Tob

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for any inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.

Tob was the name of a place in ancient Israel, mentioned in the Bible.

It is said to be the land to which Jephtha fled from his brothers. The location is not definitely known, but some identify it with the region centering on Taibiyah, southeast of Gennesareth Sea (the Sea of Galilee). ..Since the suffix, -iYa means -mine, Taibeyah, means basically: " My Tob ", or "Our Tob", or " Me (of) Tob ", or us, " We of Tob ".

In Tob, Jephtha gathered a bound ( band?) of men until his brothers wanted him back to fight against the Ammonites. (Judges 11:3-11) The place may be the same as the one mentioned in 2.Samuel 10:6-8, named Ishtob. Some believe it should be translated "men of Tob", rather than "Ishtob".

Tob is also the town referred to in the El Amarna body of letters. The Amarna Letters, centering about 1350 B.C.E. are about 382 letters, EA 1 through EA 382. There is only one usage of the Town, ( the word TuBu ), and in this small group of letters, the leader of the town Tubu (town), is only referred to as the "Man" of the town, ... i.e. "the Mayor", or "govern-or". Man was one, of many common designations. He would have been,.. a prince type, or some local, leader equivalent, say the chief of a tribe, clan, city, region, etc. EA letter 205 is the letter from the " Man of Tubu ", ..and is one of ( 6 ) letters, all written by the same scribe.