טֻחוֹת

From the study of Psalm 51:6

Range of meaning

Very rare: only here and Job 38:36. Most lexicons (BDB, HALOT) derive it from ṭwḥ, 'to coat, overlay, plaster' (used of plastering a house in Lev 14:42 and whitewash in Ezek 13:10). That gives 'the covered-over places', the hidden inner parts of a person. The meaning is uncertain enough that some scholars propose other senses for Job 38:36 (a bird such as the ibis, or cloud layers).

Against the English

'Inward parts' (KJV, WEB), 'inmost being' (BSB), 'inward being' (ESV) all reflect the main view. NIV (2011) and NLT take it as 'the womb', linking it to verse 5. That is an interpretation, not what the word says.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 38:36 is the only other use: 'Who has put wisdom in the ṭuḥot?' There, too, it is paired with wisdom. The Septuagint of Ps 51 does not translate it as a body part at all ('the hidden and uncertain things').

From the study of Job 38:36

Range of meaning

Uncertain. Proposals: (1) 'inward parts, the covered or hidden interior' (of a person), tied to the root ṭwḥ, 'to overlay, plaster, coat'; (2) 'cloud layers', what coats or covers the sky; (3) 'the ibis', a bird linked in Egypt with Thoth, the god of wisdom, and believed to foretell the Nile flood.

Against the English

KJV and WEB have 'inward parts', BSB has 'heart', NASB 'innermost being'. The 2011 NIV has 'the ibis'. YLT has 'inward parts' here and 'covered part' for the second noun. Every English choice states an uncertain meaning as if it were settled.

How it drifted

BSB's 'heart' adds a word that is not in the Hebrew (Hebrew has a common word for heart, lēv, and it is not used here). It also brings in the modern sense of heart as the seat of feelings.

Used elsewhere in the period

The only other occurrence is Psalm 51:6 [Hebrew 51:8]: 'You desire truth in the tuḥot; in the hidden place you make me know wisdom.' There it clearly means something inside a person, and it is paired with wisdom, as here. That is the strongest support for the traditional reading. The ibis theory rests on a proposed sound link with Egyptian Ḏḥwty (Thoth), which is debated, and on how well it fits the weather context. The Greek translation (LXX) and the Latin Vulgate do not support the ibis. The Vulgate has 'in the inner organs of man'.