Taphath

Overview

Taphath was a daughter of King Solomon. She is named once in Scripture, in the list of Solomon's district officers: "Ben-abinadab, in all Naphath-dor (he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as his wife)" (1 Kings 4:11, ESV).

Biblical Account

Her husband Ben-abinadab governed the district of Naphath-dor, the heights around the coastal city of Dor, one of the twelve districts that each supplied the royal household for one month of the year (1 Kings 4:7). A second daughter of Solomon, Basemath, was married to Ahimaaz, the officer in Naphtali (1 Kings 4:15). Taphath and Basemath are the only daughters of Solomon named in Scripture.

The marriages place two of the king's daughters in the households of district governors, which ties the administration of the kingdom to the royal family itself. The text records the fact without comment. Nothing else is known of Taphath, and the meaning of her name is uncertain; older dictionaries suggest "a drop".