Jotbah

Holman Bible Dictionary

 2 Kings 21:19 Numbers 33:34JotbathahMeshullemeth

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

The city of Meshullemeth, Manasseh's queen, mother of Amen ( 2 Kings 21:19). Now Et Taiyib, N. of Jerusalem, in Benjamin.("goodness"). The good soil explains the name. Distinct from the following:

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Jot'bah. (Goodness). The native place of Meshullemeth, the queen of Manasseh.  2 Kings 21:19.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Jotbah Named only in   2 Kings 21:19 . It was probably in Judah, but the site is unknown.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

Native place of queen Meshullemeth.  2 Kings 21:19 .

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Yotbah', יָטְבָה , Goodness; Sept. Ι᾿Τέβα v.r. Ι᾿Εταχά , Josephus Ι᾿Ταβάτη , Ant. 10, 3, 2), a town, probably of Judah, the residence of Haruz, whose daughter Meshullemeth became the wife of king Manasseh and mother of Amon ( 2 Kings 21:19). M. de Saulcy ( Narrat. 1 , 94, note) suggests its identity with Yitma, a village almost in ruins on the north side of the valley (wady Ribah), north of Lebonah and south of Nablus (Robinson's Researches, 2 , 92); but this would lie within the precincts of the late kingdom of Israel It is usually identified with Jotbath or Jotbatha of the Exode (Numbers 23:33, 34;  Deuteronomy 10:7), as the names are essentially the same in the Heb.; but the latter is spoken of only as a Region, not an inhabited town, and is out of the bounds of the Jewish monarchy. "The Arabic equivalent for Jotbah is Et - Taiyib, or Et - Taiyibeh, and no less than three sites of this name are met with in modern Palestine. One is considerably south of Hebron (Robinson, Bib. Res. 2 , 472); another to the west of that city ( Ib. p. 427-429); and the third is north of Jerusalem, in the country of Benjamin. This last is most likely to answer to Jotbah, for the two first named places are very insignificant, and never can have been of much importance; whereas this is described by Dr. Robinson as crowning a conspicuous hill, skirted by fertile basins of some breadth,... full of gardens of olives and fig trees. The remarkable position (he adds) would not probably have been left unoccupied in ancient times (Biblic. Res. 2, 121, 124). In a subsequent visit to the place he was struck both with the depth and quality of the soil, which were more than one would anticipate ill so rocky a region (Later Bib. Res. p. 290). These extracts explain while they justify the signification 'goodness,' which belongs both to Jotbah and Taivibeh" Against this identification, however, there lie two not very strong objections, namely, its distance from Jerusalem, and the fact of the probable coincidence of this site with that of Ophrah. (q.v.).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

jot´ba ( יטבּה , yoṭbāh , "pleasantness"): The home of Meshullemeth, the mother of King Amon, daughter of Haruz (  2 Kings 21:19 ). It may be the same as Jotbathah (which see).