Hebrew word · H8465

תַּ֫חַן

letachan

Tahan

A personal and clan name of uncertain meaning. Some link it to the root ḥnn ('be gracious') or to a word for 'encampment'. Neither link is certain.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament.

What it means

A man of the tribe of Ephraim living at the time of Egypt and Wilderness, only mentioned at Num.26.35;

son of: Ephraim (H0669);

brother of: Shuthelah (H7803), Becher (H1071H), Ezer (H5827), Elead (H0496) and Beriah (H1283H)

Also named: ta.cha.ni (תַּחֲנִי "Tahanite" H8470)

§ Tahan = "camp"

an Ephraimite, son of Telah and progenitor of a family of Ephraim

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 1 Chronicles 7:25

Range of meaning

A personal and clan name of uncertain meaning. Some link it to the root ḥnn ('be gracious') or to a word for 'encampment'. Neither link is certain.

Against the English

No real difference. English simply transliterates the name.

Used elsewhere in the period

Numbers 26:35 names Tahan as a son of Ephraim and father of the Tahanite clan. 1 Chronicles 7:20 has a similar name, Tahath, twice in the line of Shuthelah.

Where it appears

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 26:35 לְתַ֕חַן of Tahan

    These were the descendants of Ephraim by their clans: The Shuthelahite clan from Shuthelah, the Becherite clan from Becher, and the Tahanite clan from Tahan.

1 Chronicles · 1

  1. 1 Chronicles 7:25 וְתַ֥חַן and Tahan

    Additionally, Rephah was his son, Resheph his son, Telah his son, Tahan his son,

    Here: A personal name. It is also the name of an Ephraimite clan founder in Numbers 26:35 (the 'Tahanites'). Its reappearance here shows that the same names were reused within the tribe.

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