Hebrew word · H2915
טִיחַ
hatiach
coating
The verb tuach means to coat or smear a surface, usually to plaster walls with clay or lime plaster (Lev 14:42–48). It can also mean to coat over the eyes so they cannot see (Isa 44:18). The noun tiach, found only here, means the plaster coat itself.
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
a coating, plaster
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Ezekiel 13:12
- Range of meaning
The verb tuach means to coat or smear a surface, usually to plaster walls with clay or lime plaster (Lev 14:42–48). It can also mean to coat over the eyes so they cannot see (Isa 44:18). The noun tiach, found only here, means the plaster coat itself.
- Against the English
KJV/YLT say "daubing... daubed". WEB says "plaster... plastered". BSB says "whitewash... covered". WEB and KJV keep the echo between the noun and the verb. BSB uses two different English words and loses it.
- How it drifted
None in the Hebrew. In 1611 English 'daub' was a normal word for plastering. Today it suggests careless smearing, which is a slight shift.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In Lev 14:42–48 a house with mold or rot is scraped and re-plastered (tach, hittoach), which shows it was everyday building language. Ezekiel 22:28 repeats the image: "her prophets plaster (tachu) for them with whitewash (tafel)". The Greek translation (LXX) uses aloiphē / aleiphō, 'smearing, coating'.
Where it appears
Ezekiel · 1
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Ezekiel 13:12 הַטִּ֖יחַ [is] the plaster
Surely when the wall has fallen, you will not be asked, ‘Where is the whitewash with which you covered it?’
Here: The plaster coat put on a wall. This noun appears only here in the Hebrew Bible. It comes from the verb at the end of the verse, so the line ends with a sound-echo: 'the plaster you plastered'.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.