Tishbe, sometimes transliterated as Thisbe, is a town mentioned in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

First Book of Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the books ...

, , as the residence and possibly even birthplace of the Prophet Elijah, known as the

Tishbite Tishbite is a demonym predicated of the Prophet Elijah in the Hebrew Bible. Scholars dispute the precise denotation of the word. The words of 1 Kings 17:1 are usually rendered as "Elijah the Tishbite of Tishbe in Gilead". As translated into E ...

(see that page for discussion of the term). It is placed by the biblical text in the historical region of

Gilead Gilead or Gilad (; he, גִּלְעָד ''Gīləʿāḏ'', ar, جلعاد, Ǧalʻād, Jalaad) is the ancient, historic, biblical name of the mountainous northern part of the region of Transjordan.''Easton's Bible Dictionary'Galeed''/ref> Th ...

,International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)
Tishbite
via BiblicalTraining.org, accessed 2020-01-13 now in the western part of modern-day

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. However, the

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

may denominate another location, as discussed below.

Demonym or descriptor?

Many of the

Hebrew prophets Nevi'im (; he, נְבִיאִים ''Nəvīʾīm'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Năḇīʾīm,'' "Prophets", literally "spokespersons") is the second major division of the Hebrew Bible (the ''Tanakh''), lying between the Torah (instruction) ...

are introduced with the name of their father, their original place of residence, or both. For instance,

Jonah Jonah or Jonas, ''Yōnā'', "dove"; gr, Ἰωνᾶς ''Iōnâs''; ar, يونس ' or '; Latin: ''Ionas'' son of Amittai, is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, from Gath-hepher of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th cent ...

is introduced as "Jonah, the son of Amittai... of

Gath-hepher Gath-hepher or Gat Hefer ( he, גַּת הַחֵֽפֶר) was a border town in ancient Israel. It was the home of the prophet Jonah. The etymology of the name is literally " wine-press of the digging" and is mentioned twice in the Bible at Josh ...

Elisha Elisha ( ; or "God is my salvation", Greek: , ''Elis îos'' or , ''Elisaié,'' Latin: ''Eliseus'') was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a prophet and a wonder-worker. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eli ...

is introduced as "Elisha, the son of Shaphat, of Abel-meholah",

Micah Micah (; ) is a given name. Micah is the name of several people in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), and means "Who is like God?" The name is sometimes found with Theophoric name, theophoric extensions. Suffix theophory in ''Jah, Yah'' and in ''Y ...

is introduced as "Micah the Morashtite", etc. Elijah, in turn, is introduced as "Elijah the Tishbite, of the settlers of Gilead." When considering the general pattern of how prophets are first introduced in the text of the Hebrew Bible, it would seem the passage is a mere statement of Elijah's origins. Because the original Hebrew words for "Tishbite" (, ''tīšbī'') and "settlers" (, ''tōšāḇē'') are strikingly similar, some scholars have questioned whether ''tīšbī'' is actually a demonym for a place called "Tishbe", or if it is a form of the word "settler" conjugated to match Elijah – thereby reading "Elijah the settler" rather than "Elijah the Tishbite". The word ''tīšbī'' appears just six times in the Hebrew Bible, each time in conjunction with Elijah's own name, but no place called "Tishbe" appears throughout the entire

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

indicates that

Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) was, according to the Books of ...

was from Tishbe in

, which is a historical region located ''east'' of the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...

in present

. The Jewish ancient historian

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...

supposed that Tishbe was in Gilead. The eastern half of the

Israelite The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

Tribe of Manasseh According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Manasseh (; Hebrew: ''Ševet Mənašše,'' Tiberian: ''Šēḇeṭ Mănašše'') was one of the Tribes of Israel. It is one of the ten lost tribes. Together with the Tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh also fo ...

and, possibly also, the

Tribe of Gad According to the Bible, the Tribe of Gad () was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel who, after the Exodus from Egypt, settled on the eastern side of the Jordan River. It is one of the ten lost tribes.Tribe still originated from the original Hebre ...

, have been in possession of Gilead; therefore Tishbe was probably in the territory of the eastern half of Manasseh, or possibly in that of Gad. According to Pfeiffer and Vos, it is located in the territory of Manasseh, in proximity to the

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...

known from the Bible as

Cherith Cherith, Kerith ( he, נַחַל כְּרִית ), or sometimes Chorath (; from the Septuagint's gr, Χειμάῤῥους Χοῤῥάθ ), is the name of a wadi, or Intermittent river, intermittent seasonal streamFrederick Fyvie BruceThe Gospe ...

, in present-day Jordan. Tishbe has for a long time been identified as the historical town of Listib in Gilead, due to its location and the similarity between the ancient Hebrew name and the

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

name, "el-Istib", but the 1915

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia The ''International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'' refers to two different versions of a Bible encyclopedia: a 1915 fundamentalist edition, and a 1979–1995 revised evangelical edition. The first version was published under the general editorship ...

refutes the identification because el-Istib has only been established during the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

period. The ruins of Listib are located 13 kilometres north of the Jabbok River in Gilead, known in Arabic as the

Zarqa River The Zarqa River ( ar, نهر الزرقاء, ''Nahr az-Zarqāʾ'', lit. "the River of the Blue ity) or Jabbok River (Hebrew: נַחַל יַבּוֹק ''Nahal Yabōq'') is the second largest tributary of the lower Jordan River, after the Yarmou ...

, just west of biblical

Mahanaim Mahanaim ( he, מַחֲנַיִם ''Maḥănayīm'', "camps") is a place mentioned a number of times by the Bible said to be near Jabbok, in the same general area as Jabesh-gilead, beyond the Jordan River. Although two possible sites have been ...

, a short distance beyond the northwest limits of Ajloun in the

Ajloun Governorate Ajloun Governorate (alternative spelling Ajlun Governorate) ( ar, محافظة عجلون) is one of the governorates of Jordan, located north of Amman the capital of Jordan. Ajloun Governorate has the fourth highest population density in Jord ...

in northern Jordan. However, Listib is known to have been uninhabited during the time of the

Northern Kingdom of Israel The Kingdom of Israel (), or the Kingdom of Samaria, was an Israelites, Israelite kingdom in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. The kingdom controlled the areas of Samaria, Galilee and parts of Transjordan (region), Transjordan. Its capi ...

Tishbe in Naphtali

Alternatively, Tishbe may be identical to the as-yet undiscovered "Thisbe" referenced in the

Book of Tobit The Book of Tobit () ''Tōbith'' or ''Tōbit'' ( and spellings are also attested) itself from he, טובי ''Tovi'' "my good"; Book of Tobias in the Vulgate from the Greek ''Tōbias'', itself from the Hebrew ''Tovyah'' " Yah is good", also k ...

(), which was located ''west'' of the Jordan River in the territory of the

tribe of Naphtali The Tribe of Naphtali () was one of the northernmost of the twelve tribes of Israel. It is one of the ten lost tribes. Biblical narratives In the biblical account, following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, Joshua al ...

, "to the south of Kedesh Naphtali in

Upper Galilee The Upper Galilee ( he, הגליל העליון, ''HaGalil Ha'Elyon''; ar, الجليل الأعلى, ''Al Jaleel Al A'alaa'') is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period. It originally referred to a mountai ...

, above Asher toward the west, and north of Phogor".:

New Revised Standard Version The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches.Photos of Listib
at the

American Center of Research The American Center of Research (ACOR) is a private, not-for-profit scholarly and educational organization. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, with a facility in Amman, Jordan, ACOR promotes knowledge of Jordan and the interconnected region, past and ...

Hebrew Bible cities Gilead