TIRZAH:
- 1. Ancient Canaanitish capital (Josh. xii. 24), which, from the context, seems to have been situated in the northern part of the country. Possibly, therefore, it should be distinguished from the Israelitish capital of the same name (I Kings xiv. 17; xv. 21, 33), which was made a royal city by Jeroboam I. (ib. xiv. 17), and which remained the residence of the kings of Israel until Omri. Subsequently Tirzah is mentioned only as the center of the revolution of Menahem (II Kings xv. 14, 16); and even in this passage "Tirzah," on the basis of the Septuagint text, should perhaps be read "Tharseila" and be identified with the village of that name, which, according to the "Onomasticon" of Eusebius, was a Samaritan town in Bashan, corresponding to the modern Tsil.The only information possessed concerning the royal city of Tirzah, which is praised for its beauty in Cant. vi. 4, is that it was situated in the, district of Zelophehad in the tribe of Manasseh (Num. xxvi. 33, xxvii. 1, xxxvi. 11; Josh. xvii. 3); but, since neither Josephus nor the "Onomasticon" gives any details regarding it, all identifications are uncertain. Robinson considered it to be the site of the modern Ṭalluza, the Ṭarlusa of the Talmud, a town about seven kilometers northeast of Nablus (Neubauer, "G. T." p. 268), while Conder, on the other hand, identified it with Tayasir, an ancient site with caverns, tombs, and other remains, nineteen kilometers northeast of Nablus. The translation of "Tirzah" by "Tir'an" in the Targum to Cant. vi. 4 has led other scholars to identify the place with the modern Al-Ṭirah, which lies south of Nablus, although this Tir'an may perhaps be represented rather by Ṭur'an, northeast of Nazareth.
- 2. The youngest of the five daughters of Zelophehad (Num. xxvi. 33).
E. C. I. Be.
