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Tirzah - location profile

Location and Setting

Tirzah was located at the head of the Wadi Fari’a, the western end of this main route between the Jordan Valley and the central region of Samaria. This verdant valley descends more than two thousand feet over some eighteen miles, terminating near the Jordan River town of Adam.
From Tirzah, the final stage of the route to the hill country turns southward, passing through the Wadi Beidan to Shechem, nine miles to the south.
Since Wadi Fari’a provides the most important entrance into the hill country of Samaria, Tirzah effectively controlled traffic between the Transjordanian Highway that passed down the Jabbok Valley and up the wadi to Shechem.
Apparently Tirzah was a beautiful city. Solomon compared his beloved to its beauty (Song 6:4).

Tirzah’s original Canaanite ruler was included in the list of the thirty-one kings Joshua defeated in the initial phase of the Conquest (Josh 12:24). The city was later included in the tribal area of Manasseh (Josh 17:1-3).
Jeroboam, the first king of the Northern Kingdom, moved from Shechem, where the kingdom was divided, to Tirzah, making it his first capital (1 Kgs 14:17).
Baasha, the third king of the Northern Kingdom, reigned from Tirzah for twenty-four years (1 Kgs 15:21,33).
Tirzah remained the capital of the Northern Kingdom until the time of Omri, the seventh king of Israel, who reigned for twelve years. He moved his capital from Tirzah to Samaria in the sixth year of his reign (1 Kgs 16:9-24).
Tirzah served as the capital of the Northern Kingdom for thirty years, during the reigns of Jeroboam, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Tibni and Omri. After the capital was moved to Samaria, Tirzah continued to be an important city, although archaeological evidence indicates that it ceased to be fortified, becoming an unwalled town.
In 752 B.C., 128 years after Omri moved the capital to Samaria, Menahem, a resident of Tirzah, went from that city to Samaria to assassinate Shallum, the incumbent king, and replace him on the throne. Menahem ruled from Samaria for ten years (2 Kgs 15:14).

Aharoni, Y. and M. Avi-Yonah. The Macmillan Bible Atlas. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993.
Bimson, John J., ed. Baker Encyclopedia of Bible Places. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1995.
Gregory, Stewart. Israel, the Holy Land: The Concise Biblical Study & Travel Guide. Jerusalem: Bibleland Workshops, 1987.
Houston, J. M. "Tirzah" The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Ed. Merrill C. Tenney. 5 vols. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976.
Monson, James M. Regions on the Run. Rockford: Biblical Backgrounds, Inc., 1998.