Tirzah – Tobijah

Tirzah

tur'-za (tirtsah; Thersa):

(1) A royal city of the Canaanites, the king of which was slain by Joshua (12:24). It superseded Shechem as capital of the Northern Kingdom (1 Kings 14:17, etc.), and itself gave place in turn to Samaria. Here reigned Jeroboam, Nadab his son, Baasha, Elah and Zimri (1 Kings 15:21,1 Kings 15:33; 1 Kings 16:6,1 Kings 16:8,1 Kings 16:9,1 Kings 16:15). Baasha was buried in Tirzah. Here Elah was assassinated while "drinking himself drunk" in the house of his steward; here therefore probably he was buried. Zimri perished in the flames of his palace, rather than fall into Omri's hands. In Tirzah Menahem matured his rebellion against Shallum (2 Kings 15:14). The place is mentioned in Song of Songs 6:4 the King James Version, where the Shulammite is said to be "beautiful .... as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem." The comparison may be due to the charm of its situation. The name may possibly be derived from ratsah, "to delight." Several identifications have been suggested. Buhl (Geographic des alten Palestina, 203) favors et-tireh, on the West of the plain of Makhneh, 4 miles South of Nablus, which he identifies with the Tira-thana of Josephus. He quotes Neubauer to the effect that the later Jews said Tir`an or Tar`ita instead of Tirzah, as weakening the claim of Telluzah, which others (e.g. Robinson, BR, III, 302) incline to. It is a partly ruined village with no spring, but with ancient cisterns, on a hill about 4 miles East of North from Nablus. This was evidently the place intended by Brocardius--Thersa, about 3 miles East of Samaria (Descriptio, VII). A third claimant is Teiasir, a fortress at the point where the road from Abel-meholah joins that from Shechem to Bethshan, fully 11 miles Northeast of Nablus. It is impossible to decide with certainty. The heavy "T" in Telluzah is a difficulty. Teiasir is perhaps too far from Shechem. Buhl's case for identification with eT-Tireh is subject to the same difficulty as Telluzah.

(2) One of the five daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 26:33; Numbers 27:1; Numbers 36:11; Joshua 17:3).

W. Ewing

Tishbite

tish'-bit.

See ELIJAH; Expostory Times, XII, 383.

Tishri; Tisri

tish'-re, tiz'-re: The 7th month of the Jewish ecclesiastical, and 1st of the civil, year (September-October). The same as Ethanim.

See CALENDAR.

Titans

ti'-tanz: In Judith 16:7, "Neither did the sons of the Titans (huioi Titanon) smite him." The name of an aboriginal Canaanitish race of reputed giants who inhabited Palestine before the Hebrews, and so used in the sense of "giants" in general. See REPHAIM. In 2 Samuel 5:18,2 Samuel 5:22, the "valley of Rephaim" is translated by the Septuagint as "the valley of the Titans."

Tithe

tith (ma`aser; dekate): The custom of giving a 10th part of the products of the land and of the spoils of war to priests and kings (1 Macc 10:31; 11:35; 1 Samuel 8:15,1 Samuel 8:17) was a very ancient one among most nations. That the Jews had this custom long before the institution of the Mosaic Law is shown by Genesis 14:17–20 (compare Hebrews 7:4) and Genesis 28:22. Many critics hold that these two passages are late and only reflect the later practice of the nation; but the payment of tithes is so ancient and deeply rooted in the history of the human race that it seems much simpler and more natural to believe that among the Jews the practice was in existence long before the time of Moses.

In the Pentateuch we find legislation as to tithes in three places.

(1) According to Leviticus 27:30–33, a tithe had to be given of the seed of the land, i.e. of the crops, of the fruit of the tree, e.g. oil and wine, and of the herd or the flock (compare Deuteronomy 14:22,Deuteronomy 14:23; 2 Chronicles 31:5,2 Chronicles 31:6). As the herds and flocks passed out to pasture they were counted (compare Jeremiah 33:13; Ezekiel 20:37), and every 10th animal that came out was reckoned holy to the Lord. The owner was not allowed to search among them to find whether they were bad or good, nor could he change any of them; if he did, both the one chosen and the one for which it was changed were holy. Tithes of the herds and flocks could not be redeemed for money, but tithes of the seed of the land and of fruit could be, but a 5th part of the value of the tithe had to be added.

(2) In Numbers 18:21–32 it is laid down that the tithe must be paid to the Levites. (It should be noted that according to Hebrews 7:5, `they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood .... take tithes of the people.' Westcott's explanation is that the priests, who received from the Levites a tithe of the tithe, thus symbolically received the whole tithe. In the time of the second temple the priests did actually receive the tithes. In the Talmud (Yebhamoth 86a et passim) it is said that this alteration from the Mosaic Law was caused by the sin of the Levites, who were not eager to return to Jerusalem, but had to be persuaded to do so by Ezra (Ezra 8:15).) The Levites were to receive the tithes offered by Israel to Yahweh, because they had no other inheritance, and in return for their service of the tabernacle (Numbers 18:21,Numbers 18:24). The tithe was to consist of corn of the threshing-floor and the fullness of the wine press (Numbers 18:27), which coincides with seed of the land and fruit of the trees in Leviticus 27:1–34. The Levites, who stood in the same relation to the priests as the people did to themselves, were to offer from this their inheritance a heave offering, a tithe of a tithe, to the priests (compare Nehemiah 10:39), and for this tithey were to choose of the best part of what they received.

(3) In Deuteronomy 12:5,Deuteronomy 12:6,Deuteronomy 12:11,Deuteronomy 12:18 (compare Amos 4:4) it is said that the tithe is to be brought "unto the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there," i.e. to Jerusalem; and in Deuteronomy 12:7,Deuteronomy 12:12,Deuteronomy 12:18, that the tithe should be used there as a sacred meal by the offerer and his household, including the Levite within his gates. Nothing is said here about tithing cattle, only grain, wine and oil being mentioned (compare Nehemiah 10:36–38; Nehemiah 13:5,Nehemiah 13:12). In Deuteronomy 14:22–29 it is laid down that if the way was too long to carry the tithe to Jerusalem it could be exchanged for money, and the money taken there instead, where it was to be spent in anything the owner chose; and whatever was bought was to be eaten by him and his household and the Levites at Jerusalem. In the third year the tithe was to be reserved and eaten at home by the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. In Deuteronomy 26:12–15 it is laid down that in the 3rd year, after this feast had been given, the landowner should go up himself before the Lord his God, i.e. to Jerusalem, and ask God's blessing on his deed. (According to the Mishna, CoTah 9 10; Ma`aser Sheni 5 65, the high priest Johanan abolished this custom.) In this passage this 3rd year is called "the year of tithing."

There is thus an obvious apparent discrepancy between the legislation in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. It is harmonized in Jewish tradition, not only theoretically but in practice, by considering the tithes as three different tithes, which are named the First Tithe, the Second Tithe, and the Poor Tithe, which is called also the Third Tithe (Pe'ah, Ma`aseroth, Ma`ser Sheni, Dema'i, Ro'sh ha-shanah; compare Tobit 1:7,8; Ant, IV, iv, 3; viii, 8; viii, 22). According to this explanation, after the tithe (the First Tithe) was given to the Levites (of which they had to give the tithe to the priests), a Second Tithe of the remaining nine-tenths had to be set apart and consumed in Jerusalem. Those who lived far from Jerusalem could change this Second Tithe into money with the addition of a 5th part of its value. Only food, drink or ointment could be bought for the money (Ma`aser Sheni 2 1; compare Deuteronomy 14:26). The tithe of cattle belonged to the Second Tithe, and was to be used for the feast in Jerusalem (Zebhachim 5 8). In the 3rd year the Second Tithe was to be given entirely to the Levites and the poor. But according to Josephus (Ant., IV, viii, 22) the "Poor Tithe" was actually a third one. The priests and the Levites, if landowners, were also obliged to give the Poor Tithe (Pe'ah 1 6).

The explanation given by many critics, that the discrepancy between Deuteronomy and Leviticus is due to the fact that these are different layers of legislation, and that the Levitical tithe is a post-exilian creation of the Priestly Code, is not wholly satisfactory, for the following reasons:

(1) The allusion in Deuteronomy 18:1,Deuteronomy 18:2 seems to refer to the Levitical tithe.

(2) There is no relation between the law of Numbers 18:1–32 and post-exilian conditions, when the priests were numerous and the Levites a handful.

(3) A community so poor and disaffected as that of Ezra's time would have refused to submit to a new and oppressive tithe burden.

(4) The division into priests and Levites cannot have been of the recent origin that is alleged.

See LEVITES.

W. R. Smith and others suggest that the tithe is simply a later form of the first-fruits, but this is difficult to accept, since the first-fruits were given to the priest, while the tithes were not. The whole subject is involved in considerable obscurity, which with our present information cannot easily be cleared away.

The Talmudic law of tithing extends the Mosaic Law, with most burdensome minuteness, even to the smallest products of the soil. Of these, according to some, not only the seeds, but, in certain cases, even the leaves and stalks had to be tithed (Ma`aseroth 4 5), "mint, anise, and cummin" (Dema'i 11 1; compare Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42). The general principle was that "everything that is eaten, that is watched over, and that grows out of the earth" must be tithed (Ma`aseroth 1 1).

Considering the many taxes, religious and secular, that the Jews had to pay, especially in post-exilian times, we cannot but admire the liberality and resourcefulness of the Jewish people. Only in the years just after the return from exile do we hear that the taxes were only partially paid (Nehemiah 13:10; compare Mal 1:7 ff; and for pre-exilian times compare 2Ch 31:4 ff). In later times such cases seldom occur (Sotah 48a), which is the more surprising since the priests, who benefited so much by these laws of the scribes, were the adversaries of the latter.

Paul Levertoff

Title

ti'-t'-l: John 19:19,John 19:20 for titlos.

The following arrangement of the title on the cross has been suggested: See Geikie, Life and Words of Christ, chapter lxiii, note e; Seymour, The Cross in Tradition, History and Art (New York, 1898), pp. 115, 116,136, 138.

In 2 Kings 23:17, the King James Version has "title" for tsiyyun. The word is connected with tsawah, "to command," and King James Version seems to have understood tsiyyun as "that giving directions," "sign-posts" (compare Ezekiel 39:15). The word, however, means "grave-stone," "monument."

See SUPERSCRIPTION.

Tittle

tit'-'-l (keraia (Westcott-Hort, kerea), from keras, "a horn"): A small stroke or mark, specif. on a letter to denote accent, or as a diacritical mark; used only in Matthew 5:18 and Luke 16:17. In the first passage it is used in connection with iota, or jot, i.e. the very smallest thing, and in both it refers to the minutiae of the Law. It is well known that the scribes paid the greatest attention to such marks attached to the letters in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Massoretic Text of which abounds in them.

See JOT; YODH.

Titus

ti'-tus (Titos (2 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Corinthians 7:6,2 Corinthians 7:13; 2 Corinthians 8:6,2 Corinthians 8:16,2 Corinthians 8:23; 2 Corinthians 12:18; Galatians 2:1,Galatians 2:3; 2 Timothy 4:10; Titus 1:4)):

1. One of Paul's Converts:

A Greek Christian, one of Paul's intimate friends, his companion in some of his apostolic journeys, and one of his assistants in Christian work. His name does not occur in the Acts; and, elsewhere in the New Testament, it is found only in 2 Corinthians, Galatians, 2 Timothy and Titus. As Paul calls him "my true child after a common faith" (Titus 1:4), it is probable that he was one of the apostle's converts.

2. Paul Refuses to Have Him Circumcised:

The first notice of Titus is in Acts 15:2, where we read that after the conclusion of Paul's 1st missionary journey, when he had returned to Antioch, a discussion arose in the church there, in regard to the question whether it was necessary that Gentile Christians should be circumcised and should keep the Jewish Law. It was decided that Paul and Barnabas, "and certain other of them," should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. The "certain other of them" includes Titus, for in Galatians 2:3 it is recorded that Titus was then with Paul. The Judaistic party in the church at Jerusalem desired to have Titus circumcised, but Paul gave no subjection to these persons and to their wishes, "no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you" (Galatians 2:5). The matter in dispute was decided as recorded in Acts 15:13–29. The decision was in favor of the free promulgation of the gospel, as preached by Paul, and unrestricted by Jewish ordinances. Paul's action therefore in regard to Titus was justified. In fact Titus was a representative or test case.

It is difficult and perhaps impossible to give the true reason why Titus is not mentioned by name in the Acts, but he is certainly referred to in 15:2.

3. Sent to Corinth:

There is no further notice of Titus for some years afterward, when he is again mentioned in 2 Corinthians. In this Epistle his name occurs 8 times. From the notices in this Epistle it appears that Titus had been sent by Paul, along with an unnamed "brother," to Corinth as the apostle's delegate to the church there (2 Corinthians 12:18). His chief business was evidently to deal with the cases of immorality which had occurred there. His mission was largely successful, so that he was able to return to Paul with joy, because his spirit was refreshed by the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 7:13). His inward affection was largely drawn out to them, and "he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him" (2 Corinthians 7:15). At Corinth Titus seems also to have assisted in organizing the weekly collections for the poor saints in Jerusalem. See 1 Corinthians 16:1,1 Corinthians 16:2 compared with 2 Corinthians 8:6: "We exhorted Titus, that as he had made a beginning before, so he would also complete in you this grace also."

After the departure of Titus from Corinth, difficulty had again arisen in the church there, and Titus seems to have been sent by Paul a second time to that city, as the apostle's messenger, carrying a letter from him--referred to in 2 Corinthians 2:3 ff; 7:8 ff.

4. Paul Goes to Meet Him:

The state of the Corinthian church had been causing much anxiety to Paul, so much so that when he had come to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened to him of the Lord, he found no rest in his spirit, because he found not Titus, his brother; so he left Troas, and went thence into Macedonia, in order to meet Titus the sooner, so as to ascertain from him how matters stood in Corinth. In Macedonia accordingly the apostle met Titus, who brought good news regarding the Corinthians. In the unrest and fightings and fears which the troubles at Corinth had caused Paul to experience, his spirit was refreshed when Titus reached him. "He that comforteth the lowly, even God, comforted us by the coming of Titus .... while he told us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced yet more" (2 Corinthians 7:6,2 Corinthians 7:7).

Paul now wrote to the Corinthians again--our Second Epistle to the Corinthians--and dispatched it to its destination by the hand of Titus, into whose heart `God had put the same earnest care for them' (2 Corinthians 8:16–18). Titus was also again entrusted with the work of overseeing the weekly collection in the Corinthian church (2 Corinthians 8:10,2 Corinthians 8:24).

5. Travels with Paul to Crete:

There is now a long interval in the history of Titus, for nothing further is recorded of him till we come to the Pastoral Epistles. From Paul's Epistle to him these details are gathered: On Paul's liberation at the conclusion of his first Roman imprisonment he made a number of missionary journeys, and Titus went with him, as his companion and assistant, on one of these--to the island of Crete. From Crete, Paul proceeded onward but he left Titus to "set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city" (Titus 1:5) . Paul reminds him of the character of the people of Crete, and gives him various instructions for his guidance; charges him to maintain sound doctrine, and advises him how to deal with the various classes of persons met with in his pastoral capacity.

6. Paul Sends for Him:

Titus is informed that Artemas or Tychicus will be sent to Crete so that he will be free to leave the island and to rejoin the apostle at Nicopolis, where he has determined to winter. Such were Paul's plans; whether they were carried out is unknown. But this at least is certain, that Titus did rejoin Paul, if not at Nicopolis, then at some other spot; and he was with him in Rome on the occasion of his 2nd imprisonment there, for he is mentioned once again (2 Timothy 4:10) as having gone to Dalmatia, evidently on an evangelistic errand, as the apostle was in the habit of sending his trusted friends to do such work, when he himself was no longer able to do this, owing to his imprisonment. "Paul regarded as his own the work done from centers where he labored, by helpers associated with him, considering the churches thus organized as under his jurisdiction. This throws light upon the statement in 2 Timothy 4:10, that Titus at that time had gone to Dalmatia, and a certain Crescens to Gaul. There is no indication that they, like Demas, had deserted the apostle and sought safety for themselves, or that, like Tychicus, they had been sent by the apostle upon some special errand. In either case it would be a question why they went to these particular countries, with which, so far as we know, Paul, up to this time, had never had anything to do. The probability is that Titus, who had long been associated with Paul (Galatians 2:3), who, as his commissioner, had executed difficult offices in Corinth (2 Corinthians 7:1–9:15), and who, not very long before 2 Timothy was written, had completed some missionary work in Crete that had been begun by others, had gone as a missionary and as Paul's representative and helper to Dalmatia. .... If by this means, beginnings of church organizations had been made .... in Spain by Paul himself, in Gaul by Crescens, in Dalmatia by Titus, then, in reality, the missionary map had been very much changed since Paul's first defense" (Zahn, Introduction to the New Testament. II, 11).

7. His Character:

Titus was one of Paul's very dear and trusted friends; and the fact that he was chosen by the apostle to act as his delegate to Corinth, to transact difficult and delicate work in the church there, and that he did this oftener than once, and did it thoroughly and successfully, shows that Titus was not merely a good but a most capable man, tactful and resourceful and skillful in the handling of men and of affairs. "Whether any inquire about Titus, he is my partner and fellow-worker to you-ward" (2 Corinthians 8:23).

John Rutherfurd

Titus Justus

tish'-us jus'-tus.

See JUSTUS, (2); TITUS JUSTUS.

Titus Manius

See MANIUS.

Titus, Epistle To

See PASTORAL EPISTLES.

Titus; Titius Justus

(Titos or Titios Ioustos (Acts 18:7)): Titus or Titius--for the manuscripts vary in regard to the spelling--was the prenomen of a certain Corinthian, a Jewish proselyte (sebomenos ton Theon). See PROSELYTE). His name seems also to indicate that he was a Roman by birth. He is altogether a different person from Titus, Paul's assistant and companion in some of his journeys, to whom also the Epistle to Titus is addressed.

Titus or Titius Justus was not the "host of Paul at Corinth" (HDB, article "Justus," p. 511), for Luke has already narrated that, when Paul came to Corinth, "he abode with" Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:3). What is said of Titius Justus is that when the Jews in Corinth opposed themselves to Paul and blasphemed when he testified that Jesus was the Christ, then Paul ceased to preach the gospel in the Jewish synagogue as he had formerly done, and "he departed thence, and went into the house of a certain man named Titus Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue" (Acts 18:7).

"Titius Justus was evidently a Roman or a Latin, one of the coloni of the colony Corinth. Like the centurion Cornelius, he had been attracted to the synagogue. His citizenship would afford Paul an opening to the more educated class of the Corinthian population" (Ramsay, Paul the Traveler and the Ro Citizen, 256).

Paul's residence in Corinth continued for a year and a half, followed without a break by another period indicated in the words, he "tarried after this yet many days" (Acts 18:11,Acts 18:18), and during the whole of this time he evidently used the house of Titius Justus, for the purposes both of preaching the gospel and of gathering the church together for Christian worship and instruction, "teaching the word of God among them" (Acts 18:11).

Titius Justus, therefore, must have been a wealthy man, since he possessed a house in which there was an apartment sufficiently large to be used for both of these purposes; and he himself must have been a most enthusiastic member of the church, when in a period of protracted difficulty and persecution, he welcomed Paul to his house, that he might use it as the meeting-place of the church in Corinth.

See JUSTUS, (2).

John Rutherfurd

Tizite

ti'-zit (ha-titsi; Codex Vaticanus ho Ieasei; Codex Alexandrinus ho Thosaei; Lucian Athosi): A gentilic attached to the name "Joha" (1 Chronicles 11:45), one of the soldiers of David; the origin is totally unknown.

Toah

to'-a.

See NAHATH.

Tob, The Land Of

tob, tob ('erets Tobh, "a good land"; ge Tob): Hither Jephthah escaped from his brethren after his father's death (Judges 11:3), and perfected himself in the art of war, making forays with "the vain fellows" who joined him. Here the elders of Gilead found him, when, reduced to dire straits by the children of Ammon, they desired him to take command of their army (Jsg 11:5 ff). This country contributed 12,000 men to the forces of the allies, who with the Ammonites were defeated by Israel (2 Samuel 10:8). In 1 Macc 5:13 we read of the land of Tubins where the Jews, about 1,000 men, were slain by the Gentiles, their wives and children being carried into captivity. The Tubieni, "men of Tobit" of 2 Macc 12:17, were probably from this place. Ptolemy (v.19) speaks of Thauba, a place to the Southwest of Zobah, which may possibly be Tobit. The Talmud (Neubauer, Geog. du Talmud, 239) identifies the land of Tobit with the district of Hippene. Tobit would then be represented by Hippos, modern Susiyeh, to the Southwest of Fiq on the plateau East of the Sea of Galilee. Perhaps the most likely identification is that supported by G. A. Smith (HGHL, 587), with eT-Taiyibeh, 10 miles South of Umm Qeis (Gadara). The name is the same in meaning as Tobit.

W. Ewing

Tob-Adonijah

tob-ad-o-ni'-ja, tob-(Tobh 'adhoniyah, "good is the Lord"; Codex Vaticanus Tobadobeia; Codex Alexandrinus and Lucian Tobadonia): One of the Levites sent by King Jehoshaphat to teach in the cities of Judah (2 Chronicles 17:8). The name looks like a dittography arising from the two previous names, Adonijah and Tobijah.

Tobiah

to-bi'-a (Tobhiyah; Codex Alexandrinus Tobias; omitted in Codex Vaticanus):

(1) An Ammonite slave (King James Version, "servant"), probably of Sanballat, the governor of Samaria (Nehemiah 2:10). He was grieved exceedingly when Nehemiah came to seek the welfare of the children of Israel. In two ways he was connected by marriage with the Jews, having himself married the daughter of Shecaniah, the son of Arab, and his son Jehohanan having married the daughter of Meshullam, the son of Berechiah (Nehemiah 6:18). Because of this close connection with the Jews, the nobles of the latter corresponded by letter with him and also reported his good deeds to Nehemiah and reported Nehemiah's words to Tobiah. In consequence of the report, Tobiah sent letters to Nehemiah to put him in fear (6:17-19). Nehemiah seems to have considered him to be his chief enemy; for he put him before Sanballat in his prayers to God to remember his opponents according to their works (6:14). In 13:4 we are told that he was an ally of Eliashib, the high priest who had the oversight of the chambers of the house of God and had prepared for him as a guest chamber the room which had before been used as a storehouse for offerings of various kinds. Nehemiah, having heard during his second visit to Jerusalem of this desecration of the temple, cast out the household stuff of Tobiah and cleansed the chambers, restoring the vessels of God and the offerings as of old.

(2) The eponym of a family which returned with Zerubbabel, but could not trace its descent (Ezra 2:60; Nehemiah 7:62).

R. Dick Wilson

Tobias

to-bi'-as:

(1) The son of Tobit.

See TOBIT, BOOK OF.

(2) Tobias, Codex Alexandrinus Tobio the father (according to Josephus, grandfather) of HYRCANUS (which see) (2 Macc 3:11).

Tobie

to'-bi.

See TUBIAS.

Tobiel

to-bi'-el, to'-bi-el (Tobiel, Codex Alexandrinus Tobiel): The father of Tobit (Tobit 1:1); another form of "Tabeel]" "God is good."

Tobijah

to-bi'-ja (Tobhiyah, "Yahweh is good"):

(1) A Levite in the reign of Jehoshaphat whom the king sent to teach in the cities of Judah (2 Chronicles 17:8; Tobhiyahu; the Septuagint omits).

(2) One of a party of Jews that came from Babylon to Jerusalem with gold and silver for a crown for Zerubbabel and Joshua, or for Zerubbabel alone (Zechariah 6:10,Zechariah 6:14). The crown was to be stored in the temple in remembrance of the donors (the Septuagint in both passages translates Tobiyah by chresimoi, i.e. Tobheyha).