Hebrew word · H2926

טָלַל

vitallenu

to cover

'To cover, roof over, give shade'. It is related to Aramaic ṭelal, 'shade, shadow', and to the Hebrew ṣēl, 'shade', by a different route.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

(Piel) to cover with a roof, cover over, roof

Aramaic equivalent: te.lal (טְלַל "to have shade" H2927)

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 Nehemiah 3:15

Range of meaning

'To cover, roof over, give shade'. It is related to Aramaic ṭelal, 'shade, shadow', and to the Hebrew ṣēl, 'shade', by a different route.

Against the English

KJV and WEB have 'covered it', which a modern reader might take as covering with cloth or plaster. BSB has 'roofed it', and NIV similarly speaks of roofing. 'Roofed' is clearer.

How it drifted

In older English 'cover' could mean 'roof' a building. Today that sense is weak.

Used elsewhere in the period

This verb occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible. The Aramaic of Daniel 4:12 (4:9 in Aramaic numbering) uses the same root for the beasts finding shade under the great tree. Its appearance here is often taken as an Aramaic influence typical of Persian-period Hebrew.

Where it appears

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 3:15 וִיטַֽלְלֶ֔נּוּ and he roofed over it

    The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun son of Col-hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofed it, and installed its doors, bolts, and bars. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Shelah near the king’s garden, as far as the stairs that descend from the City of David.

    Here: 'And he roofed it over' (literally 'gave it shade'). This verb occurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. It shows the gate was a covered gatehouse, and among the gates in this chapter only this one and the Fish Gate and Old Gate (3:3, 6, by a different verb) are described with roofing.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.