Bible Dictionary
TARPELITES
The Tarpelites were a people listed among the groups opposing the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Their precise identity is uncertain, with several proposed connections to peoples or scribal groups.
Definition
The Tarpelites were a people listed among those opposing the rebuilding of Jerusalem. Their exact identity is uncertain.
Biblical Usage
They appear in the list of groups who joined in opposition to the Jews during the rebuilding period.
Historical Background
Proposals have connected them with the Tuplai or Tibarenoi of the Pontic coast, Tripolis in northern Phoenicia, or tablet-writers through an emendation of the text.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>tar'-pel-its (Tarpelaye' (Ezr 4:9)): Various theories have been advanced as to the identity of the Tarpelites. Rawlinson suggested the Tuplai, which name appears in the inscriptions as equivalent to the Greek Tibarenoi, a tribe on the coast of Pontus. Hitzig located them in Tripolis in Northern Phoenicia. The latest theory emends the text to Tiphceraya', "tablet-writers" (from the Assyrian dup sarru); compare Schrader, Schrader, The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament, on Jer 51:27.</p>