TIRHANAH

and reigned as king of Ethiopia and Egypt ftom about B.C. 691-665; towards tlie end of liis reign (670-665) until liis death he was engaged in constant struggles with the Assyrians, who endeavoured to establish their power in Egypt by means of the native princes as against the Ethiopian. Tirhalsah was quite unable to resist the attacks of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal; even Thebes was sacked, but the Assyrians were equally unable to hold the country they had won. The chro-nology of the reign is not clear: Tirhakah was not king at the time of Sennacherib's expedition, but he may have commanded the army opposing it. Winckler places the later Assyrian attacks in 675-668. F. Ll. Gbipfith.

TIRHANAH.— A son of Caleb (1 Ch 2").

TIRIA.— A son of Jehallelel (1 Ch 4").

TIRSHATHA. — A Persian word =' His Excellency," or more probably ' His Reverence,' mentioned Ezr 2^3 ( =Neh 7'"'), Neh 7™ 8= 10'. In the first three passages he is unnamed, but is apparently Zerubbabel; in the last two he is Nehemiah. The title is used interchangeably with the Assyr. pechah or 'governor,' of which it may be the Persian equivalent, and apparently represents a plenipotentiary appointed for a special mission.

C. W- Emmet.

TIRZAH. — 1. One of the 31 cities captured by Joshua (Jos 12"). It was the residence of Jeroboam i. (1 K 14") and his successors down to Omri (1 K 15" 16'- '■ "• "■ ^). The doubtful reference in Ca 6' compares the Shulammite to Tirzah in beauty. The site is uncertain. Three different identifications have met with favour: Talluza, a village E. of Samaria and N. of Mt. Ebal; et-Tireh, a village close to Mt. Gerizim; and Teyasir, 11 m. N. of Nablus (Shechem) and 12 m. E. of Sebastiyeh (Samaria). 2. One of the five daughters of Zelophehad (Nu 26"3 27' 36", Jos 17'). H. L. Willett.

TISHBITE. — Elijah is repeatedly designated 'the Tishbite' (1 K 17' 21"- ^s etc.)— i.e. native of Tishbeh (J Thisbe) in Gilead.

TISHRI (month). — See Time, p. 936''.

TITAN'S. — In Greek mythology the Titans were divine or semi-divine beings who, endowed with super-natural powers, were overcome only with the greatest difficulty. In later times they were identified with primitive giants.

In the LXX version of Samuel the ' Vale of Rephaim ' (2 S 5'»- «) is caUed the 'Vale of the Titans.' Here it is used in the sense of 'giants,' for the same version of Chronicles translates this name in 1 Ch 11'^ 14' 'Vale of the Giants.' Thus, in interpreting early Hebrew thought for Greek readers, the old shadowy Rephaim were identified with Titans and giants.

Similarly in the song of victory in Jth 16' we read: ' For the mighty one did not fall by the young men. Neither did the sons of Titans smite him. Nor did tall giants set upon him. But Judith, the daughter of Merari . . .' In this late work Greek mjM^hology has been absorbed by Jewish thought. George A. Babton.

TITHES. — According to both North Israelite (Gn 28«) and Judiean (Gn 142") tradition, Israel's patriarchs paid tithes; the custom, therefore, among the Israglites was evidently very ancient. But the institution of offering tithes of the fruits of the field and of the flocks is one which dates back to a period greatly anterior to Israelite history. A tenth of the flocks, fruits, and possessions of all kinds, as well as of the spoils of war, was given to their gods by many peoples, not only of Semitic, but also of Indo-Germanic race.

In the OT two ideas lie at the root of the custom; the more antique — apart from its position in the Bible — Is that which regards the offering of a tenth to the Deity as His due, owing to His being the Supreme owner of the land and all that it brings forth, or that feeds upon it (Lv 27'i'-''); here the underlying thought is that of

TITUS

propitiation, — if the Supreme owner does not receive His due. His blessing will be wanting another year. The other idea, which is obviously a later one, is that of thankfulness tor the blessings received (Gn 2S">-''); the tithes were given in recognition of what the Giver of all things had accorded to His worshippers.

Among the Israelites this ancient custom was taken advantage of by the Levitical priesthood, who , as those employed in the sanctuary of Jahweh, claimed for themselves, on behalf of Him, a tithe of all. According to Nu 182'-" the Levites were to receive this in lieu of the inheritance of land which fell to all the other tribes; but they received the tithe on behalf of Jahweh; stress is laid on this point in v.^*: ' For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave-offering unto the Lord, I have given to the Levites tor an inheritance'; — the 'heaving' of an offering towards the altar was the substitute for the actual consuming of it upon the altar. Although tithes were, of course, intended to be offered once a year (Dt 14^2), it would appear from Am 4*— though the words are ironical — that in their anxiety to more than fulfil the requirements of the Law, many worshippers brought them more frequently (the original Hebrew, however, is ambiguous). Though, generally speaking, tithes were offered only to God, yet it is clear that they were sometimes given also to the king (cf. Gn 142», 1 S 8", He 7"- «). W. O. E. Oestehley.

TITLE (Jnl9'«-2i>).—Theordinarytermfor the 'super-scription, consisting usually of the name of the criminal and the crime with which he was charged (Mk 15"), written on a board, which, according to Roman practice, was carried in front, or hung from the neck of a prisoner as he was led through the streets of the city to execution, or exposed for punishment. In cases of crucifixion the inscription was often fastened above the head of the criminal (Mt 27^'). This public announcement was in-tended to serve as a warning to evil-doers.

The four inscriptions on the cross of Jesus mentioned in the Gospels are different, though the words 'the King of the Jews' (Mk 152') are common to all, and truly set forth the charge on which Jesus was formally condemned. Mt. (27") adds, 'this is Jesus'; Lk. (23=8), 'this (is)'; and Jn. (19") 'Jesus of Nazareth." ■The variations may be partly explained by the statement of Jn. that the inscription (like Roman edicts which also were often published in both Latin and Greek) was written in Hebrew, i.e. Aramaic (which was spoken ordinarily by the people of Jerusalem and the pilgrims from Palestine), Latin (the official language), and Greek (the lingua franca of the world). The Evangelist sees, in this announcement in the three languages of the Roman Empire, a symbol of the proclamation to the world of the Messiahship of Jesus, notwithstanding the efforts of the Jews to cover Him with ignominy. Jn. alone implies that Pilate took revenge on the Jews in preparing the inscription; Mt. and Mk. seem to suggest that the soldiers themselves placed the inscription on the cross, and crucified Jesus between two robbers In order to heighten the insult. R. A. Falconeh.

TITTLE. — See Jot.

TITUS. — A convert from heathenism (Gal 2'), prob-ably won by St. Paul himself (Tit I'j. He is not directly mentioned in Acts, and all that is known of him comes from the Epp. to Gal., 2 Cor., and the Pastorals. Neither his age nor his place of birth is told us. We first hear of him when he accompanies St. Paul on his journey from Antioch to Jerusalem — a journey undertaken in connexion with the question of the circumcision of Gentile Christians (Gal 2'). He is thus included in the 'certain others' mentioned in Ac 152. The Judaistic party within the Church wished to have Titus circumcised (Gal 2'); but the Apostle and those representing Gentile Cliristianity strenuously resisted (v.'), and the decision of the Church was in

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