תָּו

From the study of Ezekiel 9:4

Range of meaning

The name of the 22nd and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and from that a “mark” or “sign.” In Job 31:35 (“here is my tav”) it works as a signature, the mark someone puts on a legal statement to say “this is mine, I stand by it.” The related verb tāwâ means to make marks or scribble (David “scribbling” on the gate doors, 1 Samuel 21:13 [Eng. 21:14]) or to put a mark on something (here). In the old Hebrew script of Ezekiel's time, still used in inscriptions and on seals, the letter was a simple X or + shape.

Against the English

Most English versions say “a mark.” That is correct but blurs two things: this is a specific letter-sign, and it works like a signature or ownership stamp. KJV, ESV, NIV, NASB, BSB and WEB all say “mark.” The Latin Vulgate keeps the letter name (“signa thau”).

How it drifted

English “mark” is generic and today easily recalls “the mark of the beast” (Revelation 13). From the 2nd century Christian readers saw the X/+ shape as a cross, so many people meet the verse through that reading rather than through the letter's original use as a signature.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 31:35 (tav as signature). The Damascus Document from the Dead Sea Scrolls (CD 19:10–12) quotes this verse: those who “sigh and groan” will escape at the time of God's visitation. Psalms of Solomon 15:6–9 speaks of “the sign of God” on the righteous for deliverance and a mark of destruction on sinners. Revelation 7:3; 9:4; 14:1 take up the forehead seal for God's servants. The Talmud (b. Shabbat 55a) offers wordplays: tav for tiḥyeh, “you shall live,” or tamut, “you shall die,” and tav as the last letter of ʾemet, “truth,” called God's seal. Origen (Selecta in Ezechielem) reports Jewish explanations: the last letter means completeness, or the first letter of Torah. He also reports a Jewish Christian who said the old tav looked like a cross.

From the study of Ezekiel 9:6

Range of meaning

The name of the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and by extension a mark or sign made with that letter's shape. In the old Hebrew script used before and during the Exile (seen in the Siloam inscription and the Lachish letters), tav was written as a simple X or + cross-stroke. It could serve as a person's signature or mark of identification: Job says "here is my tav" (Job 31:35), meaning "here is my signature" on his legal deposition.

Against the English

English versions say "the mark", which is accurate but hides that it is a letter, and a letter with a known shape. YLT and most others follow the KJV. The Latin Vulgate keeps the letter name ("thau").

How it drifted

Not so much drift as loss of detail. "Mark" sounds vague, and later Christian readers filled the gap: since the old tav looked like a cross, early writers (Tertullian, Origen, and Jerome, who noted the shape in older Hebrew/Samaritan letters) read it as a foreshadowing of the cross. Modern readers may also link any "mark on the forehead" with Revelation's "mark of the beast", which is the opposite image.

Used elsewhere in the period

Job 31:35 (tav as signature). Ezekiel 9:4, the source of the mark here. The Dead Sea Scrolls' Damascus Document (CD-B 19:10–12) quotes Ezek 9:4: those who "sigh and groan" and bear the tav will escape at God's visitation, a sign that the passage was read as a model for a faithful remnant. Psalms of Solomon 15:6–9 speaks of "the mark of God" on the righteous for salvation. Revelation 7:3; 9:4; 14:1 picture God's servants sealed on their foreheads, a clear reuse of this scene. The Talmud (b. Shabbat 55a) gives symbolic readings: tav for tichyeh, "you shall live", or tamut, "you shall die", or as the last letter of emet, "truth", God's seal.

From the study of Job 31:35

Range of meaning

The name of the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and by extension a 'mark' or 'sign'. In the old Hebrew script the letter was written as an X or a + (a cross-mark), so 'make a taw' meant to make a mark.

Against the English

Modern versions render it 'signature' (BSB, WEB, ESV, NASB) or 'I sign… my defense' (NIV, NLT). The KJV's 'my desire' follows the Latin Vulgate's desiderium meum. The Vulgate apparently linked the word to a Hebrew root meaning 'to desire' (compare taʾăwāh, 'desire'). That link does not fit the form here.

How it drifted

The KJV 'my desire' is not drift in English. It is an older mistranslation, inherited from the Vulgate, that hides the legal act.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezekiel 9:4, 6: a taw is marked on the foreheads of those who grieve over Jerusalem's abominations, as a sign that they are to be spared. Later Jewish and Christian readers made much of the letter's shape (some church fathers saw a cross in it), but that is a later interpretation. In Israelite and wider ancient Near Eastern practice, documents were authenticated with a seal impression or a personal mark. The X-shaped taw is the obvious 'mark' a person would make.