Hebrew word · H8607

תִּפְסַח

tifsach

Tiphsah

A place name, probably from the root p-s-ch, 'to pass over' (compare pesach, Passover). So 'crossing' or 'ford'. It is usually identified with Thapsacus, a well-known Euphrates crossing where Cyrus the Younger's army forded the river (Xenophon, Anabasis 1.4.11) and Alexander later crossed.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

§ Tiphsah = "cross over"

a place at the northeast limit of Solomon's empire; located on the Euphrates river

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Kings 4:24

Range of meaning

A place name, probably from the root p-s-ch, 'to pass over' (compare pesach, Passover). So 'crossing' or 'ford'. It is usually identified with Thapsacus, a well-known Euphrates crossing where Cyrus the Younger's army forded the river (Xenophon, Anabasis 1.4.11) and Alexander later crossed.

Against the English

All versions keep 'Tiphsah'. None tells the reader it is a Euphrates ford, which is the point of naming it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Xenophon Anabasis 1.4.11 (Thapsacus); Arrian Anabasis of Alexander 3.7. The exact site on the middle Euphrates is debated. A different Tiphsah appears in 2 Kings 15:16 inside Israel, near Tirzah, where the Greek reads Tappuah.

From the study of 2 Kings 15:16

Range of meaning

A place name, probably from the root pasaḥ ('to pass over, limp'), suggesting 'crossing' or 'ford'. In 1 Kings 4:24 (MT 5:4) it is Thapsacus, the Euphrates crossing that marked the north-eastern limit of Solomon's realm.

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB, YLT, NIV, ESV and NASB keep 'Tiphsah'. RSV and some others read 'Tappuah' following the Greek.

Used elsewhere in the period

Greek writers know Thapsacus as a major Euphrates ford (Xenophon, Anabasis 1.4.11). The Lucianic Greek tradition at 2 Kings 15:16 has a form that represents Tappuah, a town on the border of Ephraim and Manasseh (Joshua 16:8; 17:7–8), within a day's march of Tirzah.

Where it appears

1 Kings · 1

  1. 1 Kings 4:24 מִתִּפְסַח֙ from Tiphsah

    For Solomon had dominion over everything west of the Euphrates—over all the kingdoms from Tiphsah to Gaza—and he had peace on all sides.

    Here: The north-eastern end point. Tiphsah is generally identified with Greek Thapsacus, a crossing point on the middle Euphrates. The name probably comes from the Hebrew root 'to pass over', so 'Ford'.

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 15:16 תִּפְסַ֨ח Tiphsah

    At that time Menahem, starting from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in its vicinity, because they would not open their gates. So he attacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.

    Here: The town that was attacked. Elsewhere Tiphsah is Thapsacus, the Euphrates crossing that marked the far edge of Solomon's realm (1 Kings 4:24). That is far from Tirzah, so many scholars read 'Tappuah' here with the Lucianic Greek (see debates).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.