Hebrew word · H8664

תִּשְׁבִּי

hatishbi

Tishbite

A label of origin: 'the man from Tishbe'. 1 Kings 17:1 places Elijah 'from the settlers (tōšāb) of Gilead'. The Septuagint reads 'from Tishbe of Gilead'.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

Group of tish.beh (תִּשְׁבֶּה "Tishbe" H8453B)

§ Tishbite = "captivity"

an inhabitant of Tishbe or Tishbi or Tesheb

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 2 Kings 1:8

Range of meaning

A label of origin: 'the man from Tishbe'. 1 Kings 17:1 places Elijah 'from the settlers (tōšāb) of Gilead'. The Septuagint reads 'from Tishbe of Gilead'.

Against the English

All English versions say 'the Tishbite'. Accurate, though few readers will know it points to Gilead, east of the Jordan.

Used elsewhere in the period

The site of Tishbe is uncertain. A later tradition locates it at el-Istib in northern Gilead, but that is not secure. Some scholars think the Hebrew of 1 Kgs 17:1 originally read 'from the settlers of Gilead' rather than a town name.

Where it appears

1 Kings · 3

  1. 1 Kings 17:1 הַתִּשְׁבִּ֜י the Tishbite

    Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was among the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there will be neither dew nor rain in these years except at my word!”

    Here: A label of origin, “the man from Tishbe,” or possibly a play on tōšāḇ, “settler.” Where Tishbe was is uncertain.

  2. 1 Kings 21:17 הַתִּשְׁבִּ֖י the Tishbite

    Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

  3. 1 Kings 21:28 הַתִּשְׁבִּ֖י the Tishbite

    Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying:

2 Kings · 3

  1. 2 Kings 1:3 הַתִּשְׁבִּ֔י the Tishbite

    But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are on your way to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’

    Here: Elijah's usual label (1 Kgs 17:1), tying him to Tishbe in Gilead, east of the Jordan. The town's exact location is uncertain. The label reminds hearers that this is the prophet of the Carmel contest against Baal.

  2. 2 Kings 1:8 הַתִּשְׁבִּ֖י the Tishbite

    “He was a hairy man,” they answered, “with a leather belt around his waist.” “It was Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king.

    Here: A man from Tishbe, said in 1 Kings 17:1 to be in Gilead, east of the Jordan. It marks him as an outsider from the frontier, not a man of the court in Samaria.

  3. 2 Kings 9:36 הַתִּשְׁבִּ֖י the Tishbite

    So they went back and told Jehu, who replied, “This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘On the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will devour the flesh of Jezebel.

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