Thisbe
This'be (θίσβη v.r. θίβη), a name found only in Tob. 1, 2, as that of a city of Naphtali from which Tobit's ancestor had been carried captive by the Assyrians. The real interest of the name resides in the fact that it is maintained by some interpreters (Hiller, Ononu. p. 236, 947; Reland, Palaest. p. 1035) to be the place which had the glory of giving birth to Elijah (q.v.) the Tishbite. This, however, is, at the best, very questionable, and derives its main support from the fact that the word employed in 1Ki 17:1 to denote the relation of Elijah to Gilead, if pointed as it now stands in the received Hebrew text, signifies that he was not a native of Gilead, but merely a resident there, and came originally from a different and foreign district. But it is also possible to point the word so that the sentence shall mean "from Tishbi of Gilead," in which case all relation between the great prophet and Thisbe of Naphtali at once falls to the ground. There is, however, a truly singular variation in the texts of the passage in Tobit, a glance at which (on the following page) will show how hazardous it is to base any definite topographical conclusions upon it.
Assuming that Thisbe, and not Thibe, is the correct reading of the name, it has been conjectured (apparently for the first time by Keil, Comm. über die
Konige, p. 247) that it originated in an erroneous rendering of the Hebrew word מַתַּשׁבּי, which word, in fact, occurs in the Hebrew version of the passage, and may be pointed in two ways, so as to mean either "from the inhabitants of" or "from Tishbi," i.e. Thisbe. The reverse suggestion, in respect of the same word in 1Ki 17:1, has also been made. SEE TISHBITE. But this, though very ingenious, and quite within the bounds of possibility, is at present a mere conjecture, since none of the texts support it, and there is no other evidence in its favor.
No name resembling Thisbe or Thibe has been yet encountered in the neighborhood of Kedes or Safed, but it seems impossible to suppose that the minute definition of the Latin and Revised Greek texts-equaled in the sacred books only by the well-known description of the position of Shiloh in Jg 21:19-can be mere invention.
