Taanach

Biblical References

Taanach is mentioned several times in the Old Testament, usually together with its neighboring city, Megiddo.

• Joshua 12:21: "The king of Taanach" appears in the list of Canaanite kings whom Joshua defeated.
• Joshua 17:11–12; Judges 1:27–28: Taanach was a city allotted to the tribe of Manasseh. The Manassites, however, did not drive out the Canaanites living there. Judges records that once Israel grew strong, it put them to forced labor.
• Joshua 21:25: Taanach appears among the cities from the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh that were given to the Kohathite families of the Levites (see Levites). The parallel list in 1 Chronicles 6:70 gives a different city name.
• Judges 5:19: The song of Deborah and Barak contains the line, "Then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money."
• 1 Kings 4:12: Among Solomon's district officers, Baana the son of Ahilud was responsible for the region of Taanach, Megiddo, and Beth-shean.
• 1 Chronicles 7:29: Taanach is listed with Beth-shean, Megiddo, and Dor among the towns where the descendants of Joseph lived.

Background

Taanach lay on the southern edge of the Jezreel Valley, along a route connecting the coastal plain with the interior. Today Tell Ta'annek, a few kilometers southeast of Megiddo, is widely accepted as the site of Taanach. Excavations are reported to have been conducted there in the early twentieth century and in the 1960s. The city's name is also reported to appear in the records of the Egyptian king Thutmose III's campaign against Megiddo and in the list of place names from the campaign of Pharaoh Shishak (Shoshenq I). The original meaning of the name is uncertain.

Significance in the Bible as a Whole

Taanach is commonly understood as one of the cities illustrating that the conquest of Canaan was not completed all at once. Judges 1 lists the cities from which Israel failed to drive out the inhabitants and then links this failure to the religious confusion of the subsequent period of the judges (Judges 2:1–3). In Judges 5, by contrast, Taanach is the scene of a victory in which God defeated the kings of Canaan. Taanach is not mentioned directly in the New Testament, although the neighboring region of Megiddo is often associated with "Armageddon" in Revelation 16:16.

Interpretation and Debate

• Interpretations differ on Manasseh's failure to take Taanach. Many sermons and commentaries treat it as an example of Israel's disobedience and compromise, while some scholars see it as a record of Israel's gradual settlement in Canaan.
• The differences between the lists of Levitical cities in Joshua 21 and 1 Chronicles 6 have been attributed to variations in scribal transmission or to changes over time, among other explanations. No consensus has been reached.
• Many scholars regard the Song of Deborah in Judges 5 as one of the oldest poems in the Old Testament, though they differ on its date.
• The location and dates presented in this article are archaeological estimates and should be distinguished from what the biblical text itself states.