Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

TISHBE

(Heb. tišbê),

TISHBITE

(hattišbî)

The place of origin for Elijah the prophet (1 Kgs. 17:1). Early witnesses (LXX, Josephus Ant. 8.13.2) and most modern translations render Heb. mittōšāḇê gilʿāḏ similarly to NRSV “of Tishbe in Gilead.” In support of this reading is the preceding gentilic, hattišbî, “the Tishbite.” However, there is no reference to a Tishbe in Gilead elsewhere in either biblical or nonbiblical literature. Nelson Glueck suggested that the text originally read “Elijah the Jabeshite from Jabesh-gilead.” A more popular emendation is “one of the settlers of Gilead.” Elijah, then, would be a permanent settler of Gilead, though not a native from there.

Tishbe probably was a place name that is not otherwise mentioned because it was a tiny, insignificant village with only one claim to fame, the great prophet Elijah who lived there. The location is uncertain, but Tishbe has traditionally been identified with modern Listib (el-Istib), ca. 13 km. (8 mi.) N of the Jabbok in Transjordan.

Stephen R. Miller

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

TISHBE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)