Telharsa is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Telharsa was one of the places from which the exiles returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, mentioned in the Book of Ezra. The source note identifies it as a location rather than an individual, though the name is listed among a group of places in the genealogical record of the returning exiles. The passage in Ezra 2:59 records that these were the people who went up from Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer, but they could not demonstrate their father’s house or their Israelite descent.
The setting is the period following the Babylonian captivity, when Cyrus the Persian king permitted the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. The second chapter of Ezra is a registry of those who returned, organized by families and towns. Telharsa appears in a group of locations whose returning inhabitants could not prove their lineage. This inability to show their father’s house and seed meant they were unable to establish their place among the covenant people by genealogical record.
Scripture says of them only that they came up from these places and could not show their ancestry. The text does not tell us more about Telharsa itself, nor about any individual named Telharsa. The name appears only once in the King James Version, in this single verse. What we know is limited to the fact that it was a place from which exiles returned, and that those who returned from it faced the difficulty of unverified lineage.
The Name
The name Telharsa is not clearly defined in Scripture, and its precise meaning is not well established. Like many place names in the Old Testament, it may be derived from Hebrew or from a language of the region, but no definitive meaning can be given without speculation. Some scholars have suggested possible connections to Akkadian or other ancient Near Eastern roots, but these remain uncertain. The Bible itself offers no interpretation of the name, and it is best to say plainly that the meaning is not clearly recoverable rather than to invent one for the sake of having a definition.
A Closing Thought
Telharsa reminds us that not every name in Scripture comes with a clear story or a known meaning. Some entries are brief, obscure, and easily overlooked. Yet even a place mentioned once in a long list of returning exiles is part of God’s faithful record of His people. The exiles from Telharsa could not prove their ancestry, but they still came up to Jerusalem. Their presence in the registry shows that God’s restoration was not limited to those with perfect records. He gathers His people, including the uncertain and the unverified, and He does not forget them.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- Ezra 2:59 — And these were they which went up from Telmelah, Telharsa, Cherub, Addan, and Immer: but they could not shew their father’s house, and their seed, whether they were of Israel: