Tirzah

Biblical References

• The conquest of Canaan: Joshua 12:24 lists "the king of Tirzah" among the thirty-one kings whom Joshua defeated.
• The house of Jeroboam: According to 1 Kings 14:17, the wife of Jeroboam visited the prophet Ahijah and then returned to Tirzah. When she came to the threshold of the house, the child died, just as Ahijah had said.
• Royal capital of the northern kingdom: Baasha reigned in Tirzah for twenty-four years and was buried there (1 Kings 15:33; 16:6). His son Elah reigned in Tirzah for two years and was killed by his servant Zimri while he was "drinking himself drunk" in the house of Arza, the steward of his household (16:8–10). Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days. When Omri besieged the city, Zimri set the palace on fire and died inside it (16:15–18). Omri reigned twelve years, six of them in Tirzah, after which he bought the hill of Samaria and built a new capital there (16:23–24).
• Menahem's revolt: In 2 Kings 15:14, Menahem went up from Tirzah to Samaria, killed Shallum, and became king.
• Song of Solomon: Song of Solomon 6:4 reads, "Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem."

Background

The Hebrew name Tirtsah is connected with a root meaning "to be pleased, to delight in," and is commonly interpreted as "delight" or "pleasantness."

Many scholars identify Tirzah with Tell el-Far'ah (North), northeast of modern Nablus (ancient Shechem). This identification, however, remains a scholarly conjecture.

After the division of the kingdom, Jeroboam built Shechem and lived there (1 Kings 12:25). In 1 Kings 14, however, his household is in Tirzah. Thereafter, from Baasha to the early years of Omri, Tirzah served as the royal capital of the northern kingdom of Israel.

Tirzah is also a personal name. Tirzah was one of the five daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 26:33; 27:1). Some scholars connect the names of these daughters with place names in the territory of the tribe of Manasseh.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Tirzah is the stage on which the instability of the early monarchy in northern Israel is displayed. Rebellion, assassination, and the burning of the palace followed one another in a single city, and the ruling dynasty changed several times within a short period. The books of Kings present these events as the fulfillment of prophetic oracles: Ahijah prophesied judgment on the house of Jeroboam, and the prophet Jehu prophesied judgment on the house of Baasha (1 Kings 14:10–11; 16:1–4, 12).

After the capital moved to Samaria, Tirzah's importance declined. The era of the Omride dynasty, that is, the time of Ahab and Jezebel, centers on Samaria. Tirzah does not appear in the New Testament.

Interpretations and Issues

• The meaning of Song of Solomon 6:4: In this verse Tirzah is set alongside Jerusalem as an image of beauty. Some scholars take this pairing as reflecting the period when Tirzah was the capital of the northern kingdom and use it in discussions of the date of the Song of Solomon. Others regard it simply as a poetic expression drawing on the name's meaning, "delight." The Septuagint is reported to have rendered the word not as a place name but as a common noun meaning "delight" or "favor." In the traditional allegorical interpretation, which reads the Song of Solomon in terms of the relationship between Christ and the church, this verse is sometimes explained as describing the beauty of the church.
• The question of Jeroboam's capital: The text does not state directly that Jeroboam moved his capital to Tirzah. Interpreters therefore differ as to whether Tirzah was the royal capital from the beginning or whether a place where the royal household resided later became the capital.