Hebrew word · H3871
לוּחַ
luach
tablet
A flat board or plank: ship's planks (Ezek 27:5), panels of the altar, and above all writing tablets of stone, wood or wax-coated board (Isa 30:8; Hab 2:2). The 'tablets of the covenant' at Sinai are luḥot.
Appears 43 times in 33 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) board, slab, tablet, plank
1a) tablets (of stone)
1b) boards (of wood)
1c) plate (of metal)
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 Proverbs 3:3
- Range of meaning
A flat board or plank: ship's planks (Ezek 27:5), panels of the altar, and above all writing tablets of stone, wood or wax-coated board (Isa 30:8; Hab 2:2). The 'tablets of the covenant' at Sinai are luḥot.
- Against the English
KJV 'table of thine heart' uses 'table' in its old sense of a flat writing surface (Latin tabula). Modern readers may picture furniture. Modern versions all have 'tablet'.
- How it drifted
English 'table' once meant any flat board or tablet (compare 'timetable'). The furniture sense later took over.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Exod 24:12; 31:18; 34:1 (God writes on stone tablets); Jer 17:1 (Judah's sin 'engraved on the tablet of their heart'); Prov 7:3 (same phrase as here); Jer 31:33 (the law written 'on their heart'). Paul's 'tablets of human hearts' (2 Cor 3:3) draws on this cluster of images.
From the study of Proverbs 7:3
- Range of meaning
A flat board, plank or tablet: the stone "tablets of the covenant" (Exod 24:12; 31:18; Deut 9:9–11); wooden boards on the altar (Exod 27:8); a ship's planks (Ezek 27:5); a writing tablet for a public message (Isa 30:8; Hab 2:2).
- Against the English
Modern versions say "tablet." KJV says "table," which in 1611 still meant a flat writing surface (compare "tables of stone" in KJV Exodus) but now suggests furniture. NLT drops the image entirely.
- How it drifted
English "table" in the sense of a writing tablet fell out of use after the early modern period.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Ancient scribes wrote on clay tablets, stone, and hinged wooden or ivory boards coated with wax; examples of such boards were recovered at Nimrud in Assyria. Scribal teaching worked by copying texts onto tablets and memorizing them. Jeremiah uses the same image: Judah's sin is "engraved on the tablet of their heart" (Jer 17:1), and in the new covenant God will "write it on their heart" (Jer 31:33). Proverbs 3:3 has the identical phrase "tablet of your heart."
From the study of Deuteronomy 9:9
- Range of meaning
Flat tablets or boards of stone, wood or metal, used for writing or building (the planks of the altar, Exod 27:8). Figuratively, "the tablet of the heart" (Prov 3:3; Jer 17:1).
- Against the English
KJV "tables" is old English for tablets and now misleads readers who picture furniture. Modern versions say "tablets."
- How it drifted
In 1611 "table" still commonly meant a flat slab or writing surface. That sense has largely died out in English.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Exodus calls them "tablets of stone" and "tablets of the testimony" (luḥot ha'edut, Exod 31:18; 32:15). Deuteronomy's "tablets of the covenant" is its own wording. Hittite treaties instructed that the treaty tablet be laid up before the gods and read out regularly. In Deuteronomy the tablets are placed in the ark (10:1–5), and the law is to be read publicly (31:9–13).
Where it appears
Exodus · 17
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Exodus 24:12 לֻחֹ֣ת [the] tablets of
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, so that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”
Here: 'Tablets of', meaning flat slabs that could be written on. These are the two tablets that later go into the ark (25:16; 31:18).
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Exodus 27:8 לֻחֹ֖ת boards
Construct the altar with boards so that it is hollow. It is to be made just as you were shown on the mountain.
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Exodus 31:18 לֻחֹ֣ת לֻחֹ֣ת [the] tablets of, tablets of
When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
Here: Flat slabs or boards used as writing surfaces. With the next word, the phrase means 'the tablets that carry the testimony'.
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Exodus 32:15 לֻחֹ֥ת לֻחֹ֗ת [the] tablets of, tablets
Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.
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Exodus 32:16 וְהַ֨לֻּחֹ֔ת הַלֻּחֹֽת׃ and the tablets, the tablets
The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
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Exodus 32:19 הַלֻּחֹ֔ת the tablets
As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain.
Here: The two stone 'tablets of the testimony' (32:15). They were written on both sides, and they were 'the work of God' and 'the writing of God' (32:16). They were the written copy of the covenant.
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Exodus 34:1 לֻחֹ֥ת הַלֻּחֹ֔ת הַלֻּחֹ֥ת tablets of, the tablets
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.
Here: These are flat slabs for writing. In the phrase “tablets of stones” the stone material is spelled out, as it was for the originals (24:12; 31:18).
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Exodus 34:4 לֻחֹ֨ת לֻחֹ֥ת tablets of
So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the originals. He rose early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hands, he went up Mount Sinai as the LORD had commanded him.
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Exodus 34:28 הַלֻּחֹ֗ת the tablets
So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
Here: "The tablets": the two stone tablets Moses cut to replace the ones he smashed (34:1, 4; 32:19).
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Exodus 34:29 לֻחֹ֤ת [the] tablets of
And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the LORD.
Here: Flat stone tablets for writing on, freshly cut by Moses (34:1, 4) and inscribed with the covenant words (34:28).
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Exodus 38:7 לֻחֹ֖ת boards
Then he inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar for carrying it. He made the altar with boards so that it was hollow.
Deuteronomy · 16
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Deuteronomy 4:13 לֻח֥וֹת tablets of
He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to follow—the Ten Commandments that He wrote on two tablets of stone.
Here: 'Tablets': flat surfaces for writing. The same word is used for planks or boards (Exod 27:8; Ezek 27:5) and, as a picture, for the 'tablet of the heart' (Prov 3:3; Jer 17:1).
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Deuteronomy 5:22 לֻחֹ֣ת tablets of
The LORD spoke these commandments in a loud voice to your whole assembly out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
Here: Flat slabs for writing on. They were small enough for Moses to carry and to fit in the ark (10:1–5).
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Deuteronomy 9:9 לוּחֹ֤ת לוּחֹ֣ת [the] tablets of
When I went up on the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the LORD made with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I ate no bread and drank no water.
Here: "Tablets of." Flat surfaces you can write on, here made of stone, and the word implies something you can carry.
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Deuteronomy 9:10 לוּחֹ֣ת [the] tablets of
Then the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, inscribed by the finger of God with the exact words that the LORD spoke to you out of the fire on the mountain on the day of the assembly.
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Deuteronomy 9:11 לֻחֹ֥ת לֻח֥וֹת [the] tablets of
And at the end of forty days and forty nights, the LORD gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant.
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Deuteronomy 9:15 לֻחֹ֣ת [the] tablets of
So I went back down the mountain while it was blazing with fire, with the two tablets of the covenant in my hands.
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Deuteronomy 9:17 הַלֻּחֹ֔ת the tablets
So I took the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, shattering them before your eyes.
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Deuteronomy 10:1 לֻוחֹ֤ת tablets of
At that time the LORD said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood.
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Deuteronomy 10:2 הַלֻּחֹ֔ת הַלֻּחֹ֥ת the tablets
And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you are to place them in the ark.”
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Deuteronomy 10:3 לֻחֹ֥ת הַלֻּחֹ֖ת tablets of, the tablets
So I made an ark of acacia wood, chiseled out two stone tablets like the originals, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands.
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Deuteronomy 10:4 הַלֻּחֹ֜ת the tablets
And the LORD wrote on the tablets what had been written previously, the Ten Commandments that He had spoken to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly. The LORD gave them to me,
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Deuteronomy 10:5 הַלֻּחֹ֔ת the tablets
and I went back down the mountain and placed the tablets in the ark I had made, as the LORD had commanded me; and there they have remained.
1 Kings · 2
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1 Kings 7:36 הַלֻּחֹת֙ the plates of
He engraved cherubim, lions, and palm trees on the surfaces of the supports and panels, wherever each had space, with wreaths all around.
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1 Kings 8:9 לֻח֣וֹת [the] tablets of
There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of the land of Egypt.
Here: Flat slabs for writing on. Here it is joined grammatically to the next word: 'tablets of the stones'.
2 Chronicles · 1
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2 Chronicles 5:10 הַלֻּח֔וֹת the tablets
There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of Egypt.
Proverbs · 2
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Proverbs 3:3 ל֥וּחַ [the] tablet of
Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
Here: 'The tablet of': a flat writing surface of stone, wood or wax-coated board. It is the word used for the stone tablets of the covenant at Sinai, which gives the picture its weight.
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Proverbs 7:3 ל֥וּחַ [the] tablet of
Tie them to your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
Here: A flat writing surface, such as a wooden board coated with wax, or a stone slab like the tablets of the covenant. Here it is joined to the next word: "the tablet of your heart."
Song of Songs · 1
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Song of Songs 8:9 ל֥וּחַ a board of
If she is a wall, we will build a tower of silver upon her. If she is a door, we will enclose her with panels of cedar.
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 30:8 ל֛וּחַ a tablet
Go now, write it on a tablet in their presence and inscribe it on a scroll; it will be for the days to come, a witness forever and ever.
Here: A flat writing board of wood, stone or wax-coated wood. It could be displayed. It is the same word used for the covenant tablets and for Habakkuk's tablets (Hab 2:2).
Jeremiah · 1
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Jeremiah 17:1 ל֣וּחַ [the] tablet of
“The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus, engraved with a diamond point on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars.
Here: A writing tablet. The same word names the stone tablets of the covenant (Exod 31:18; 32:15–16), so the picture invites comparison with the Ten Commandments.
Ezekiel · 1
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Ezekiel 27:5 לֻֽחֹתָ֑יִם planks
They constructed all your planking with cypress from Senir. They took a cedar from Lebanon to make a mast for you.
Habakkuk · 1
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Habakkuk 2:2 הַלֻּח֑וֹת the tablets
Then the LORD answered me: “Write down this vision and clearly inscribe it on tablets, so that a herald may run with it.
Here: Flat writing boards or slabs (of stone, wood or wax-coated wood). The word is plural with 'the', 'the tablets', which may simply mean the usual tablets for such writing. To Israelite ears it also calls to mind the tablets of Sinai.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.