Taphath is a name found in the King James Bible, appearing 1 time in the text.
Who This Was
Taphath was a daughter of King Solomon. She is named only once in the King James Bible, in the register of Solomon’s officials and provisions officers in 1 Kings 4. The setting is the height of Solomon’s reign, when the kingdom of Israel was organized into twelve districts, each with a governor responsible for supplying the royal household with food for one month of the year. Taphath appears within that administrative list, not in a narrative of her own.
According to the text, Taphath was given in marriage to Ben-abinadab, the son of Abinadab, who governed “all the region of Dor.” Dor was a coastal district, and its governor was one of the twelve officers charged with provisioning the king’s table. The verse reads, “The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife.” This marriage placed Taphath within the network of officials who served her father’s kingdom.
Scripture says nothing further of Taphath—nothing of her character, her words, or her deeds. She is remembered in the sacred record simply as a daughter of Solomon and the wife of one of his district governors. Her mention is brief and genealogical, yet it reflects how Solomon’s reign was bound together by family alliances and administrative appointments. She is one of the few daughters of Solomon named in Scripture, and her single appearance gives us a small but real glimpse into the royal household of Israel’s most famous king.
The Name
The name Taphath is a Hebrew name whose meaning is not clearly recoverable. Suggested connections have been made to roots involving ornamentation or to a word for a drop or drip, but no meaning is well established, and scholars do not agree. It is best to say plainly that the meaning of this name is uncertain. The text preserves the name itself, but not its sense.
A Closing Thought
Taphath’s life is recorded in a single line, yet that line is not forgotten by God. She lived in a time of splendor and was joined to a man entrusted with a share of the kingdom’s work, and her name was kept in the book that still speaks today. Most of our lives will not be written in history, but faithfulness in the ordinary place where God sets us is never unseen by Him. Like Taphath, we may be remembered by few, yet fully known and held by the Lord.
At a Glance
- Gender: Male
- Testament: Old
- Mentions in the KJV: 1
Where It Appears in Scripture
- 1 Kings 4:11 — The son of Abinadab, in all the region of Dor; which had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to wife: