<strong>TIMNA</strong> (tĭm'na, Heb. <em>timna‘, holding in check</em>)<br /><br />

A concubine of Esau’s son Eliphaz (<bibleref ref="Gen.36.12">Gen.36.12</bibleref>).A Horite woman, sister of Lotan, who was a son of Seir (<bibleref ref="Gen.36.20-Gen.36.22">Gen.36.20-Gen.36.22</bibleref>; <bibleref ref="1Chr.1.39">1Chr.1.39</bibleref>).A chief or clan descended from Esau (<bibleref ref="Gen.36.40">Gen.36.40</bibleref>; Timnah <span class="small-caps">kjv</span>).A son of Eliphaz (<bibleref ref="1Chr.1.36">1Chr.1.36</bibleref>).
<hr/>
<strong>TIMNAH</strong> (tĭm'na, Heb. <em>timnāh, thimnāthāh</em>)<br /><br />

<hr />

<hr/>
<strong>TIMNA</strong> <strong>tĭm’ nə</strong> (<span class="hebrew">תִּמְנַ֣ע</span>). 1. Daughter of Seir and sister of Lotan; she became the concubine of Eliphaz son of Esau, and the mother of Amalek (<bibleref ref="Gen.36.12">Gen 36:12</bibleref>, <bibleref ref="Gen.36.22">22</bibleref>; <bibleref ref="1Chr.1.39">1 Chron 1:39</bibleref>).<br /><br />

2. A chief of Edom (<bibleref ref="Gen.36.40">Gen 36:40</bibleref>; <bibleref ref="1Chr.1.51">1 Chron 1:51</bibleref>; KJV TIMNAH).

<h2>International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)</h2>

A conbubine of Eliphaz, Esau’s son, and the mother of Amalek (<bibleref ref="Gen.36.12">Ge 36:12</bibleref>). But in <bibleref ref="Gen.36.22">Ge 36:22</bibleref> and <bibleref ref="1Chr.1.39">1Ch 1:39</bibleref> Timna is the sister of Lotan, and in <bibleref ref="Gen.36.40">Ge 36:40</bibleref> and <bibleref ref="1Chr.1.51">1Ch 1:51</bibleref> a chief or elan of Edom (see [[Timnah]] (3)). These variations are to be expected when the origin of genealogies is recalled. (In Genesis, <span class="auto-link">[[English Versions]]</span> of the Bible read, contrary to rule, "Timnah.") Gunkel’s theory is that <bibleref ref="Gen.36.12">Ge 36:12</bibleref> is a later insertion in P.
<hr/>
<hr />

(1) A town in the southern part of the hill country of Judah (<bibleref ref="Josh.15.57">Jos 15:57</bibleref>). Tibna proposed by Conder, a ruin 8 miles West of Bethlehem, seems too far N. (PEF, III, 53, Sh XVII). It is possible this may be the "Timnah" of <bibleref ref="Gen.38.12">Ge 38:12</bibleref>,<bibleref ref="Gen.38.13">13</bibleref>,<bibleref ref="Gen.38.14">14</bibleref>.<br /><br />

(2) A town on the northern border of Judah (<bibleref ref="Josh.15.10">Jos 15:10</bibleref>), lying between Beth-shemesh and Ekron. It is probably the same Timnah as Judah visited (<bibleref ref="Gen.38.12-Gen.38.14">Ge 38:12-14</bibleref>), and certainly the scene of Samson’s adventures (<bibleref ref="Judg.14.1-Judg.14.20">Jud 14:1 f</bibleref>); his "father-in-law" is called a "Timnite" (<bibleref ref="Judg.15.6">Jud 15:6</bibleref>). At this time the place is clearly Philistine (<bibleref ref="Judg.14.1">Jud 14:1</bibleref>), though in <bibleref ref="Josh.19.43">Jos 19:43</bibleref> it is reckoned to Dan. Being on the frontier, it probably changed hands several times. In <bibleref ref="2Chr.28.18">2Ch 28:18</bibleref> it was captured from the Philistines by Ahaz, and we learn from Assyrian evidence (Prison Inscription) that Sennacherib captured a Tamna after the battle of Alteka before he besieged Ekron (Schrader, Die Keilinschriften und das Altes Testament, 170). The site is undoubted. It is now a deserted ruin called Tibneh on the southern slopes of the Wady es Surar (<span class="auto-link">[[Valley of Sorek]]</span>), about 2 miles West of Beth-shemesh. There is a spring, and there are evident signs of antiquity (PEF, II, 417, 441, Sh XVI).<br /><br />

(3) There was probably a Timna in Edom (<bibleref ref="Gen.36.12">Ge 36:12</bibleref>,<bibleref ref="Gen.36.22">22</bibleref>,<bibleref ref="Gen.36.40">40</bibleref>; <bibleref ref="1Chr.1.39">1Ch 1:39</bibleref>,<bibleref ref="1Chr.1.51">51</bibleref>). Eusebius and Jerome (in Onomasticon) recognized a Thamna in Edom at their time.

(4) The "Thamnatha" of 1 Macc 9:50 (the King James Version) is probably another Timnah, and identical with the Thamna of Josephus (BJ, III, iii, 5; IV, viii, 1). This is probably the Tibneh, 10 miles Northwest of Bethel, an extensive ruin.<br /><br />