Tappuah

Tappuah ("apple" or "apple-place") is the name of two distinct towns in the conquest and settlement narratives — one in the Judahite lowlands, one straddling the Manasseh-Ephraim border — and of a man in the genealogy of Caleb. A related place name, Beth-tappuah, surfaces among the hill-country towns of Judah, and a border-marker form ("Jashib-en-tappuah") appears in the description of Manasseh's territory.

A Defeated Canaanite City

Tappuah first enters the record as a defeated royal city. In the catalogue of kings whom Joshua and the sons of Israel struck down west of the Jordan, the king of Tappuah is listed alongside the king of Hepher: "the king of Tappuah, one; the king of Hepher, one" (Jos 12:17). The town is therefore a Canaanite city-state taken in the conquest before any tribal allotment is made.

Tappuah in the Lowlands of Judah

When Judah's allotment is mapped out, a Tappuah is named among the towns of the Shephelah, grouped with Zanoah and En-gannim: "and Zanoah, and En-gannim, Tappuah, and Enam" (Jos 15:34). The same broad inheritance includes a related place name in the hill-country list — Beth-tappuah, set between Janim and Aphekah: "and Janim, and Beth-tappuah, and Aphekah" (Jos 15:53). The two names sit in different sub-districts of Judah, so the Judahite Tappuah of Jos 15:34 and the Beth-tappuah of Jos 15:53 are best read as distinct settlements within the same tribal territory.

A Border Town of Ephraim and Manasseh

A second Tappuah anchors the western reach of Ephraim's inheritance: "From Tappuah the border went along westward to the brook of Kanah; and the goings out of it were at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim according to their families" (Jos 16:8). The same town reappears in the Manasseh boundary description, where the border runs from Asher to Michmethath "to Jashib-en-tappuah" (Jos 17:7) — the spring-form listed under EN-TAPPUAH. The split jurisdiction is then made explicit: "The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh; but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the sons of Ephraim" (Jos 17:8). The surrounding land is reckoned to Manasseh while the town itself is reckoned to Ephraim — an unusual divided arrangement preserved in the boundary text.

A Son of Hebron

Tappuah also surfaces as a personal name in the Caleb genealogy of Chronicles. Among the descendants of Hebron, Tappuah is listed beside Korah, Rekem, and Shema: "And the sons of Hebron: Korah, and Tappuah, and Rekem, and Shema" (1Ch 2:43). The name is therefore borne by both place and person within the broader Calebite/Judahite material, even though the genealogical Tappuah is not tied in this passage to any of the towns above.