Tob, the Land of

The land of Tob was a district east of the Jordan River, located approximately thirteen miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee in the region of Gilead. To this region Jephthah fled after being expelled by his half-brothers from his home in Gilead, and there he gathered a band of raiders (Judg. 11:3, 5). When the Ammonites threatened Israel, the elders of Gilead came to Tob to recall Jephthah as their military leader, a negotiation that gave rise to his ill-fated vow (Judg. 11:30-31).

Tob also appears as a source of Aramean mercenaries hired by the Ammonites in their war against David (2 Sam. 10:6, 8). The region's men for hire suggest it was a semi-independent frontier area with a warrior population not firmly integrated into Israelite territorial control. The name means good in Hebrew, though the events associated with the land involve considerable tragedy.