View source for Tob

{{Short description|Name of a biblical place in ancient Israel}}
{{other uses|TOB (disambiguation){{!}}TOB}}
{{Refimprove|date=July 2007}}
'''Tob''' was the name of a place in [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]], mentioned in the [[Hebrew Bible]].

==Hebrew Bible==
[[Jephthah]] flees from his brothers to the "land of Tob". 
In Tob, Jephtha gatheres some men until his brothers want him back to fight against the [[Ammon]]ites ({{bibleref |Judges |11:3-11}}). The place may be the same as the one mentioned in {{bibleref |2 Samuel |10:6-8}}, named [[Ishtob]] (cf. Hebrew ''ish Tov''). Some believe it should be translated "men of Tob", rather than "Ishtob".{{cn|date= March 2024}}

==Identification==
There is a place named as Ṭby or Ṭubu in second millennium BCE sources, mentioned among the cities in [[Bashan]].<ref name= JE>{{cite encyclopaedia |entry= Tob |encyclopedia= Encyclopaedia Judaica |year= 2007 |publisher=[[The Gale Group]] |others= Citing [[Benjamin Mazar |Benjamin Maisler (Mazar)]], in: [[The Palestine Oriental Society |JPOS]], 9 (1929), 83; [[Martin Noth]], in: [[ZDPV]], 68 (1949), 6 (n. 6), 8 (n. 3), 27–28 |title= Tob |via=[[Jewish Virtual Library]] |url= https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/tob |access-date= 17 March 2024}}</ref> This led [[Benjamin Mazar]] and [[Martin Noth]] to identify it with the region near "[[al-Taybah, Daraa Governorate|Taiyibeh]]", to the east of biblical [[Edrei]] (today's Daraa in southern Syria),<ref name= JE/> where today there is a Syrian village by this name (coordinates: 32°33'45 N, 36°14'38 E). Conder gave for his choice of Tob/Taibeh the coordinates "32° 35' N., 35° 42' E.", a place described in [[Brown–Driver–Briggs]] as 12 miles southeast of the [[Sea of Galilee]],<ref name= CRCpal>Conder, C.R. [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43588/43588-h/43588-h.htm ''Palestine''], NY: Dodd, Mead & Co., p. 261: "''Tob'' (Land), near Taiyibeh, 35' N., 35° 42' E.". Accessed 24 March 2024.</ref><ref>[[Brown-Driver-Briggs]]. [https://saintebible.com/hebrew/2897.htm ''Tob''], in ''A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament''. Accessed 24 March 2024 via Bible Hub.</ref> corresponding to modern-day [[Taibah, Irbid|Taibah]] near [[Irbid]] in northern Jordan.

It has been suggested that the "land of Tob" was [[backcountry |back country]], used by outlaws as a place of refuge.<ref name= JE/>

==Amarna letters==
Tob is also a town referred to in the [[Amarna letters]], circa 1350 BCE. Among the c. 382 letters (EA 1 through EA 382) there is only one mention of the town, by the name ''TuBu'', and in this small group of letters, {{dubious |One is not a group, not even a small one :) |date= March 2024}} the leader of the town of [[Tubu (town)|Tubu]] is only referred to as the "Man" of the town, i.e. "the mayor" or "governor". Man was one of many common designations. He would have been a prince-type local leader - the chief of a tribe, clan, city, region, etc. EA letter 205 is the letter from the "Man of Tubu" and is one of 6 letters written by the same scribe.{{cn|date= March 2024}}

==See also==
*[[Umm el-Marra]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Hebrew Bible places]]