Tr-Tz

TRACHONITIS  (TracwnitiV)  A northern district east of the Jordan.  Herod Antipas’ “brother Philip was tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis” in Luke 3.

                 Trachonitis lay about 40 km south of Damascus.  To the west the boundary was Gaulanitis and to the northwest Ulatha and Paneas at the foot of Mount Hermon.  The southwest border was along Batanaea and Aurantis.  To the east there was an indefinite border along the mountainous area now called Jebel Druze.  The area is a portion of the northern plateau east of the Jordan which was known as Bashan in the Old Testament.  The most distinctive feature of Trachonitis is a large pear-shaped mass of black basalt covering about 900 square kilometers.  It rises to a height of 6 to 12 meters above the plateau.  This portion of the Bashan has always been an excellent refuge for robbers and rebels.

                 This area, like the mountains of Jebel Druze to the east, has always been difficult to rule.  Around 25 B.C., it was ruled by Zenodorus with the tacit consent of Rome.  Later it was given by Augustus to Herod the Great, who was forced around 9 B.C. to assert his authority with troops to suppress a revolt.  At Herod’s death, Trachonitis was given to his son Philip.  Philip seems to have been a strong ruler and able to maintain the peace nearly forty years.  After Philip’s death in 34 A.D., it was included in the Roman province of Syria.  In 37 it was given to Herod Agrippa I, who ruled it until 44.  Roman officials ruled it until 53; Herod Agrippa II ruled it from 53-100.  Roman officials then ruled it as part of the province of Syria or Arabia.

                 In spite of the rugged terrain, some agriculture has always been possible in Trachonitis.  There are springs and sufficient rainfall for the meager crops grown in the small patches of soil present.  The land is best suited to raising sheep and goats.  The number and size of ancient city ruins indicate that it supported a much larger population at that time than now.  These ancient cities were built entirely of stone, mostly black basalt.

TRADE AND COMMERCE.  Besides references from the Bible, we have literature from neighboring countries, contracts, archives, and archaeological evidence to inform us about trade and commerce.

                 Real Estate Transactions and Local Trade—The Law and the Prophets are not favorable to unlimited freedom of transaction in matters of real estate.  There is strong feeling in Yahwistic circles that earth belongs to God, and that humans are only God’s tenants.  On the other hand, extended families had the right to “live on the land of their fathers.” For example, there were provisions to redeem the land of an impoverished relative compelled to sell out.  The institution of the Jubilee also tended toward the stabilizing of family ownership.  The laws on real estate deals originated in ancient customs.

                 The transformation of social and economic conditions under the monarchy resulted in many transgressions of the old customs.  Kings were among the worst offenders, either when they usurped by violence the family estate of their subjects, or when they forced sales to grant them to members of the royal household.  The rise of sects like Rechabites around 850 B.C. must be interpreted in part as a protest against the unethical business practices of the ruling class.

                 Abraham’s purchase of the Machpelah cave, as it was understood by Genesis’ author, suggests that the legal acquisition constituted a symbolic title to Canaan’s soil.  In Hittite law, the act of securing a full title to land bound the purchaser to various feudal obligations, which Abraham accepted only very reluctantly.  A passage of Jeremiah 32 describes in detail the writing of a real estate contract.  In usual practice, the contract would have been written in duplicate, the original sealed and kept in an earthen ware vessel as a document of archive.  The gesture of the purchaser’s setting his foot on the land marked the act of taking possession.

                 Palestine’s predominantly rural economy in antiquity gave the local trade its distinctive character.  Agricultural produce was traded in local markets for goods manufactured by town craftsmen.  There was a steady trade in barley and wheat, olives and olive oil, grapes and wine, lentils, dried figs, and nuts.  The demand for fresh produce varied according to local conditions; not all towns and villages had gardens and orchards.  The sale of agricultural products from the royal domains influenced the conditions of the market.  The commercial trade of Hebrew kings must have created a very serious competition to private business; the kings of Israel had a quasi monopoly on oil and wine.   

                 Livestock was offered principally by nomads and semi-nomads and by peasants with pastures, in villages located on or by the north-south crest of the Palestinian highlands, with the wastelands sloping down toward the Valley of the Jordan, the Dead Sea, and the Negeb, as their grazing grounds.  Dairy products were sold to city people year round.  Wild game and the catch of fishermen were not an important item in Old Testament (OT) Palestine.  Fishing and salted fish took on considerable importance in Greek and Roman times.

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                 The market place was usually located at the gate of the city.  Quite often, the market of one particular gate was reserved for one or more categories of wares.  Barter was the primitive means of transaction.  A head of cattle constituted the basic standard of value.  Objects of metal soon replaced cumbersome bartering methods.  Money did not appear in Palestine prior to the Persian and Greek periods. 

    Craftsmen established in the towns supplied the local trade with pottery and textiles; much of the textile was homespun.  At a more advanced stage of the monarchy, some cities specialized in the weaving and dyeing industries.  Utensils of metal such as kettles, tools, and weapons, as well as silver and gold ornaments, were sold by itinerant distributors or were manufactured locally.  In Jerusalem, potters had their workshops in the southern suburbs, as one may infer from such place-names as the Potter’s Field.  Bakers had their street, probably near the Tower of the Ovens.

                  Import-Export in OT Palestine—Any industrial development made it necessary to import raw material and wares not readily found locally.  This was the case in Palestine.  Furthermore, Palestine, with its geographical location at the crossroads between Mesopotamia, Syria, Asia Minor, the Mediterranean isles and lands, and Egypt, would have naturally become involved in international commercial transit.  The industrial products of Palestine during the Middle and Late Bronze Age (2100-1200 B.C.) implies manifold exchanges within the Near and Middle East.

                 The raw materials imported in, or exported from Palestine are known to us through biblical references.  Some OT specialties of Palestine were:  balm, resins, gum myrrh, honey, dried nuts, pistachios, and almonds.  One may surmise that wine, pressed figs, raisins, and dates were also shipped abroad.  Exporters from Damascus must have been serious competitors to Palestinian traders. 

     The main articles of importation are industrial raw materials: tin, lead, silver, iron, and copper (The copper and iron mines of the Arabah probably did not meet the local demand, at least prior to Solomon’s reign.).  A certain amount of white linen was probably imported from Egypt and Syria.  Purple-dyed wool and cloth came from Phoenicia.  Pottery from Cyprus, the Aegean isles, and continental Greece had been much in demand in Palestine around 1200 B.C.  Under Solomon and his successors, shipments of precious woods, gems, ivory, spices drugs, and exotic curiosities were brought from Arabia, Ethiopia, and India.

     Prior to the Greeks, tribesmen from the Syro-Arabian desert, known biblically as Ishmaelites had monopolized the organization of land caravans.  Caravans from Asia Minor, once they had crossed the Taurus Mountains, followed the western border of the Syrian Desert and supplied the markets of Aleppo, Hama, and Damascus, before they reached Palestine.  Southern Mesopotamian caravans had to take the devious road detouring to the north of the Syrian Desert.  The Queen of Sheba’s visit to Solomon illustrates the importance of the trade routes to and from the southern Arabian Peninsula.              

                 Transports by sea had always been in the hands of the Phoenicians.  Their sailors had been instrumental in making possible the lively exchange of ideas, acts, and crafts, and their “ships of Tarshish” continued to ploy the Mediterranean and East Atlantic sea lanes as late as Roman times.  Their coastal vessels carried timber from Lebanon to Palestinian and Egyptian seaports. 

                 The Phoenician mariners stopped at the port which served Ugarit, as well as Byblos, Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, Acco, Caesarea, Jaffa, and ports serving the inland cities down to the Egyptian border (Above list is in order from north to south).  The coast line from Ugarit to Jaffa was controlled by Philistines, who probably had a commerce treaty with the Phoenicians.  Phoenician merchantmen may have sailed the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean some time before 1000 B.C.  There is evidence of brisk commercial traffic on the Red Sea after 1000.     

                 Rulers and kings have always played an important part in foreign trade, as evidenced by communications with one another concerning the delivery of raw materials.  The king of Tyre agreed to sell cedar wood for the construction of Solomon’s temple against payments in kind, consisting in territory and foodstuffs.  Solomon imported horses and chariots, probably from two well-known districts of Cilicia where the Hittites and Syrians also went for horses. 

     It became standard practice for the kings of Israel to take part in strictly commercial activities.  They obtained from the Syrian kings a franchise for commercial quarters in Damascus.  Solomon and the kings of Judah became the principal partners of the Phoenicians in the commercial enterprises of the Red Sea, based at Elath, which was also possibly known as Ezion-Geber.  The joint enterprise of Hiram of Tyre and Solomon was recorded in I Kings 9.

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   The development of international trade in Palestine implies a considerable traffic of gold and silver, passing through the hands of professional changers who weighed the ingots and tested their purity.  Some system of banking and of credit may have been used by the king’s agents, in order to avoid the risky transfer of large amounts of metal.  Many of the Jewish exiles turned in increasing numbers to the commercial professions and to international trade for their living.  Commerce and international trade in post-exilic Palestine were still largely in the hands of foreigners.  Regular money appeared in Palestine under the Persians.  The Persian province of Judea had even received and exercised the privilege of having its own silver coinage.

     See also entry in the OT Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT section of the Appendix.   

     The expatriation of Palestinian Jews made it impossible for them to continue in the rural occupations of their fathers.  They turned to international commerce and banking.  This movement became generalized and gave the Jewish colonies of the Diaspora the character they retained for centuries.  This was influential in the Christian church, as some of its earliest congregations grew out of Jewish communities.

TRADER  (ﬧסח (so kher), traveling merchant)  One whose business is trade and commerce; in the Old Testament usually a traveling merchant or peddler.  Canaanites were the ancient traders and gave their name to the occupation (See Canaanites).

TRADITION, ORAL.  Tradition is the foundation of culture, a spiritual bond between the present and the past, the individual and the community.  What people know, have felt and thought and expressed, has been handed down by the tradition of mouth and example.  It has been gradually and unconsciously adapted to changing circumstances of the changing ages.  Memory of the past and religious ideas and usages are no exception.

                 The Old Testament (OT) includes many “memories” older than script.  Behind every type of literature represented there, lies a longer or shorter time of oral tradition.  Each type of literature has sprung from a definite need in a definite “situation in life,” and its forms have been created out of this necessity.  Many of the characteristics of the style forms point clearly back to the oral origin of the species.  The rich imagery of the old tales of Genesis, Judges, and Samuel is because they were given their form by storytellers, not by scribes.

                 The bearers of the tradition were those persons or circles who were especially concerned with the area of life and interests in question, i.e. elders, judges, priests, prophets, and professional “storytellers.”  The “places” in life were the many different occasions where people met (e.g. cultic feasts, “in the gates,” where judicial affairs were settled, and private feasts).

                 Every tradition that has come to us has passed through the mouths and pens of Jerusalem; much of it is, older than David’s “Great Israel.”  Practically all pre-Davidic historical and quasi-historical tradition is of northern Israelite origin.  In the Davidic kingdom some Judean traditions (e.g. Genesis 38; Judges 1:9-17; and Numbers 13:22) were included.  The patriarch tales lived among the pre-Israelite, originally Mesopotamian, Hebrew tribes, with which the Israelites fused. 

     Myths of Creation, the Flood, etc., may have come partly from the patriarchal tribes, and partly from the, often with Mesopotamia-Babylonia as the ultimate source.  The oldest law traditions probably were collected at Shiloh or Shechem.  The same is the case with the “wisdom” tradition.  The priestly rituals and “rights” represent a fusion of old Israelite and pre-Davidic tradition.  Even the love poetry in the Song of Songs [Solomon], which is at least partly of Israelite origin, got its last “revision” in Jerusalem.

     There are areas, such as cultic rituals and words, where conscious stress is laid upon accuracy.  First there is selection. A tradition lives as long as any practical, sociological, or ideological interest is connected with it.  If it is within a narrative, it must be an appealing story.  The heroes and events told become points of crystallization for anecdotes and motifs.  In addition there is unconscious modernization of the tradition.  

     Already in the oral stage the collecting of the originally separate and independent stories, law paragraphs, etc., begins; to some degree, they must be adapted to one another.  Tradition thus is not only the process of transmission, but also of development as well.  A genuine tradition has its point of departure in something “real.”  Through a tradition-historical investigation it can be traced back to its origin.

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     Isaiah’s sayings were “bound together and sealed in my disciples.”  The prophets’ use of the script was only occasional.  The common memory of the prophetic circle and the chain of preservers of the tradition were for long considered to be securer than the script.  The first writings thus do not put an end to the development of the tradition.  Under the influence of Deuteronomy’s theology they were reshaped as longer “sermons,” which now are found side by side with the original short sayings.  Also the words of other prophets continued to live as spiritual forces, sometimes being adapted to new circumstances.  This explains the Judean additions to the collections of Amos and Hosea.

     The many variants now included in the Jahwist saga are best explained as the continuing development of the existing oral tradition beside the written Jahwist material.  Parts of the newer oral tradition were incorporated into the written material.  In the same way the separate material in Chronicles can be explained.  Traditions which the Chronicler’s written source had not taken up continued their oral life and more and more developed into legends that ended up in Chronicles.  Written pre-exilic records, older than Samuel-Kings, scarcely existed any more at the time of Chronicles.  Even long after the more occasional use of script the oral transmission of “spiritual” knowledge was considered normal.  Learning by heart is still the normal way of transmitting even the longest written texts, such as the Koran.  With the Jews both Mishna and Talmud were orally transmitted for centuries.

     The transition from oral transmission to script is done when critical outer circumstances threaten to break off the living tradition.  This happened with Israel in 587 B.C.  During such a catastrophe it is practically impossible for the exiles to save books; the archives of Jerusalem were destroyed, and many of the bearers of the tradition killed.  The remnant of Israel was obliged to rewrite what they could of the archives, and to also write down the oral sacral tradition.  Nonetheless, learning by heart continued to be the normal form of transmission.  The continuing interaction between oral tradition and written texts demonstrates that both traditio-historical and literary methods are necessary in the study of the OT.

TRADITION OF THE ELDERS  (paradosiV twn presbuteron (par ah doe sees  ton  pres bih ter on), transmission [doctrine] of the ancients [ancestors] )  Jewish oral law intended to expound the written law by applying it to new circumstances or finding in it support for long-accepted custom.  Developed by an elaborate commentary on Old Testament texts, it was also arranged topically for teaching and discussion.

                  The rejection of unwritten tradition by Jesus in Matthew 15 and Mark 7 is not full supported elsewhere.  He often ignored rabbinic custom and freely interpreted the written law.  But he also respected Jewish tradition, and his teaching was certainly influenced by it.  Scholars are divided on the question of Jesus’ treatment of the “tradition of the elders.”

TRAIN  (שול (shool), hem)  A trailing extension of a robe or skirt.  In the Isaiah 6 vision the train of the enthroned Lord filled the temple.

TRANCE  (ekstasiV (ek sta sees), displacement of the mind from its ordinary state, amazement, astonishment, ecstasy)  The state of mind of one who is receiving revelation.  The Greek term was used with a variety of meanings, beginning with displacement of the mind, a temporary state in which on is “beside one’s self.”  If the state was permanent, it signifies insanity.  In a more mystical sense, the term could be a prophetic rapture, in which the soul withdraws or is released and is ushered into the direct presence of the divine.

                 Luke is concerned with the trance only as a vehicle of revelation (Acts 10, 11, 22).  He makes it clear that the trances into which Peter and Paul “fell” happened to them during prayer.  Luke employs the trance pattern to show: that the free admission of the Gentiles to the Christian fellowship was an act of God; and that neither Peter nor Paul could have arrived at the decision to bring about such a radical shift on their own.  

TRANSCENDENCE.  See God, Old Testament View of.

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TRANSFIGURATION.  The transforming event in the life of Jesus, when his appearance became glorious in the presence of 3 disciples on a mountaintop (Matthew 17; Mark 9; Luke 9; II Peter 1).

                 At his transfiguration, Jesus was changed by an unusual radiance or glory of face and garment; Elijah and Moses appeared; and a divine voice spoke.  The gospels agree that Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a mountain; that Peter said it was good to be there and that they should make 3 booths; that the disciples were afraid; that the voice said:  “This is my beloved Son”; that they were to say nothing until the resurrection.

                 To this basic agreement Matthew adds some details: that Jesus’ face “shone like the sun”; the words “with whom I am well pleased; and that Jesus touched them and bade them rise with no fear.  Mark adds statements about the fuller, and about Peter’s ignorance.  Luke adds that Jesus was praying, and his countenance was altered, that Moses, Elijah, and Jesus talked about Jesus’ coming death, and the word’s “my Chosen.”

                 The Transfiguration follows shortly after the famous declaration of Peter that Jesus was the Christ, after which Jesus forecast his sufferings, the necessity of a cross for his disciples, and the kingdom’s coming.  This is the decisive period in Jesus’ ministry immediately before his final journey to Jerusalem.  The specific place is not known; the mountain is not named.  The events preceding the Transfiguration took place near Caesarea Philippi.  The mountain is probably one of the southern foothills of lofty Mount Hermon.  Cyril of Jerusalem and Jerome claimed Tabor, which is south of the Sea of Galilee, for the Transfiguration.  This identification with Tabor is improbable, because the Synoptic setting for the story is near Hermon, among other reasons.

                 The Transfiguration is the paradise and the despair of commentators.  John’s Gospel avoids centering God’s glory in this one event, and omits it.  II Peter contains the earliest non-gospel references to the Transfiguration.  The writer cites the incident as an eyewitness of Christ’s majesty to prove that Christians do not believe in myths.  The apocryphal Apocalypse of Peter interprets the transfiguration story as descriptive of paradise and the Second Coming.  The church fathers frequently attached symbolic meaning to all components of the story.  It became a mystical symbol of the transformation of this world and of the world to come.  

                 Faced with the complexities of the narratives, modern commentators vary widely in the interpretations.  It may represent a real and decisive experience of Jesus and the disciples.  The actual historical circumstances can probably never be recovered or explained for entire satisfaction.  It was a visionary moment that revealed to his disciples Jesus’ true nature.  Their vision of Moses and Elijah, most notable in law and prophecy in Israel, signifies that law and prophecy support Jesus and his mission.  Only after the coming death and resurrection could they explain what their vision meant.  In Luke, Jesus found in prayer the support of great spiritual leaders and of God, who chose him for the way of suffering, death, and resurrection.  A divine glory illumines these transforming moments.

           

TRANSJORDAN.  The general term for the area that lies immediately east of the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, and the Arabah.  It comprises the biblical areas of Bashan, Gilead, Ammon, Moab, Edom, and the desert regions.  The general area is often designated “beyond the Jordan” (‘aber hajordan). 

     The Transjordan is an elevated plateau, rising in height from north to south.  Bashan is a level plain, with mountains to the east; Gilead, Ammon, and Moab contain hills that rise 900-1200 meters, intersected by valleys;  Edom is a tableland that is for the most part 1500 meters or more above sea level.  Numerous rivers and wadis run across it from east to west:  the Yarmuk, Arab, Jurm, Jabis, Rajib, Jabbok, Nimrim, Zerqa Ma’in, Arnon, and Zered.  The entire region is well watered, especially toward the north.  The King’s Highway, starting at Damascus, ran the entire length of the area north to south.

     There were well-developed settlements in the Transjordan at least as far back as the 2000s B.C.  In that part of the region south of the Jabbok, there was a period of depopulation which lasted from the 1900s to the 1200s B.C.  After that the southern portions were settled by the Moabites and Edomites and the northern parts were in the hands of the Amorite kings Sihon and Og, who were displaced by the Israelites.  The Ammonites began moving in probably in the 1100s.

     During the next 4 centuries the possession of the parts of the Transjordan area was fiercely contested by the various nations that lived there.  David and Solomon ruled the entire Transjordan, but after the division of the kingdom (935 B.C.) the struggle began anew.  The wars continued with varying results until 732, when Assyria took over control. Later it was ruled by Babylonians (604-536), and Persians (536-332).  In New Testament times, this part of Transjordan just north of the Dead Sea, known as Perea, was ruled by Herod Antipas, and was part of Herod Agrippa I and II’s kingdom until 73 A.D.

     See also entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT section of the Appendix.

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TRAPS AND SNARES  (פּח (pakh), ruin, destruction; מוקש (mo kesh), gin; brocoV (bro kos), cord, noose;   qhra (theh rah), hunting, the chase; pagiV (pah gees), gin, stratagem).

                 Contrivances for catching birds or animals; frequently used metaphorically to describe sudden and unexpected death or disaster.  See also Hunting.  The numerous biblical references give no precise picture of the instruments used in trapping.  Three types of trap may be distinguished.  The most common is the automatic bird trap.  A similar Egyptian device consisted of a roughly circular wooden base on which two nets were mounted.  The nets were drawn down to one side and held in place by a trigger.  The trigger could be released by hand, or sprung when the victim touched the bait attached to it. 

     Some traps for animals were nets or nooses of rope concealed in the bushes.  The net or noose might sometimes be thrown by hand like a fish net or a lasso.  A third type of trap was the pit, covered with a camouflaged net which gave way when the victim walked upon it.  Metaphorically “snare” is used of peril or death.  There are overtones of maliciousness when the trap is set by an enemy.

TRAVEL AND COMMUNICATION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT (OT)

                 Glossary

      ﬧחא (oh rakh), way, road, path                              נﬨיבוﬨ ﬠולם  (naw teeb oth  ‘oh 
  ﬨ  נﬨיבוﬨבי (bet  naw teeb oth), place of                     lawm), paths of hidden times,

   paths, crossroads                                                  ancient paths

ﬢﬧך (daw rak; deh rek), tread, walk; journey         פּלס  (paw les), to make level, 

ישﬧ (yaw shar), to make one’s way even                  a way 
מסלה (meh see law), raised way, highway              פּנה (paw naw), to clear, prepare 

שבול (sheh bole), way, path                                       a road
משﬠול  (me sheh ‘ole), narrow path

                                                                                             

                 From early times the inhabitants of Palestine were road-conscious.  The country—whether organized in city-states or in a united state—was a bridge between the great empires of the Nile Valley and the fertile plains of Mesopotamia, between Africa and Asia.  Egyptian, Assyrian, and Babylonian armies, as well as caravans carrying goods from many parts of the known world, traversed its borders.  Palestinian merchants, either on their own account or as the king’s agents, engaged actively in exporting agricultural goods and in importing raw material.  This presupposes that roads existed in the 1500s, and that someone maintained them.

                 The disruption of roads was a sign of great misfortune.  For example, in the Song of Deborah “caravans ceased and travelers kept to the byways” (Judge 5), and in Isaiah 33 “The highways are deserted; the travelers have left the road.”  Isa. 40 illustrates the opposite with “A voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.  The term “way” is often used in the Bible in the sense of “justice” and “righteousness.”  Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth, and the life” (John 14).

                 Road building in the classical sense began with the Roman Empire.  The ancient routes were originally trodden paths made by the feet of men and animals.  In the course of time some roads, particularly those forming part of the international highways, were improved by government efforts in order to facilitate traffic, and the movements of troops, such as Solomon’s chariots and horsemen.  The reference in Deuteronomy 19 to the preparation of roads to the cities of refuge, and Jeremiah’s advice to set up way-marks and guideposts, show familiarity with road signs in the period of the monarchy.    

                 The international highways of the ancient Near East linked together the great powers of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia.  One route led from the Persian Gulf north to Ur, Babylon, and Ashur; then west to Harran; then southwest to Carchemish, Halab, and then to Ugarit on the Mediterranean coast.  A parallel road led from Babylon along the Euphrates river to Mari and Tadmor, and then southwest to Damascus.  From Damascus there were 2 roads to the south.  One ran east of the Jordan to Elath on the Gulf of Aqabah and to Arabia.  The other ran west of the Jordan to Megiddo, Gaza and Egypt.

                 During the period of the monarchy the kings took advantage of the country’s geographical position linking Babylon and Syria with Egypt and Arabia by levying a toll on goods in transit.  David’s conquests of the lands lying to the north and the south gave him mastery of the most vital arteries of commerce.  Solomon’s control of Ammon, Moab, and Edom in the south, and of the territories northward to Damascus actually meant that he monopolized the entire caravan route between Arabia and the north.  His strengthening of the defenses of cities lying along a route from Edom to Damascus, undoubtedly had commercial purposes.

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                  The most common animal used was the donkey.  Camels were widely used for transportation.  References to them are frequent in the OT (see Camel).  They were especially useful for caravans which carried heavy loads through regions where food and water were scarce.  They were more expensive, less docile, and altogether less reliable for general use.  The horse was well known among Hebrews at least from Solomon’s time, used mainly by persons of wealth, government officials, and military personnel.  All in all, though, the most common means of travel was to walk.

                 Palestine’s two central international highways were the “King’s Highway” and the “way of the sea,” a north-south route from Damascus through the Desert of Edom to Elath on the Read Sea.  The “way of the sea” led from Damascus southwest, running along west of the Sea of Galilee to Megiddo.  From Megiddo, the road went west to the sea, and then by the “way of the land of the Philistines” to Egypt.  South of the Sea of Galilee a branch of the Damascus highway proceeded west of the Jordan to Jericho and from there to Jerusalem.  Another branch ran to Shechem, Bethel, and Jerusalem. From Jerusalem, one road led north to Japho and the other south to Gaza.  It should be noted that the great international highways passed through Israel (Northern Kingdom), while Judah was removed from the main stream of communication.  This may have been why Judah was able to maintain its independence about 120 years after the fall of Israel.

TRAVEL AND COMMUNICATION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT (NT).

                 NT Journeys and Occasions of Travel—The journeys that first come to our attention in the NT are those which involved the child Jesus and his parents, recorded in Luke 1-2.  Mary went from Nazareth of Galilee to Judah to visit Elizabeth and spent 3 months with her. Jesus was born in Bethlehem near Jerusalem, and the parents took Jesus to Jerusalem to comply with the Jewish law of purification.  Between the time of the conception and the purification Mary made no fewer than 3 trips to Jerusalem, and after that there were trips for festival days.  As the distance from Nazareth to Jerusalem is about 120 km., the journey on foot each way must have required five days.  As there were several festivals each year, we may assume that during his youth Jesus went to Jerusalem many times.

                 John 2, 5, 7, 10, 12 mentions trips of Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem for Passover and other feasts.  The 11 disciples returned to Galilee after the Crucifixion, and then reassembled in Jerusalem.  The journey of the Magi is only alluded to with no indication of the land from which they came.  No details are recorded concerning the flight into Egypt.  The exact location of John’s baptizing is not known; if it was near Jericho, it was about 112 km from Nazareth.  The trip Jesus made into the region of Tyre and Sidon is about 48 km. from Galilee; this shows freedom and ease of travel in these areas.  Once or twice he was in Samaria; several times he crossed the Sea of Galilee.  His last journey to Jerusalem was down the Jordan Valley, by Jericho, and up through the hills to the Holy City. 

     Bethany was just the other side of the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem.  Emmaus’ location is uncertain; possibly it is 6.4 km west of Jerusalem.  Philip went down to Samaria; John and Peter met him there. Peter then went to Lydia and Caesarea.  Peter was later at Antioch of Syria, 560 km north of Jerusalem; he got as far as Corinth, 1280 km from Jerusalem. Tradition says that Peter went as far as Rome, but that is uncertain.

     The best-known Christian traveler back then was Paul.  Born at Tarsus on the southern coast of Asia Minor, as a young man he went to Jerusalem as a student, and as a persecutor to Damascus.  Later he was brought to Antioch of Syria to assist the church.  On the first of Paul’s missionary tours with Barnabas and Mark, he sailed to Cyprus, to Attalia (352 km), walked north to Antioch of Pisidia (160 km.), southeast 112 km to Iconium, 32 km southwest to Lystra, and 48 km southeast to Derbe. 

     Paul’s 2^nd missionary journey is recorded in Acts 15-18.  The first part of this journey was from Antioch of Syria to Troas, a difficult route of more than 960 km.  He went by ship to Neapolis; overland to Philippi, Thessalonica, and Beroea; by ship to Athens; and by land to Corinth.  On his return he sailed to Ephesus, 400 km, and then continued to Jerusalem, a voyage of some 960 km.    

     The 3^rd missionary journey from Jerusalem, reported in Acts 18, 21, first went through Asia Minor to Ephesus, about 800 km.  Then he visited his churches on the Aegean until he got to Corinth.  Later he retraced this course, and sailed from Miletus to Jerusalem.  Then followed the Rome trip of Acts 27-28, during which he was shipwrecked on Malta.  This list does not exhaust Paul’s travels.  II Corinthians 11 refers to 3 other shipwrecks.  Paul’s travels that are indicated in the Pastoral letters may not have actually happened.

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     Other Christian travelers included Apollos, an Alexandrian, who preached in Ephesus before Paul did.  7 men from Macedonia, Asia, and Galatia accompanied Paul on his last swing around the Aegean.  Romans 16 appears to be a letter of introduction for Phoebe of Cenchreae, as she was leaving on a visit to Asia.  I Corinthians 1 suggests that persons of the household of Chloe of Corinth visited him in Ephesus.  Philippians was written in response to a visit of Epaphroditus (chapter 2).  Colossians 1 shows that Epaphras had gone from Colosse to visit Paul; Tychicus came from Ephesus for the same purpose (Ephesians 6).  Philemon seems to say that the slave Onesimus deserted his master, Philemon, at Colossae and got to Rome, where he attached himself to Paul.  Tychicus, after visiting Paul, carried letters from Paul to Ephesus, Colossae, Laodicea, and Philemon, as well as escorting Onesimus home.

     Then as now there were many reasons for travel.  Acts 2 says that devout Jews from every nation were in Jerusalem at Pentecost.  16 areas are mentioned as home to these pilgrims, including Rome, Elam, Media, Pontus, and Arabia.  Important centers such as Syria, Cyprus, and Greece are not included.  During festivals, Jerusalem had a cosmopolitan character.  Entertainment of pilgrims was an industry there as well as in all the cities through which these pilgrims passed.  Palestinian agriculture provided food, and animals for sacrifices.

     Means of Travel, Highways, and Letters—The most common means of travel was to walk.  In Acts 8, Philip encountered an Ethiopian on the way to Gaza who invited him to ride in his chariot.  Saul of Tarsus went on foot to Damascus.  It is probable that Paul went by foot on many strenuous journeys during his career.  Animals were also used for transportation of people and goods, the most common being the donkey.  Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey had a ceremonial meaning from Old Testament times, namely that of a crown prince riding on the king’s mule.  Common use of donkeys is indicated by how often they enter into the conversation of Jesus.  The Near Eastern donkey is strong, sure-footed, good-natured, and inexpensive, and he travels at a comfortable gait.

                 The horse was well known among Hebrews, but Josephus was able to muster only 350 horsemen in the defense of Galilee against the Romans in 66 A.D.  The Roman forces had three different units of 1,000 horsemen each; 120 horsemen appear to have been attached to each legion.  After Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem, he was sent to Caesarea with an escort that included 70 horsemen.  Acts 8, which tells of the Ethiopian pilgrim on the road to Gaza, shows that there was a chariot road from Jerusalem via Gaza and Egypt to Ethiopia.

                 Highways of the NT period traversed both land and sea.  Ships and Sailing were fundamental in the life of the NT world.  Roman food ships followed all sea lanes from Italy to ports of the Mediterranean.  Ships also provided transportation.  Claudius offered commercial ship operators substantial inducements and subsidy against losses.  Romans were also good road builders.  Their policy was to build and maintain good roads into every new area as the Empire expanded; their police power maintained peace.  Inns for travelers were frequent, but not always good.  Christians usually depended on their own brethren for lodging.  A journey from Rome to Alexandria would have required 5 days at sea, or about 145 days and 3,900 km by land.  By horse or carriage, land time would have been cut at least in half.

                 One of the most popular means of communication was letter writing.  In Acts 15, the first Christian letter was written by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem to the churches of Asia Minor.  Paul employed such persons as Timothy, Tychicus, Epaphroditus as messengers.  Ignatius bishop of Antioch wrote letters from Smyrna to Ephesus, Magnesia, Trailes, and Rome.  From Troas he wrote to Philadelphia and Smyrna.  The Roman government had its own official postal service.  But there was no government post for private persons.  If they wrote letters, they had to find their own ways of sending them.

                 (See also entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences Outside the OT section of the Appendix, and the Ships and Sailing entry in the Main Section.)

TRAVELERS, VALLEY OF THE  (גי הﬠבﬧים (geh  ha ‘oh beh reem), valley [plain] of passengers)  A valley east of the Dead Sea.  In the vision of Ezekiel 47, it is where the slain forces of Gog are to be brought for burial by their Israelite vanquishers.

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TRAY  (הﬨמח (mah khet taw), fire-shovel, fire-pan)  A word representing a group of utensils used for handling fire or live coals.  See Censer; Snuffers.                                   

TREASURE, TREASURER, TREASURY.  Wealth in general, the sacred vessels and temple objects, a king’s or an individual’s possessions.  Wherever these are kept, there is a treasury; the administrator in charge is the treasurer.  Sumer’s earliest temples were rich and had treasuries.  Tyre is said to have a city treasury.  The tabernacle seems to have had a treasury.  The temple in Jerusalem had rooms for various kinds of treasure. 

                 In warfare all treasure of whatever kind was fair game for the conqueror.  Plunder was a normal method for the international exchange of wealth.  The fall of Jerusalem meant that all temple treasure, royal treasures, and private wealth went to Babylon.  The possession of wealth caused care and trouble.  Personal treasure was usually carried on the person for safekeeping, or buried in the ground. 

    Temple treasures are listed in Ezra 1: basins of silver and of gold; bowls of silver and gold; miscellaneous vessels; priestly garments; and money.  The royal treasures are listed in II Chronicles 32:  silver; gold; precious stones; spices; shields; costly vessels.  Solomon’s wealth is described in I Kings 10.  Gifts presented to the temple were considered treasures.  The temple treasure and the royal treasure in Solomon’s day may have been identical.  Hezekiah had treasuries and storehouses for his wealth.  Nehemiah followed the Persian customs concerning public treasures.  “Treasury” may at times not refer specifically to a place but to the accumulated assets of the king.

     The treasurer is the officer in charge of royal or sacred treasures composed of goods, documents, money, and jewels (See also Steward, Overseer).  Azmaveth was treasurer for David.  Probably ranking below him was Jonathan son of Uzziah, who was over treasuries throughout the kingdom.  Both were called stewards as well.  Ahijah is listed as treasurer over the treasury of the house of the Lord.  Jehiel was over the same treasury in Solomon’s day.  Artaxerxes commanded all his financial representatives to help Ezra with material aid.  Nehemiah appointed several treasurers to care for the contributions.

     All wealth is a treasure.  In the plural of the King James Version “treasuries” may mean wealth or treasures of various kinds.  In Wisdom literature it was axiomatic that the righteous would gain much treasure and be prosperous.  Yet Jesus sees such earthly treasures as transitory and vain.    So Jesus urges that material treasure be given up in order to have wealth in heaven.  Figuratively nature is a treasure and wisdom is a hidden treasure.  One should store up in heaven good treasures of salvation by faith and loyalty.  To possess eternal treasures is greater joy than having even a royal treasure.  God’s grace and providence exercised through nature reveals the treasury of his blessings.

TREASURE CITIES.  See Store Cities.

TREE OF KNOWLEDGE, TREE OF LIFE   (ﬠצ הﬢﬠﬨ טוב וﬠﬧ (‘ayts  ha daw ‘at  toov  vah rah), tree of wisdom, good [beauty], and evil [worthlessness]; החיים ﬠצ (‘ayts  ha khie yeem) tree of living [substance].)  Two miraculous trees which stood in the Garden of Eden.  The relationship between the two is difficult to determine because of conflicting sources used in Genesis 2-3.  The expression “the tree of knowledge of good and evil” appears only twice in the Old Testament (OT). The same tree is designated merely as “the tree which is in the midst of the garden.  Hebrew syntax is important; it indicates that the study of this difficult expression must be concerned with the entire phrase and not merely with “good and evil.”

     The Tree of Knowledge . . . was the means to a knowledge which was, by right, a divine prerogative.  Eating from it resulted in human shame and guilt and their expulsion from the garden.  Humans were driven from the garden to prevent their attempting to gain immortality through the false means of the Tree of Life.  “The tree of life appears in Genesis 3 times, Proverbs 4 times; and 4 times in the New Testament (NT).

     The description of the trees in Eden stems from traditions which are not indigenous to Israel.  It came from Near Eastern mythology directly from northern Mesopotamia, or indirectly from there through Canaanite culture.  The tree of life belongs to that category of objects which have the power of bestowing eternal life.  This belief is manifest everywhere in the history of religion; India, Egypt, and Greece share this belief.

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     In Sumerian mythology, the gishkin tree in the Eridu temple may represent a mythical tree of life.  In the Babylonian-Assyrian literature magical plants bestowing immortality are frequent.  Gilgamesh seeks a magical sea plant.  These myths offer explanations as to why man has failed to attain immortality.  Ancient Near Eastern literature offers no parallels to the tree of knowledge.  The biblical writer has shifted the emphasis away from concern with life and death to the question of man’s obedience; this is without ethnic parallels.

     According to Genesis 2, the tree of life stood in the midst of the garden with the tree of knowledge.  Genesis 3 speaks of only one tree.  Some scholars see 2 sources within Genesis 2-3, because: only here does God have the name of Yahweh Elohim; the tree of knowledge is tacked on clumsily; and there are repetitions in 3.  Each source was assigned one tree, although many literary critics felt that the tree of life should be eliminated from the story.  More recent scholarship has traced the friction within the story back to its stage of oral tradition.  The gradual process of assimilating older material did not succeed in eliminating all the discrepancies.

    There is no generally accepted interpretation of the tree of knowledge.  Four interpretations are offered here.  First, the tree of knowledge is the means to moral judgment, which distinguishes right from wrong.  It is difficult to reconcile that God sought to prevent humans from acquiring a sense of moral judgment with the Hebrew concept of the Deity. Second, the tree of knowledge is the means to secular knowledge, culture, and reason.  But there is no indication that Adam’s sin caused an increase in worldly knowledge; the discovery of the arts and crafts is attributed to his descendants.

     Third, the tree of knowledge is the means to sexual knowledge.  The verb-root of “knowledge” occurs frequently as a euphemism for sexual relations.  But Genesis 2 already includes the idea of sexual knowledge.  Nowhere does the writer equate insensitivity to nakedness with lack of knowledge.  Finally, in Genesis 3, Yahweh affirms that humans have become as “one of us” through this knowledge.  This can hardly be reconciled with a similarity in sexual knowledge.  Fourth, the tree of knowledge is the means to universal or divine knowledge.  But humans did not achieve omniscience from the tree.

     The uncertainty of the interpretation may stem from the fact that the author does not say what he means anywhere.  The error comes about when commentators attempt to solidify a concept which was originally fluid.  A broad interpretation is that knowing good and evil is to be like God.  The knowledge brought a new relationship between God and humans.  The effect of the knowledge was not beneficial.

     What is the role of the tree of life in the story?  If humans had access to it, why had he not already obtained eternal life?  The many parallels from comparative religion show that immortality rests on continual nourishment.  Yet in Genesis, the abrupt expulsion of humans from the garden was because of the real possibility their gaining immortality through a single eating.   

                   Understanding the tree of life’s role in the story requires finding the writer’s point of view.  Many of the modern reader’s questions are simply not answered by the saga.  What is significant is that the biblical writer presents the tree of life as an important factor only after human disobedience.  Genesis 2 is a highly theological description of the Hebrew understanding of the ideal life.  The life intended for humans by God is one of harmonious existence and obedient dependency upon God.  Through disobedience humans lost this life.  God feared lest humans sought to substitute immortality through the tree of life for the loss of genuine life. 

     True life is not gained through a magical tree, but only through the proper relationship to God.  Because they lost this relationship, humans are expelled from paradise.  The tree of life reoccurs in the NT in the book of Revelation.  The NT emphasis no longer rests on the magical qualities of the tree, but focuses on its purposes as means to the healing of the nations and the human-divine relationship.

     To tell this story, the biblical writer of Genesis 2-3 used ancient mythical images, one of which is the magical tree of paradise.  The writer worked this material to give a genuine Hebrew witness.  The story of Genesis 2-3 is a theological explanation of human separation from God and the lost of the full life.  Human disobedience is the cause of their plight and not the loss of the tree of life.  The tree has become merely a stage-setting for the real action between God and man.

TREES.  See Plants.

TRELLIS  (ץﬠ סבך (saw bakh  ayts), interweaving of wood)  The words translated “trellis” most probably refer to the elaborately carved woodwork on and around the main entrance to the sanctuary in the temple. 

TRESPASS OFFERING.  See Sacrifices and Offerings. 

TRESSES  (ﬧהט (raw hat), from the root “to flow,” curls) Translation of word found in Song of S. [Solomon] 7:5.

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TRIAL OF JESUS.  It is often said that the Sanhedrin trial, as shown in the gospels, was illegal.  Since the Jews were meticulous about judicial process, the New Testament (NT) accounts must be erroneous.  However, it could have been a preliminary hearing, in which full judicial procedure would not have been necessary. 

                 Their real complaint against him cannot have been his claim to messiahship.  This was no crime in Jewish eyes.  Nor had he personally violated the Mosaic law.  He did defy the priests by cleansing the temple, and made them appear ridiculous by his answer on the resurrection.  Jesus was also regarded as a sorcerer, and it was feared that he might cause a popular uprising.  These issues caused them to look for a chargeable offense.  So they found him guilty of blasphemy.  The blasphemy charge was the crime that called for death under Mosaic law.  Since the Sanhedrin could not sentence Jesus to death, they had to go to Pilate with a charge Pilate considered criminal.  When asked if he was the Messiah, Jesus reflected their accusation back to them.

                 The NT gospels are kinder to the Roman authorities than they may have deserved.  Certainly Pilate was not more lenient toward Jesus than he was pictured.  During the Passover, Jewish patriotism was at fever pitch, and the governor would be on the alert to suppress any sign of rebellion.  Of the “many things” of which Jesus was accused before Pilate (Mark 15) only three are named in Luke 23. 

     First was perverting the nation and exciting the crowds.  Second was forbidding the giving of tribute to Caesar.  Jesus’ words might have been understood to mean, “Give Caesar not one whit more than his bare due.” Third was claiming to be king—the only accusation that appears in all 4 gospels.  In pressing this charge, the accusers avowed their own loyalty to Caesar.  

     All the gospels depict Pilate as perplexed and anxious to shift the decision to others.  He sends Jesus to Herod Antipas and seeks to release Jesus instead of Barabbas, but is overruled by the mob that has been stirred up by the priests.  In the Synoptics, Jesus is silent during most of this trial, except when asked a direct question.  The inscription on the Cross shows him guilty of insurrection against Rome, in claiming to be king.

TRIBE. 

                 Glossary

      אלוף (‘al loof), clan, head of family or tribe      מטה (mah tah), tribe, branch, 

  אב     ﬨיב (bet ab), father’s house                          bough
  אלﬧשבני י (beh nie  yis rah ‘el), sons of           פּחהמש (me sheh faw khaw), 

         Israel                                                            family, clan
  ﬠם (‘awm), people, nation                              שבט (sheh bat), tribe

מולﬢﬨ (moe lah dat), offspring, family,  relatives             
           The term ‘am (people) is not limited to a nation, but could be the population of an area.  The shebat was the over-all social group.  It considered itself to be one family or unit.  A meshefakhah (clan) was a group of households.  Usually the father lived on in the clan.  The clan was the link between the family and the larger unit, the tribe.  In the strict language of the Chronicler the clan was subdivided into the bet ab (father’s house), a family which included wives, concubines, and servants.  It is probable that moladat in the Hebrew Bible has a non-technical sense with reference to the nearest blood relation or kin.

     Tribes are the normal social unit among Semitic nomads and semi-nomads.  It was a corporate personality consisting of clans and families held together by kinship, which was essential to the tribe’s life.  Interest in genealogy is common to all tribal societies.  The earliest records of Semitic nomads, including Amorites, Ara-means, Edomites, and Midianites, show that the tribal structure is common to all.  In the Old Testament (OT) ancestors are given for most of these tribal kingdoms, as well as for the Ammonites and Moabites.  They were ruled by a prince or chief, seldom a king.  David and Solomon, like the monarchs in other countries, undercut tribal loyalties so as to develop nationalism.  Canaanites fit better in a city-state and monarchic pattern.

     Tribes in the Bible—A tribe began when a prominent man, perhaps the patriarch, gathered his own close kindred around himself into a near-absolute blood kinship unit.  As the group grew in wealth, size, and power through birth and conquest, smaller and weaker family groups of similar origin were attracted to the more powerful group.  The family then extended beyond pure blood kinship, eventually including a strong territorial tie as well; tribes might also arise from common occupation.  There may be traces of such an associational origin reflected in the names Rachel and Leah. Mutual affinity, common ancestry, a common enemy may bring tribes together.  Abraham allied with similar tribes to fight a common enemy in Genesis 14.  The basic coalition within Israel was that based on the loose tribal covenant at Shechem and Shiloh.

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     In the Israelites’ early wanderings, old tribes seemed to disappear and new ones arise.  In the first stages of the Conquest each may have lived relatively isolated the other.  The tribes changed in importance and relative strength.  Reuben, once first, was replaced by Judah.  Some, like Simeon and Levi, became territorially insignificant.  A clan might grow into a tribe.  It might become so large and unwieldy that it divided, as did Joseph into Ephraim and Manasseh.  Ultimately territorial ties became as strong as the original blood kinship.

     The tribal lists in the OT vary in number (e.g. 10 in Deuteronomy 33; 11 in I Kings 11; 13 in Genesis 46 and 48).  There are more than 20 variant lists in the OT.  In Deborah’s Song there are 10 tribes.  Simeon is omitted in 2 lists.  The ideal of 12 is maintained in: 12 clans for Levi; 12 tribes of Nahor, Ishmael, and Esau; and Solomon’s 12 administrative districts.  In the New Testament (NT) many people are still concerned with their tribal connection; Anna of Asher, Barnabas of Levi, Paul of Benjamin, and Jesus of Judah.  Jesus promised his apostles that they would judge the 12 tribes in the Diaspora.  Paul uses the term to mean all Israel.  

     The prince, elder, patriarch, or sheik was the tribal ruler.  In his own clan or family he had almost absolute rule.  Tribal customs readily became fixed and government by customary law was simple, founded on a deep-seated loyalty to the tribe.  Some of the names reflect location, such as Benjamin, the right-hand, i.e. southern part of Joseph.  Some of the tribes moved.  Many of the tribes continued only as territorial designations long after tribal organization disappeared.  Certain tribal names occur again and again for a territory and not for the tribe or individual (e.g. Manasseh and Asher are treated as place names).  Some place names occur in the genealogies under more than one tribal name.

     Israel traces it tribal unity to a common ancestor through the genealogy of Jacob and his sons.  Marriages among the individuals may be symbolic of other covenant relationships.  The early chapters of Chronicles may have been not marriages of people at all but solely alliances and coalitions of tribes.  The tribes whose namesakes were the children of Bilhah and Zilpah are sometimes considered as originally non-Israelite.  The record is clear that Asher, Naphtali, Dan, and Gad were weaker. 

     The relationship of tribes through their reputed mothers is not at all clear.  Benjamin is the only one of the sons of Jacob born in Palestine, i.e. it was the youngest and weakest of the tribes.  In spite of the significance of the first-born, there is no extra biblical evidence that Reuben was ever the most powerful of the tribes.  The death of an individual was sometimes explained as the disappearance of a tribe or clan, such as Er and Onan.  Other tribes may have originated out of the families or individuals surviving these two.  The tribe, the father, the chief, and the ancestor whose name became the name of the tribe were all the same.  When the father of a tribe died, he still lived on in the experience of his tribe.  The patriarch is neither an individual nor the personification of the tribe.  He is the father who forever participates in the tribe’s ongoing life and destiny.

TRIBES, TERRITORIES OF.  The tribal territories do not represent areas which can be clearly defined; they have been subject to historical change, particularly during the beginnings of Israel’s history.  The tribe of Judah incorporated Caleb, Cain, Kenaz, and Jerahmeel and what was left of Simeon.  The tribe of Dan gave up the territory northwest of Judah to which it had initially aspired, and finally settled itself in a city-state in the extreme north of Palestine.  The tribe of Simeon was driven out of its original domain in central Palestine, and managed to gain a foothold on Palestine’s southern border; Levi was obliterated.  Reuben finally found refuge beyond the Jordan, its settlements interspersed with those of Gad.  (See also articles on the individual tribes.)

                 We have sources from different times in Israel’s history.  Fortunately, we possess one presentation (Joshua 15-22) which attempts to picture the state of affairs when the situation had been somewhat solidified into a series of fixed boundary points.  It is very probable that this system dates back to the time before the monarchy, but not to Moses’ time.  The figure of Joshua may not be too far removed in point of time.  This source has been revised repeatedly in later times, with lists of places changed into a description of the boundaries. 

     It is not always easy to distinguish the original text of the fixed boundary points from the original text of the lists of town names.  This combined text has undergone other retouchings as well.  The Judean list of place names dates from the time of Josiah.  Another difficulty is inherent in even the older system of boundary points in so far as it notes not only the actual property of the tribes but also certain territory that was never actually occupied.  The “negative inventory of possessions” (the last quarter of Judges 1) lists those territories which single tribes could not wrest from the Canaanites.   

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     The question of the location of biblical sites and boundary lines in the present-day topography are far from solved.  The basis of this article is the system of tribal boundaries in the book of Joshua, and will proceed in geographical sequence from the south to the north.  It will consider first of all the land on the west side of the Jordan and then that to the east (E).  Dan and Simeon will be considered last.  The following chart approximates the size of the theoretical (Th) and realistic (Re) tribal claims in the same sequence.

     Tribe                    Area (km²)                  Tribe                    Area (km²)         

            Judah proper                1219                        Issachar                       563               

            Greater Judah              4396                        Naphtali                        932              

Benjamin                       591                        Zebulun                        164                

            Ephraim                        768                        Asher (Th)                  1741             

                                                                                 Asher (Re)                    968
      Manasseh (Th)             2240                       Gad-Reuben (E)          1910
      Manasseh (Re)             1600                       Manasseh (E)              2304
      Dan (See Dan ¶)                                                                                           

      (Note: Simeon is imbedded in the southern part of Judah’s claim and covers approximately 200 km².)

                 Judah and Benjamin—There can be no doubt that what is described in Joshua 15 as the territory of Judah is Greater Judah, for it already includes Calebites, Kenites, Kenizzites, Jerahmeelites, and Simeonites.  Even the wilderness is included if the southern boundary runs from the southern tip of the Dead Sea toward Kadesh-barnea.  The actual settlement area of Judah extends only from slightly north of Hebron to slightly north of Bethlehem and excludes roughly the land within 16 km of the Mediterranean Sea. 

                 In the East the Dead Sea forms the undisputed natural boundary.  This boundary runs alongside the eastern slope of the mountains.  The northern boundary begins in the vicinity of the mouth of the Jordan, just north of the Dead Sea.  It follows a course west and a little south to the last rise before Jerusalem.  It then bends south around the city.  It heads a little bit north and passes just north of Kiriath-jearim, then along Mount Seir on the northern side of the “Forest Range.”  Just past Kiriath-jearim, it heads southwest through a short ways through Beth-Shemesh, and arrives by way of Mount Baalah at the Mediterranean Sea. 

                 Only the mountainous stretch of this boundary, which stops a little less than 40 km short of the Sea, represents the historical boundary of the tribal territory of Judah at the end of the period before the monarchy, while the rest exists as a boundary in idea only.  Even Beth-shemesh belonged to the cities which were not conquered, and the Jebusite Kiriath-jearim probably defended itself for a long time during the Conquest.  The movement of the Judean settlement to the northwest probably belongs to the movements of the tribe when it had gained strength.  It is apparent that the “Great Sea” is merely the theoretical western boundary.  Only gradually did the Judeans succeed in pushing their settlements forward to the edge of the hill country.

                 Benjamin borders Judah on the northeast; its southern border is identical with Judah’s northern boundary.  Using Jerusalem as the starting point, the boundary stretches approximately 16 km west of that point and nearly 26 km east.  For the western boundary, a line is given from the mountain south of Beth-horon almost due south to Kiriath-jearim.  Canaanite cities within this boundary, like Gibeon and Beeroth, preserve their autonomy until Saul’s time, and are only ideally thought of as belonging to Benjamin.

                 The northern boundary goes from the above-mentioned border mountain east in a line that curves north to the southern edge of Bethel.  From there it heads east and a little south through the Wilderness, down a steep mountain slope, and then passing just north of Jericho to the Jordan.  A later editor overextends the territory of Benjamin by taking in the Jebusite Jerusalem, and in the north, by including Bethel.     

                 Joseph—The oldest form of the series of fixed boundary points appears to have treated Ephraim and Manasseh as a unit.  Ephraim’s southern boundary appears twice in Joshua 16.  The eastern part of this boundary coincides with the northern boundary of Benjamin; the city of Bethel falls to the Ephraimite side.  The western part of the southern boundary runs across the Arkite territory along the ridge later used by the most northerly Roman road from Jerusalem to Lydda, and heads toward the sea by way of Gezer.  It follows from Judges 1 that the boundary is only theoretical.  It is significant that this boundary does not coincide with that of Judah.  The later editor has saved space here which in his opinion belonged to the tribe of Dan.

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                 The old series of fixed boundary points outlined only the area of the actual settlement of Ephraim, whose western limits was the hill country on the edge of the Shephelah.  The eastern boundary runs from the most northerly point, Michmethah to the southwest about 19 km before turning south.  The eastern boundary is not drawn to the Jordan but follows the ridge above the Jordan Valley until about 11 km northwest of Jericho it heads down into the Valley, ending near Jericho, about 13 km west of the Jordan.  Ephraim’s northern boundary turns south from Michmethah, and turns west near Tappuah.  At what point the actual western boundary met this northern boundary cannot be said.

                 Manasseh’s tribal territory is more difficult to determine; the southern boundary corresponds to Ephraim’s northern boundary.  Ephraim’s eastern boundary must also be considered Manasseh’s southern boundary, as a strip of Manasseh’s territory pushed toward the south.  The 16 km wide stretch between Ephraim and the Jordan is perhaps 29 km long, going near or to the Benjamin-Judah border.  The Jordan constitutes the eastern boundary, but how far north?  Most likely Beth-shean, 17.6 km south of the Sea of Chinnereth (Gali-lee) marks the northeast corner of Manasseh’s territory.   A small river that starts 19 km. west of the Jordan is part of the northern boundary.  After following the river, the boundary goes 6.4 km south, and then turns due west, and ends at the sea, theoretically at least.  As with other actual tribal boundaries, Manasseh’s settlement stopped short of the sea in the hill country.

                  Issachar and Naphtali—The problem with Issachar’s boundaries is how much of Joshua 19 is boundary description and how much is a town list.  It is certain that the boundary points have been supplemented by other place names.  Issachar’s southern boundary is the small river mentioned earlier as part of Manasseh’s northern boundary.  The Jordan formed all of the eastern boundary for about 19 km to the Sea of Chinnereth.  Beth-shemesh in the northeast corner of Issachar was never captured and made part of Issachar.  The northern boundary snakes north and south until it reaches Mount Tabor, about 16 km due west of Beth-shemesh.  From the mountain it heads south and a little west for about 18 km to Jezreel near the small river.  Included in its territory is the whole Plain of Beisan.  Whether Issachar also possessed the top of the mountains bordering the plain on the west is open to question.

                 Naphtali is Issachar’s northern neighbor.  Issachar’s irregular northern border is Naphtali’s southern border.  The eastern boundary includes the Sea of Chinnereth and the Jordan River north of it to Lake Hule, a total of about 30 km.  A wadi seems to form part of the northern boundary, most of which is not specified in the description.  The western boundary begins at Mount Tabor and travels northwest for about 11 km., then north and slightly east for 16 km.  The boundary then heads due west for at least 16 km. toward the Mediterranean.

                 Naphtali pushed its settlements out mainly from the Jordan Valley.  Further west, in the forests of Galilee’s interior, the boundary was probably to a large extent a theoretical matter, as fixed points are not given for the northern and western portions of Naphtali.  Great uncertainty exists due to the conflicting and confusing information given by the editor, and because the places named cannot be identified accurately. 

                 Zebulun and Asher—Among the Galilean tribes Zebulun is the only one whose territory is provided a relatively complete boundary description.  The system of boundary descriptions confines Zebulun with easily recognizable boundaries which amount to only its actual settlement area.  From the foot of Mount Tabor the eastern boundary turns north-northwestward into the hilly country for about 16 km.  From Tabor a short part (5 km) of the southern boundary is a straight line.  The remaining 30 km. of Zebulun’s boundary is part of a circle about 14 km in diameter, with two “brook” valleys forming part of the western boundary. 

                 Asher’s territory is the most difficult to reconstruct, because in Joshua 19 the boundary description and extraneous material cannot be separated.  The boundaries here are again theoretically extended to the Western Sea.  The southwestern point is the swamp which fills the narrow strip of coastal plain south of Dor.  The northwestern point cannot be determined with the same certainty.  Its southern boundary is the same as Manasseh’s northern.  Its eastern boundary begins with Issachar’s western boundary, and continues with the 5 km. section of Issachar’s northern boundary.  It follows Zebulun’s circular boundary clockwise for 30 km., and then probably over 17 km of Naphtali’s western boundary, and the portion of boundary that heads due west to the sea.  The border contact with Naphtali is not mentioned, and is to a large extent theoretical. 

                 Asher’s boundary presents problems; we have a list of names without knowing their relationship to each other.  The reason is probably that the “editor” had to reconcile sources which differed among themselves.  It is clear that if the boundary “touches Carmel in the west,” it must come from the east, but there is not enough room for all the towns the “editor” puts between Carmel and the next major town about 24 km away.  We are left with a line that heads east from a coastal swamp 28 km south of Carmel due east to Mount Gilboa.  Asher’s origins seem to start at Jezreel, near Mount Gilboa, and move west and north around Zebulun.

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                 Transjordan Tribal Territories—The land east of the Jordan is treated as a uniform territory in the old system of the series of fixed boundary points.  The division of the east of the Jordan among Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh is as unreliable historically as carving out the so-called tribal territories of Simeon and Dan west of the Jordan.

                 Originally Gad may have given its name to this whole area.  The list of places in Numbers 32 shows Gadites in the south as in the north, and the Reubenites only in the middle in settlements mingled with the Gadites.  The southern boundary is evidently formed by the Arnon River 32 km south of the northern tip of the Dead Sea.  The eastern boundary, 21 km east of the Dead Sea, goes north from the Arnon about 56 km.  Then the boundary turns westward 16 km., and then runs north again 24 km. toward the Jabbok River.  The boundary shifts another 6.4 km west and proceeds along the Jordan Valley about 57 km to reach the southern end of the Chinnereth.  This narrow (5 km.) strip that is 57 km long was Gadite only in theory.  Gad’s actual settlement territory was limited to the area south of the narrow strip.  Gad also included Gilead’s mountains.  
                 The position of Reuben’s territory is fixed only by the town list.  Joshua 13 apportions the places differently from Numbers 32, which probably belongs to one of the older sources of the Old Testament’s first 5 books.  If you draw a line from the northeast corner of the Dead Sea 19 km to the east, Reuben’s settlements probably lie 8 km north or south of that line, excluding the area within 5 km of the Dead Sea.  But there is not a compact Reubenite area of settlement between a northern and southern portion of Gadite property.

                 The wooded mountain country between the Jabbok, midway between the Dead Sea and Chinnereth, and the Jarmuk near Chinnereth, is designated in the later literature as the territory of the “half-tribe of Manasseh.”  No fixed boundary points are given for this area.  The settlement, which certainly began even before the period of the kings, probably did not take place from the first by the same tribe.  All the northern Israelite tribes certainly had a part in opening up the territory.

                 The Remaining Western Jordanian Tribes—There are also no boundary descriptions for Dan and Simeon in the period before the monarchy.  What place lists in Joshua 19 present is the artificial concept of a much later time.  The southern boundary of Joseph does not coincide with the northern boundary of Judah, because the “editor” is trying to create a space for Dan, when Dan had already migrated to the north or was already there.  Dan’s real settlement was a city-state at the foot of Mount Hermon.  The “editor” used King Josiah’s district list and town names familiar from the Samson story to create an incomplete tube-shaped district which include parts of Ephraim and Judah territory as described elsewhere in Joshua.
           The case of Simeon is like that of Dan. This time the “editor” did not make use of a whole district, but an extract of the district in question, with the express statement that this was a portion of Judah’s territory. There is a historical fact to start with, insofar as the remnant of Simeon was actually able to gain a foothold in the extreme south. What is given as Simeon territory is the second part of King Josiah’s district list that describes the southernmost district. He is approximately correct in doing so. The tract of land north and east of Beer-sheba certainly identifies Simeon’s old territory in a way which is essentially and historically correct.

TRIBULATION (הﬧצ (tsaw raw), distress, adversity; ﬨלאה (teh law ‘aw), weariness, trouble, vexation; qliyiV (theh lip sis), distress, trial, affliction) A term denoting affliction of various kinds. The Greek word is used especially to refer to the “great tribulation” of the end time. The suffering of Christians in apostolic times signified that the “great tribulation” was approaching. 

TRIBUNE (ciliarcoV (kee lee ar kos), commander of 1,000) A Roman military officer in charge of a Cohort. The captain who seized and bound Jesus was likewise a tribune.

TRIBUTE (סﬤמ (meh kes); מנחה (me neh khaw) gift, present; ﬠנש (‘ah nawsh), fine) A compulsory contribution exacted by one prince or state on another, or by a superior of an inferior, as in a suzerainty treaty. Tribute is to be distinguished from the booty which the conqueror forcefully takes in war. From the spoils of war a certain amount may be levied as tribute to God.
           Israel was more often in the position of vassal than of overlord. Jacob, when they went to Egypt, took tribute gifts. Samuel clearly warned Israel what it would mean in terms of taxation if they set a king to rule over them. To submit to a king’s rule is to recognize his sovereignty and to accept the obligation of rendering tribute. Insofar as Israel’s Covenant was of the suzerainty type, her sacrifices and offerings to Yahweh are to be viewed in this light. Aside from what the kings of Israel and Judah exacted of their own people, these Israelite rulers not infrequently received tribute from foreign princes.

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                 Soon after the northern state of Israel broke away in independence of the Davidic monarchy, Shishak king of Egypt invaded the southern kingdom and took away both temple and palace treasures.  Israel’s house of Omri, especially Ahab, received tribute from Israel’s weaker neighbors.  On Ahab’s death King Mesha of Moab ceased to pay tribute and rebelled.  Jehoash of Israel exacted gold and silver from temple and palace in Jerusalem.  When the house of Omri in Israel waned in power, it was Syria which was in a position to command tribute.  Israel also paid tribute to Assyria, Egypt or the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

                 Jehoshaphat of the southern state of Judah received tribute from the Philistine and Arabs.  Among the royal psalms is a prayer for the prosperity of the king to whom all nations should render tribute.  Later Judah was obligated to Egypt for its military security but at times was forced to appeal to Assyria for help; tribute was the price for help.  Whatever was the cause of the failure of Sennacherib’s siege, Hezekiah was forced to pay heavy tribute to him.  Near the close of the 600s, Judah’s allegiance was constantly torn between the new Babylonian power and her old friend Egypt.  Babylonia finally dominated the picture and absorbed as tribute the last of Judah’s wealth.  For the subsequent history of the tribute obligations of the Jewish people and the half-shekel tax, see Tax.

TRIGON.  See Musical Instruments.

TRINITY.  The co-existence of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the unity of the Godhead.  While not a biblical term, “trinity” represents the crystallization of New Testament (NT) teaching.  In I Corinthian 12, Paul correlates “Spirit,” “Lord,” and God.”  The Trinitarian baptismal formula of Matthew 28 may have replaced “into the Lord Jesus’ name” (See also Acts 2, I Peter 1, and Revelation 1).  The Old Testament concepts of the Wisdom and Spirit of God have influenced many NT passages used as foundations for the Trinitarian doctrine.   

TRIPOLIS (TripoliV, three cities)  The Greek name of a Phoenician seaport north of Byblos representing three cities dating from the 300s B.C.

                 See also entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT section of the Appendix.

                 Christianity is said to have been established here by the apostle Peter.  The list of bishops in the Christian community is known from 325 A.D. 

TRIUMPH  (גאה (gaw ‘aw), exaltation; ﬠיש (yeh shaw), deliverance, freedom, salvation; ﬧוﬠ (roe ‘ah), make a loud noise; ﬢקצ (tsah dak), triumph (of justice or righteousness)  ﬠלץ (‘aw lats); qriambeuw (thrie am beh yoe), celebrate a triumph)  The translation of a number of different words and expressions.

TRIUMPHAL ENTRY.  The approach and entrance of Jesus, riding on a colt, into Jerusalem at the beginning of his last days (Matthew 21; Mark 11; Luke 19; John 12).  Marks indicates little messianic triumph, but Matthew shows the city stirred at the coming of the “Son of David.”  In Luke Jesus is hailed as “King.”  John alone reports palm branches.  Jesus either fulfilled prophecy in symbolic actions, or it was an enthusiastic greeting of disciples that was later filled with messianic meanings.

TROAS.  A city located in Mysia in northwestern Asia Minor, on the shore of the Aegean Sea, 16 km south of ancient Troy.  Troas was the name of the region around ancient Troy.

                 Paul visited Troas at least three times but never stayed long.  At Troas a vision gave him a call to Macedonia, and he and his helpers promptly sailed from Troas to Neapolis.  When Paul left Ephesus on his third missionary journey, he went northward and “came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ.”  After his visit to Macedonia and Greece, Paul returned through Macedonia and crossed to Troas to meet his friends who had assembled there and stayed a week.  Paul talked with his friends and the church people.  Luke was familiar with Troas, but he does not say whether Paul made any converts there.  If Paul was released from imprisonment at Rome and traveled again in Asia Minor, II Timothy 4 will indicate that he again visited Troas.

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TROGYLLIUM (Trogullion (tro jil  le on))  A promontory formed by the western part of Mount Mycale on the western shore of Asia Minor.  Near it was the island of Samos; a strait a little more than a kilometer wide separated island from mainland.  It says in Acts 20 “we crossed over to Samos, and having tarried at Trogyllium we came on the next day to Miletus.”  The usually superior early manuscripts omit the reference to Trogyllium.  Just east of the western tip of Trogyllium is today called “St. Paul’s Bay.”

TROPHIMUS  (TrofimoV (trof ih mos), nutritious)  An Ephesian (Acts 21) who met Paul at Troas on his final visit to Jerusalem and accompanied him to Jerusalem.  Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul and Trophimus together in Jerusalem and supposed Paul had taken him into the temple.  As Trophimus was uncircumcised, Paul was accused of defiling the temple.  This was the occasion of Paul’s arrest.  A verse in II Timothy 4 says “Trophimus I left ill at Miletus.”  If this is the same Trophimus, the statement does not agree with Acts.

TROUGH  (ﬧהט (ra hat))  A watering receptacle for animals.

TRUMPET.  See Musical Instruments.

TRUSTEE  (oikonomoV (oy ko nom os), (most often steward is used), manager, administrator)  Used in Gal. 4.

TRUTH  (ﬨאמ (eh meth), stability, integrity, reality; alhqeia (al eh thay ee ah), sincerity)  To most modern people, truth is the agreement between the subject of a word or a sentence, on the one hand and the object or event to which the word or sentence refers.  Modern truth as derived from the Greek is more abstract than the Hebrew ‘emeth, which designates a reality which is firm and unchanging, and which can be kept unchanged and whole as the result of an intrinsic energy.  Thus, ‘emeth should be translated, according to context, by words which convey a sense of faithfulness, stability, and justice.  The use of “truth” in the King James Version has frequently been replaced by “faithfulness” in revised versions.                           

                 Use in the Old Testament (OT)—Though the noun originally designates a property of things, it is applied in the OT to God and human beings.  In Psalm 85, one verse actually states that God’s will shall be manifested everywhere naturally without meeting opposition.  With reference to God, “truth” designates a divine quality.  God’s actions give full and adequate expression to God’s nature. 

                 God’s “truth,” integrity, unchanging reality is the reason why people can trust in him.  God’s emeth is known by the way God acts.  This “truth” is the very nature of God’s will, so that God’s commandments are not arbitrary demands, but rather have “truth” in them.  Belief in whatever is contrary to God’s truth is to be considered as something which ought not to exist and therefore is to be stamped out.

                 As part of God’s creation, a human life is meant to reflect God’s truth.  The king must show ‘emeth, i.e. unwavering adherence to the standards of the law, and the covenant demands that the Israelites serve God constantly.  As the manifestation of God’s will, ‘emeth is therefore synonymous with God’s commandment.  While it implies truthfulness, it is not confined to it, but rather designates the whole field of religious and mo-ral life, as it agrees with God’s will.  The man “who speaks truth from his heart” is a person whose thoughts and aspirations are directed toward God’s ‘emeth.  In addition to this specifically religious usage of ‘emeth, the term is also found in the OT in a general sense; most often it is contrasted with appearance and pretense. 

                 Use in the New Testament (NT):  General Use—Because of over 300 years of Greek influence, a more abstract perception of truth is predominant in the NT.  OT patterns of thought do appear in the NT, and it is important to recognize them as such.  The integrity and reality of truth is emphasized in phrases such as:  “You . . . are established in the truth that you have (II Peter 1).  “Truth” is the true and eternal reality.  Similarly truth is reality as contrasted with imagination and mere appearance.  I Peter 5 the “true grace” is God’s grace, the real and solid foundation of their faith.  In other passages the true is the genuine over against the conventional or the pretended. 

                 A true Hebraism in the NT is the frequent use of amen or its Greek equivalent, alethos.  It characterizes a statement as being beyond doubt and irrefutable.  The characterization of the Christian witness as true describes the testimony, not only as being in agreement with the facts, but also as based upon reliable facts.  A verse in John 7 should be translated “He who seeks the glory of him who sent is “true” (i.e. complying with the will of God) and in him there is no unrighteousness.”  Greek influence is also noticeable in Roman 1, where Paul charges the pagans that “they exchanged the truth about God for a lie.”  Actually the modern translation “truth about God” loses the Hebrew flavor of the phrase and should be translated “truth of God (i.e. the true nature of God).”

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                 Particularly controversial in recent exegesis are those passages in the “way of truth” or “the truth” in an absolute sense is referred to.  There can be no doubt but that both in the OT and in the NT truth is expressed in verbal statements.  None of the NT writers refers to a truth or knowledge that is purely mental and without or above, words.  The truth of which the NT speaks describes a particular fact as opposed to a general concept.  Furthermore, this truth is characterized as a “present” one, or probably one that has come to the believers.  This is not a Greek mode of expression.  The “way of truth” is the “way of God,” and is in accordance with God’s ‘emeth.  The term “way of truth” is obviously here a self-designation of the church, reminiscent of the simple “Way” found in Acts 9, 19, and 24.
                  Use in John and Paul—More frequently than all the other NT writers together, John and Paul use aletheia and words related to it—an indication of the importance they assigned to this concept.  Both are also aware of the fact that they are moving in a world in which truth is conceived of in terms of philosophy, and mythology.  For John aletheia is the OT ‘emeth, to which he adds the identification of Christ with the truth.  That the problem of truth occupies the central place in John’s Gospel is indicated by the fact that the judge Pilate asks “What is truth?”  In response Jesus does not want to say that God is sincere, nor that God is the true God, but that God acts with integrity, never losing sight of the goal which God had “from the beginning.”  As the one who is self-determined and is not deflected from the course chosen by the things of the world, God is the only one that may be called God.

                 John lays stress upon the intrinsic energy of the divine truth.  God’s truth is in opposition to a world which is under the Devil, and thus lacks truth.  John differs from Greek philosophy in describing God as one who saves this world and makes this fact universally known.  There is no Gnosticism in John.  All that God does originates in the divine truth and makes the latter real in this world.  The intimations of God’s saving plan, which are given in the history of Israel are activated in Jesus.  All the “I am” statements of John’s Gospel proclaim the same truth.

                 Christ is not the “essence of all truths,” because Christ is not a truth distilled from the things of this world, but rather his ministry points to the goal for which this world is destined.  As the truth Jesus is not disclosing what is in God; he is the manifest saving presence of God.  Far from being a static “principle” of truth, Jesus as the word that was in the beginning communicates himself to other people by consecrating them and making the truth known.  Jesus can therefore promise that his work will be continued by the “Spirit of truth.”  Through him people will be transformed according to their divine destination—i.e. to become like Christ.

                 In order to reach this goal, people must accept or receive Christ, so that the truth is “in us” and that we are “of the truth”—i.e. it becomes our very nature.  It is the truth of the Holy Spirit which by its intrinsic energy leads man from confused knowledge to insight.  Most characteristic of John’s view of truth is the phrase “to do the truth.”  It indicates that the truth is not a proven proposition, in consequence of which one does certain things, but rather a divine impulse.  Accordingly all progress in the apprehension of truth depends on one’s willingness to accept the indwelling truth and act on it.

                 Like John, Paul adopts the OT view of truth.  In Romans 3, the apostle has the ‘emeth of God in mind when he characterizes God as being “true.”  In Thessalonians 1, God is the “real God, as contrasted with idols.  Christ as servant “shows God’s truthfulness,” and manifests not so much God’s truthfulness as God’s faithfulness.  An original feature in Paul is his view of the truth as a historical process, which reaches its climax in Christ and the church.  When Paul says that the “truth is in Jesus,” he thinks in the first place of the realization of the God’s redemptive work in Christ.  Hence “truth” does not so much designate the demanding will of God, but rather the gospel.  The truth of the gospel is therefore not simply the message about Christ or salvation, but rather the process in which Christ and the church are jointly engaged in bringing salvation to humankind.  The truth is God’s saving work made manifest; one believes in it and loves it.  In turn, a false gospel is one which cannot save, because Christ is not in it.

TRYPHANENA AND TRYPHOSA  (Trufaina, Trufwsa, respectively dainty and delicate)  Christian women, recipients of a greeting in Roman 16, where they are called “workers in the Lord.”  Because their names come from the same Greek root meaning “to live luxuriously,” it has been inferred that they were sisters, or even twins.  “Tryphaena” is used of Jewish women in the surviving papyri; it is the name of a queen who befriended the heroine Thecla in the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla. 

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TUBAL (ﬨבל, diffusion, propagation)  Son of Japheth (Genesis 10); hence a country in Asia Minor.  The name is usually referred to in conjunction with Meshech.  Tubal and Meshech (Tabal and Mushki) traded in bronze vessels.  Archaeology has confirmed that metallurgy was one of the outstanding industries of these two countries.  Although the exact location of Tabal is disputed, it is clearly in the Cappadocian or eastern part of Asia Minor.  Under Shalmaneser III (859-824 B.C.) 24 kings of Tabal sent presents to Assyria.  In the 700s Tabal was ruled by Uassurme; the Assyrians dethroned him in 732.

TUBAL-CAIN (קין-ﬨובל, propagation of Cain, Tubal the smith)  Son of Lamech and Zillah (Genesis 4); brother of Naamah.  The name Tubal-cain is intentionally similar in form to the names of the half brothers, Jabal and Jubal.  Genesis 4 includes blacksmithing in the arts and crafts associated with early man.  That “Tubal the smith” is the ancestor and source of the name for ancient metalworkers is clearly the intent of the sentence.  It is part of the Yahwist’s source of the Bible, showing that as humankind developed, he progressed also in sin.

TUMORS (יםﬧטח (teh kho reem), hemorrhoids; ﬠפּלים (‘eh foe leem)) A dreaded infection of high mortality, caused by rats and involving swollen glands (I Samuel 5, 6).  The context indicates an epidemic like bubonic plague.  See Plague.

TUNIC (ﬤﬨנﬨ (keh to neth), under garment, shirt; citwn (kee tone), vest, under garment) Job 30.

TURBAN (פּאﬧ (peh ‘air), ornamental linen head-covering; צניף (tsaw neep), royal or priestly turban; מצנפּﬨ (mih tseh nah pat), high priest’s turban; סﬧוחי טבולים  (seh roe khay   taw boo leem), long flowing turban with a colored band)  The mitsenapat was notable for its use on the Day of Atonement.     

TURPENTINE TREE.  A King James Version form of Terebinth.

TURQUOISE.  A blue, bluish-green, or greenish-gray stone containing a little copper.  The most famous mines are in Persia.  Egypt used it from early Neolithic times (6000 B.C.) and got it from the Sinai.  The gem must have been known in Palestine, yet no English version of the Bible includes it.

TURTLEDOVE (ﬨוﬧ (tore))  The seasonal appearance of some turtledoves seems to be referred to in Song of Songs [Solomon] 2 and Jeremiah 8.  In the Old Testament the turtledove is, for the most part grouped with the pigeon in a cultic or sacrificial role.  Mary made the usual bird offerings after the birth of Jesus.

TUTOR (epitropoV (eh pit ro pos), steward, manager, guardian)  The King James Version uses this word to translate the Greek.  The New Revised Standard Version uses “guardian.”

TWELVE ( שﬨים ﬠשﬧ  (shet tay yeem  ‘aw sawr); dwdeka (doe deh kah), compound word: “two” and “ten”)  The special significance of this number may have derived from the lunar year or the signs of the Zodiac.  The practical advantage of the number as well as its importance in the Sumerian numerical system, must have contributed to its developing symbolic significance.

                 The fact that the tribes of Israel were 12 was enough to give the number religious significance for the Israelites.  The tribes of Ishmael were also 12.  When the tribe of Levi disappeared, the Joseph tribes Ephraim and Manasseh were counted separately to preserve the sacred number.  In the New Testament it was necessary to find a replacement for Judas Iscariot.  The 12 disciples are often related to the tribes of Israel. 

                 Other examples include:  24 classes of priests and Levites; 24 elders around the heavenly throne; 48 Levitical cities; 72 elders at Mount Sinai; Solomon’s 12 officers and administrative districts; and the 12 gates and 12 foundations of the celestial Jerusalem. The last two mentioned are inscribed with the names of the tribes of Israel and the names of the 12 apostles, respectively.  The “more than 12 legions of angels” (Matthew 26) suggests that the number may sometimes be merely an inexact round figure.  

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TWELVE, THE.  A group of disciples specially selected and instructed by Jesus to assist in his earthly mission.  The number was symbolic of Israel’s 12 tribes.  After the Resurrection, the vacancy left by the defection of Judas was made up by the choice and inclusion of Matthias.  According to Paul, the 12 (minus Judas) were among the first recipients of the risen Lord’s appearances.  Matthew confirmed this tradition.  In Acts 1-6, the 12 are portrayed as the church’s initial leaders; but they were soon merged into a larger company of apostles.

                 The list of names of the 12 in the Synoptic gospels do not exactly correspond.  Below Mark’s list is numbered and names are given in order they appeared.  For Matthew and Luke, the list is given in the order they appeared, using Mark’s order as a basis for numbering.  John is a special case as the sequence and the note regarding it will show.

                 Mark 4: 1) Simon Peter, 2) James (Zebedee), 3) John (Zebedee); James and John are referred to as  Boanerges (Sons of Thunder), 4) Andrew, 5 Philip, 6 Bartholomew, 7 Matthew, 8 Thomas, 9 James (Alphaeus), 10 Thaddaeus, 11 Simon (the Cananaean), 12 Judas Iscariot

                 Matthew 10: 1, 4, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12

                 Luke 6:  1, 4, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11 (the Zealot), Judas, son of James, 12

                 John mentions: 1, “sons of Zebedee,” 4, 5, Nathanael, 8, 12;

      (Note: There is no list of the 12 in one place, and not all of them are named. Most often they are referred to as “disciples,” and one is referred as “the one Jesus loved.”)

                 The New Testament tradition that Simon Peter was the first to be chosen by Jesus, and the first to see the risen Lord, is indisputable.  But the nature of Peter’s pre-eminence in the group has been a source of controversy among biblical critics and theologians.  Almost nothing of a trustworthy nature is known about the lives and labors of the 12.  The tradition of Peter’s martyrdom and burial in Rome is doubtless authentic.  Much obscurity surrounds the tradition of the residence and death of John in Ephesus.

TWIN BROTHERS  (Dioskouroi (die skoo roy))  Castor and Polydeuces (Pollux), sons of Zeus and Leda, queen of Sparta.  They have an ancient and widespread history in classical mythology.  Their biblical connection is as the gods of navigators and the figureheads on the Alexandrian ship that took Paul to Rome for the last time (Acts 28).  (See also entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT section of the Appendix.)

TWINED LINEN (ﬧשש משז (shaysh  maw sheh tsawr))  A superior quality of linen made from yarn whose threads were composed of numerous fine strands.  Several furnishings for the temple and clothing for the high priest were made of this exquisite linen material.

TYCHICUS (TucikoV (tih kih kos))  A man described as a beloved brother and fellow slave of Paul’s and as a faithful minister of the Lord.  He is the bearer of the Colossian letter (Col. 4).  Tychicus and Onesimus are to make known all matters concerning Paul’s imprisonment.  The verses in Ephesians 6 are a letter-for-letter copy of the Colossians passage.  In Acts 20, Tychicus is designated a native of Asia who was with Paul in Greece.  II Timothy tells that Paul had sent Tychicus to Ephesus, not when or from where.  Tradition says that Tychicus was bishop of Colophon, but this is conjecture.

TYRANNUS, HALL OF (TurannoV)  The place at Ephesus where Paul preached daily for two years.  Paul first worked in the synagogue.  Opposition to him grew so strong that he withdrew, taking with him the disciples he had won over 3 months.  The Greek word for “hall” is schole.  It means: leisure” or “rest”; the activity for which leisure from work is used, discussion, debate, or lecture; the group to which lectures are given; or the place where such a group meets.  The place could not have been a public building or forum.  The fact that “all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord” suggests a well-situated hall. 

                 Nothing definite is known about Tyrannus.  If the place where Paul preached was a privately owned hall for lectures, he could have been the owner, or the lecturer whose name was given to the hall.  In the usually more accurate manuscripts, Acts 19:9 ends “in the hall of Tyrannus.  Other manuscripts add “from the 5^th to the 10^th hour (about 11 am-4 pm).  This could mean that Paul could rent the hall for a modest cost when the usual lecturer no longer wished to use it.  Paul could work in the early morning and then preach to many workers during the time they could listen to him.  Paul was eminently successful in reaching great numbers and winning many to faith in Christ.  It explains easily how Paul could get a hall at a cost he could afford.

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TYRE (ﬧצו (tsor), rock, sharp stone)  An important Phoenician city in the southernmost part of the country, situated on a small island 40 km south of Sidon, and famous for its navigators and traders.  Tyre was close to the borderland of the tribe of Asher.  The main harbor was probably on the south side of the island, and was protected by a breakwater built by Hiram (986-935 B.C.).  The breakwater was 745 meters long and about 8 meters thick; it was one of the best harbors in Phoenicia.  The mainland settlement of Tyre was called Ushu.

                 It is supposed that Tyre is an old city, but very little is known about its foundation.  The most reliable information is found in the Tell el-Amarna Letters, from the 1300s B.C., which mention King Abimilki.  Phoenicia had been firmly connected with Egypt since the 1500s.  Egypt’s hold loosened in the Amarna period under Amen-hotep IV.  By around 1100, Egypt had lost the respect of the Phoenician governors.  Tyre was on its way to attaining an independent position and the leadership among the Phoenician cities.

                 Israel used craftsmen from Tyre in the time of David and Solomon.  King Hiram of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar trees, carpenters, and masons.  He also supplied King Solomon with cedar and cypress timber; Solomon paid him with wheat and oil.  Another Hiram from Tyre, a skilled bronze worker, made most of the molten objects in the new temple.  King Hiram sent able seamen to the new fleet which Solomon built Ezion-geber on the Red Sea.  Tyre played an important role in purple production, and its purple was the most famous and precious of dyes in ancient times.  They also delivered timber, wheat, oil, and wine.  Carthage, the most famous of the colonies which Tyre founded, dates from about 850.

                 Hiram developed the trade with Cyprus and Spain.  In the time of Ahab of Israel (875-852) Ethbaal was king of Tyre and priest of Ashtart.  He married his daughter Jezebel to Ahab.  She and her daughter Athaliah tried to introduce Phoenician religion in Israel (Northern Kingdom) and Judah (Southern Kingdom).  The main deity in Tyre in this period was Melqart, actually an aspect of Baal. The prophets wrote of the imminent destruction of Tyre by Nebuchadrezzar (Jeremiah 27).

                 Assryia’s involvement with Tyre began with Ashurnasirpal receiving tribute from it and other Phoenician cities in 876.  In 853 King Shalmeneser defeated the army of which Tyre was a part and received tribute from Tyre.  Later, Tyre was besieged for 5 years, but was able to endure and force a treaty in 722.  King Elu-eli dominated most of Phoenicia.  He was driven out of Phoenicia by the Assyrian King Sennacherib (705-681), who replaced him with the king of Sidon, Ethba’al.  In 677, King Baal of Tyre made a treaty with Esarhaddon and paid tribute.  King Nebuchadrezzar besieged Tyre for 13 years before it yielded.  The defeat of Tyre in 572 meant the end of Phoenician national life.  Tyre lost its dominating position on the coast to Sidon, and Carthage detached itself politically from Tyre in 520; Tyre remained active in trade and shipping.     

                 See also entry in the Old Testament (OT) Apocrypha/Influences outside the OT section of the Appendix.  
         In the New Testament we hear about Tyre in Matthew 11, 15; Luke 10; and Acts 12. Jesus preached to the people there.  Paul visited there and stayed 7 days.  Tyre remained a center of trade in Roman times.  In the 300s A.D. it became part of the Byzantine Empire.  In 636 A.D., Tyre was conquered by the Arabs.        

TYRE, LADDER OF.  See Ladder of Tyre.

TYROPOEON VALLEY (faragx twn turopoiwn (fa rag eks  tone  tuh roe poy own), ravine of the cheese-makers)  The Greek name of the small north-south valley in Jerusalem dividing the City of David, from the Western Hill.  Today it is only a shallow depression from the debris dumped into it for centuries.  In Herod’s day 2 bridges probably spanned the valley connecting the western hill to the temple platform.

TZADDI (צ) The 18^th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, placed in the King James Version at the head of the 18^th section of Psalm 119, where each verse of this section of the psalm begins with this letter.    

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