Corinth on this occasion, being detained in Macedonia; and the absence in the Second Epistle of all mention of his being there points in this direction. But in any case he is found with Paul again when 2 Cor. was written, in Macedonia (2 Corinthians 1:1). Paul in due course reached Corinth, and Timothy with him, for his name occurs among the greetings in the Epistle to the Romans which was then written (1 Romans 16:21; cf. Acts 20:2). Paul and he, after a three months’ sojourn, returned by land to Troas (Ac 20:4, 5). Timothy is not again mentioned in the Acts. It is clear from the Epistles of the Captivity that he was a companion of Paul during his imprisonment (Colossians 1:1. Philem", Philippians 1:1). and that the Apostle meditated sending him on a special mission to Philippi (Philippians 2:19). From the Pastoral Epistles we learn that when Paul, after his release, came into Asia, he left Timothy as his delegate in Ephesus, giving him full instructions as to how he was to rule the Church during his absence, which he realized might be longer than he anticipated (1 Timothy 1:3 3:14, 15). When Paul was a second time imprisoned, and felt his death to be imminent, he summoned Timothy to his side (2 Timothy 4:9, 21). If Timothy ever reached the Apostle, he may have been then himself imprisoned, for we read (Hebrews 13:23) of his being ‘set at liberty.’ Of his subsequent history nothing is known with certainty. Chasles T. p. Grierson.