Hebrew word · H2951
טִפְסָר
tifsar
official
Borrowed from Akkadian ṭupšarru (from Sumerian dub-sar, 'tablet-writer'): a scribe, and by extension a high official whose literacy put him in charge of records, tribute, conscription and military administration.
Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
scribe, official, marshal
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
Borrowed from Akkadian ṭupšarru (from Sumerian dub-sar, 'tablet-writer'): a scribe, and by extension a high official whose literacy put him in charge of records, tribute, conscription and military administration.
- Against the English
KJV 'captains', YLT 'princes', NASB 'marshals', WEB/NIV 'officials', BSB/ESV 'scribes'. 'Scribes' keeps the word's origin. 'Officials' keeps its function. 'Captains' makes a purely military picture the word does not require.
- How it drifted
Older translations took it from context alone. In English, 'scribe' can sound like a lowly copyist or, for Bible readers, call to mind the Jewish 'scribes' of the Gospels. Neither fits: these are imperial bureaucrats.
- Used elsewhere in the period
In the Hebrew Bible only here and Jeremiah 51:27 ('appoint a ṭipsār against her', against Babylon), where it seems to mean a recruiting or mustering officer. Neo-Assyrian texts show ṭupšarrū as powerful palace and army officials.
From the study of Jeremiah 51:27
- Range of meaning
It occurs only here and in Nah 3:17 (in the plural, of Nineveh's officials). It comes from Akkadian ṭupšarru, itself from Sumerian dub-sar, 'tablet-writer', meaning scribe. Scribes in Mesopotamian armies kept the lists of conscripts and supplies, so in a military setting the word refers to an officer in charge of the levy.
- Against the English
'Captain' (KJV, BSB) and 'commander' suggest a battlefield leader. 'Marshal' (WEB) is closer to an organizing role. YLT's 'infant head' comes from an old guess that split the word into ṭaf ('little ones') + sar ('prince'), which modern scholars do not accept.
- How it drifted
The ancient versions and early English translators did not know the Akkadian background. Their guesses produced a proper name (Vulgate 'Taphsar') or YLT's odd 'infant head'.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Akkadian ṭupšarru is well attested in cuneiform texts (see CAD s.v.). Nahum 3:17 uses the same loanword for Assyrian officials.
Where it appears
Jeremiah · 1
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Jeremiah 51:27 טִפְסָ֔ר an official
“Raise a banner in the land! Blow the ram’s horn among the nations! Prepare the nations against her. Summon the kingdoms against her—Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a captain against her; bring up horses like swarming locusts.
Here: A loanword from Akkadian ṭupšarru, 'tablet-writer, scribe'. In a military setting it means the officer who kept the muster rolls and organized the levy, so 'marshal' or 'recruiting officer'. Ironically, it is a Babylonian word for the official who will organize the attack on Babylon.
Nahum · 1
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Nahum 3:17 וְטַפְסְרַ֖יִךְ and officials your
Your guards are like the swarming locust, and your scribes like clouds of locusts that settle on the walls on a cold day. When the sun rises, they fly away, and no one knows where.
Here: Another Assyrian loanword (ṭupšarru, 'tablet-writer'), the trained scribal officials who ran the empire's records, tribute and armies. Nahum mocks the empire in its own administrative vocabulary.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.