TAPPUAH

(Tapʹpu·ah) [Apple (Tree)].

1. One of Hebron’s four sons and a descendant of Caleb. (1Ch 2:42, 43) Some suggest that his name is to be connected with Beth-tappuah, a town near Hebron.​—See BETH-TAPPUAH.

2. A town in the Shephelah region assigned to the tribe of Judah. (Jos 15:20, 33, 34) It is thus distinct from Beth-tappuah in the Hebron area. Horvat Bet Natif within the abandoned village of Beit Nattif, about 20 km (12 mi) W of Bethlehem, is tentatively identified as the site.

3. A town on the boundary between Ephraim and Manasseh. (Jos 16:8) The surrounding area, “the land of Tappuah,” was allotted to Manasseh, but the city to Ephraim. (Jos 17:8) En-Tappuah (Jos 17:7) evidently refers to a nearby spring (Heb., ʽAʹyin, or En, meaning “fountain [spring],” when used as a prefix) and may have been a more complete name used for the city of Tappuah.

“The king of Tappuah” is mentioned among the rulers vanquished by Joshua in the conquest of Canaan (Jos 12:17), and “Tappuah” here probably refers to the Ephraimite city. Ephraimite Tappuah is identified with Tell Sheikh Abu Zarad (Tel ʼAbu Zarad), about 13 km (8 mi) SSW of Shechem and just below the town of Yasuf.