Tappuah

TAPPUAH (tă-pū'a, Heb. tappûah)

2. A town on the N boundary of Ephraim W of Shechem (Josh 15:32; 16:8; 17:8); prob. modern Sheikh Abu Zarad.

3. One of the towns W of the Jordan whose kings Joshua defeated (Josh 12:17); it may be the same as 2 above. It is named between Bethel and Hepher.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

tap’-u-a, ta-pu’-a (tappuach, "apple"):

(1) A royal city of the Canaanites, the king of which was slain by Joshua (12:17). It is named between Beth-el and Hepher, and may possibly be identical with the city named in Jos 16:8; see (3) below. There is nothing to guide us to a decision.

(2) (Omitted by Septuagint.) A city in the Shephelah of Judah (Jos 15:34). It is named between Engannim and Enam in a group of cities that lay in the Northwest of the territory of Judah. Tristram suggested identification with `Artuf, about 1 1/2 miles Southeast of Zorah. G.A. Smith places it in Wady el `Afranj, possibly identifying it with Tuffuch, fully 4 miles West of Hebron. This position, however, is not in the Shephelah. The place probably represents "Beth-tappuah" of Jos 15:53. No quite satisfactory identification has yet been suggested.

(3) A place on the border between Ephraim and Manasseh (Jos 16:8). "The land of Tappuah," i.e. the land adjoining the town, belonged to Manasseh, but the town itself belonged to Ephraim (Jos 17:8). En-tappuah was probably a neighboring spring. Tappuah was to the South of Michmethath, and the border ran from here westward to the brook Kanah. Some would place it at Khirbet `Atuf, about 11 miles Northeast of Nablus. More probably it should be sought to the Southwest of the plain of Makhneh (Michmethath). It may be identical with Tephon, which, along with Timnath, Pharathon, and other cities, Bacchides fortified "with high walls and gates and bars" (1 Macc 9:50). No identification is possible.