Hebrew word · H2934
טָמַן
taman
to hide
To hide, especially by putting into the ground: burying or concealing in earth or sand (Gen 35:4; Exod 2:12; Josh 7:21–22, Achan's loot hidden in the ground), setting a hidden trap (Ps 140:5), and in the reflexive form 'to hide oneself'.
Appears 31 times in 29 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) to hide, conceal, bury
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to hide
1a2) hiding, concealing, secretly laying (participle)
1a3) darkness (participle)
1b) (Niphal) to hide oneself
1c) (Hiphil) to hide
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
- Range of meaning
To hide, especially by putting into the ground: burying or concealing in earth or sand (Gen 35:4; Exod 2:12; Josh 7:21–22, Achan's loot hidden in the ground), setting a hidden trap (Ps 140:5), and in the reflexive form 'to hide oneself'.
- Against the English
'Hide (thee/yourself)' is accurate. YLT's 'be hidden' keeps the form of the verb. No English version brings out that this is the word for burying things in the ground.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Gen 35:4; Exod 2:12; Josh 2:6; 7:21–22; Job 40:13 ('hide them in the dust together', of humbling the proud). Job 40:13 is a striking parallel: the same verb with 'dust', in a passage about bringing the proud low.
- Range of meaning
To hide, especially by burying or concealing in the ground or in a covering: Moses hid the Egyptian's body in the sand (Exod 2:12), Jacob buried foreign gods under the oak (Gen 35:4, a different verb, but the same practice), Rahab hid the spies (Josh 2:6, the same chapter-cycle). Also hidden snares and traps (Ps 140:5; Job 18:10).
- Against the English
'Hidden' (BSB, WEB) and 'hid' (KJV) are accurate. The participle describes a continuing state, 'they lie hidden', which is why he can say 'look'.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Burying valuables beneath house floors is well attested in Near Eastern archaeology (floor hoards). Rahab hid (ṭāman) the spies under flax on her roof (Josh 2:6), so the same verb is used for her concealment and Achan's.
- Range of meaning
To hide, conceal, bury in the ground: Achan buries loot under his tent (Josh 7:21); Moses hides the Egyptian's body in the sand (Exod 2:12). It is used often of hidden snares (Ps 9:15; 31:4; 140:5; 142:3; Jer 18:22).
- Against the English
BSB 'laid' loses the idea of hiding. KJV/WEB 'hid' and YLT keep it. 'Laid' suggests only placement. The Hebrew stresses that the trap was disguised.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In the Psalms it is part of a stock vocabulary of hunting traps used for treacherous enemies (Ps 140:5: 'the proud have hidden a snare for me'). The Septuagint uses kryptō ('hide').
Where it appears
Genesis · 1
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Genesis 35:4 וַיִּטְמֹ֤ן and he hid
So they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and all their earrings, and Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem.
Exodus · 1
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Exodus 2:12 וַֽיִּטְמְנֵ֖הוּ and he hid him
After looking this way and that and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.
Deuteronomy · 1
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Deuteronomy 33:19 טְמ֥וּנֵי hidden [things] of
They will call the peoples to a mountain; there they will offer sacrifices of righteousness. For they will feast on the abundance of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand.”
Joshua · 3
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Joshua 2:6 וַֽתִּטְמְנֵם֙ and she had hidden them
(But Rahab had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had laid out there.)
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Joshua 7:21 טְמוּנִ֥ים [are] hidden
When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”
Here: 'Hidden'. The verb often means concealing something by burying it. It is a passive participle, describing the state they remain in: they are still lying hidden right now.
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Joshua 7:22 טְמוּנָ֛ה [it was] hidden
So Joshua sent messengers who ran to the tent, and there it all was, hidden in his tent, with the silver underneath.
2 Kings · 2
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2 Kings 7:8 וַיַּטְמִ֑נוּ וַיַּטְמִֽנוּ׃ and they hid [them]
When the lepers reached the edge of the camp, they went into a tent to eat and drink. Then they carried off the silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. On returning, they entered another tent, carried off some items from there, and hid them.
Job · 6
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Job 3:16 טָ֭מוּן hidden
Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like an infant who never sees daylight?
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Job 18:10 טָמ֣וּן [is] hidden
A noose is hidden in the ground, and a trap lies in his path.
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Job 20:26 טָמ֪וּן [is] hidden
Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.
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Job 31:33 לִטְמ֖וֹן by hiding
if I have covered my transgressions like Adam by hiding my guilt in my heart,
Here: 'To hide' or 'by hiding'. The verb is used for burying or stashing something out of sight, as Achan buried the stolen goods under his tent (Joshua 7:21). It spells out how the 'covering' was done: by tucking the guilt away.
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Job 40:13 טָמְנֵ֣ם בַּטָּמֽוּן׃ hide them, in the hidden [place]
Bury them together in the dust; imprison them in the grave.
Psalms · 7
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Psalm 9:15 טָ֝מָ֗נוּ they had hidden
The nations have fallen into a pit of their making; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
Here: To hide something by covering or burying it, as Achan buried loot in his tent floor (Josh 7:21) or as a snare is 'hidden in the ground' (Job 18:10). The net was secret and deliberate. That makes it worse when they are caught in it.
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Psalm 31:4 טָ֣מְנוּ people have hidden
You free me from the net laid out for me, for You are my refuge.
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Psalm 35:7 טָֽמְנוּ־ they have hidden
For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
Here: They hid or covered over the trap, like a hunter camouflaging a snare. The stress falls on concealment: the attack is secret and treacherous, not open.
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Psalm 35:8 טָמַ֣ן he hid
May ruin befall them by surprise; may the net they hid ensnare them; may they fall into the hazard they created.
Here: A completed action ('he hid'): the plot is already laid. It is the same verb as verse 7 ('they hid their net for me'), so the wording itself turns the trap back on the trapper.
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Psalm 64:5 לִטְמ֣וֹן to hide
They hold fast to their evil purpose; they speak of hiding their snares. “Who will see them?” they say.
Here: "To hide": the usual verb for setting a concealed trap or burying something out of sight (compare Psalm 140:5; 142:3). Secrecy is the whole strategy.
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Psalm 140:5 טָֽמְנֽוּ־ they have hidden
The proud hide a snare for me; the cords of their net are spread along the path, and lures are set out for me. Selah
Here: 'They have hidden.' The basic idea is hiding something out of sight, sometimes by burying it, as Achan buried the stolen goods in the ground (Josh 7:21). Here it describes a hunter covering a trap so the prey can't see it. The verb is in a completed form: the traps are already in place.
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Psalm 142:3 טָמְנ֖וּ people have hidden
Although my spirit grows faint within me, You know my way. Along the path I travel they have hidden a snare for me.
Here: "They have hidden": a word for burying or concealing something in the ground (Achan hiding the loot, Josh 7:21). The trap is set out of sight. The 'they' is not named here; v. 6 calls them 'my pursuers.'
Proverbs · 2
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Proverbs 19:24 טָ֘מַ֤ן he hides
The slacker buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth.
Here: To hide something by putting it down into something: the word used for burying objects in the ground or sand. Here the hand sinks out of sight into the food. The Hebrew tense describes something that always happens, a typical habit: 'he buries'.
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Proverbs 26:15 טָ֘מַ֤ן he hides
The slacker buries his hand in the dish; it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.
Here: Used for hiding something by sinking it out of sight, often in the ground or in sand. The hand is sunk deep into the food, as if buried there. Placing the verb first in Hebrew puts the comic picture up front.
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 2:10 וְהִטָּמֵ֖ן and hide yourself
Go into the rocks and hide in the dust from the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty.
Here: 'And hide yourself.' The verb is often used for hiding something in the ground: Jacob buries idols (Gen 35:4), Moses hides a body in the sand (Exod 2:12). Here it carries a hint of burying yourself.
Jeremiah · 7
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Jeremiah 13:4 וְטָמְנֵ֥הוּ and hide it
“Take the loincloth that you bought and are wearing, and go at once to Perath and hide it there in a crevice of the rocks.”
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Jeremiah 13:5 וָאֶטְמְנֵ֖הוּ and I hid it
So I went and hid it at Perath, as the LORD had commanded me.
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Jeremiah 13:6 לְטָמְנוֹ־ to hide it
Many days later the LORD said to me, “Arise, go to Perath, and get the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.”
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Jeremiah 13:7 טְמַנְתִּ֣יו I had hidden it
So I went to Perath and dug up the loincloth, and I took it from the place where I had hidden it. But now it was ruined—of no use at all.
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Jeremiah 18:22 טָמְנ֥וּ they have hidden
Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet.
Here: 'They have hidden'. The weight falls on how secret the plot is. The same verb appears with 'snare' in the lament psalms (Psalm 140:5; 142:3; 35:7).
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Jeremiah 43:9 וּטְמַנְתָּ֤ם and you will hide them
“In the sight of the Jews, pick up some large stones and bury them in the clay of the brick pavement at the entrance to Pharaoh’s palace at Tahpanhes.
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Jeremiah 43:10 טָמָ֑נְתִּי I have hidden
Then tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones that I have embedded, and he will spread his royal pavilion over them.
Here: 'I have hidden / buried.' Jeremiah's hands did the burying, but God speaks of it as his own act. The prophet's sign is God's deed.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.