Tidal
Ti'dal (Heb. Tidal', תּדעָל, if Shemitic=fear [Gesenius] or renown [Fürst]; but, according to Lenormant, Accadian (greatson; Sept. θαργάλ v.r. θαλγά ; Josephus, θάδαλος, Ant. 1, 9, 1; Vulg. Thadal), the last named (Ge 14:1,9) of the three subordinate "kings" who, in confederation with Chedorlaomer, attacked and defeated the rebellious princes of the Sodomitic pentarchy in the days of Abraham, B.C. cir. 2070. He is called "king of nations" (גּוֹיַם, goyim),'which Symmachus interprets Scythians, and others Galilee, both on very slender, if not inaccurate, grounds. Rawlinson suggests, for equally precarious reasons (Ancient Monarchies, 1, 55, note),that the name is probably Turanian; but he justly remarks that, from the title given to Tidal, "it is reasonable to understand that he was a chief over various nomadic tribes to whom no special tract of country could be assigned, since at different times of the year they inhabited different portions of Lower Mesopotamia. This is the case with the Arabs of these parts at the present day." SEE CHEDORLAOMER.
