Timnah, a Canaanite city on the border between Judah and Dan, associated with Judah's son Er and Samson (Gen. 38:12-14; Josh. 15:10; 19:43; Judg. 14:1-5).
Also known as Timnath,Timnathah · Timnites · Timnite
Timnah was a Canaanite city located on the border between the territories of Judah and Dan. It is first mentioned in the story of Judah and Tamar, where Judah's son Er was married to Tamar (Gen. 38:12-14). Later, during the conquest of Canaan, Timnah was allocated to the tribe of Dan (Josh. 19:43) but was also mentioned as part of Judah's territory (Josh. 15:10). In the time of the judges, Samson went down to Timnah and fell in love with a Philistine woman, whom he desired to marry (Judg. 14:1-5). The city was later captured by the Philistines during the reign of King Ahaz of Judah (2Chr. 28:18). Timnah was situated in the Sorek Valley, known for its fertile land and strategic location on trade routes.
The Timnites are mentioned in Judges 15:6 as the people of the Philistine city of Timnah. Samson, one of the judges of Israel, had married a Philistine woman from Timnah. However, during the wedding feast, Samson posed a riddle to the Philistine guests, which they could not solve. They threatened Samson's wife to reveal the answer, which she did. In anger, Samson killed thirty Philistine men and left his wife. Later, when Samson attempted to visit his wife, he discovered that her father had given her to another man. In revenge, Samson burned the Philistines' fields, vineyards, and olive groves. The Timnites retaliated by burning Samson's wife and her father to death. This escalated the conflict between Samson and the Philistines.
Approximate location: 31.784, 34.910 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
10 verses in 4 books · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H8553
After a long time Judahʼs wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah.
When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,”
she removed her widowʼs garments, covered her face with a veil to disguise herself, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah. For she saw that although Shelah had grown up, she had not been given to him as a wife.
The border curled westward from Baalah to Mount Seir, ran along the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), went down to Beth-shemesh, and crossed to Timnah.
Elon, Timnah, Ekron,
One day Samson went down to Timnah, where he saw a young Philistine woman.
So he returned and told his father and mother, “I have seen a daughter of the Philistines in Timnah. Now get her for me as a wife.”
Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother and came to the vineyards of Timnah. Suddenly a young lion came roaring at him,
“Who did this?” the Philistines demanded. “It was Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite,” they were told. “For his wife was given to his companion.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death.
The Philistines had also raided the cities of the foothills and the Negev of Judah, capturing and occupying Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, and Gederoth, as well as Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo with their villages.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.