Hebrew word · H8476

תַּ֫חַשׁ

tachash

animal

A prized leather or hide. Outside this verse it occurs only for the outer covering of the tabernacle and for the wrappings of its holy objects in transport (Exodus 25:5; 26:14; 35–36; 39:34; Numbers 4:6–25).

Appears 14 times in 14 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) a kind of leather, skin, or animal hide

1a) perhaps the animal yielding the skin

1a1) perhaps the badger or dugong, dolphin, or sheep, or a now extinct animal

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 Ezekiel 16:10

Range of meaning

A prized leather or hide. Outside this verse it occurs only for the outer covering of the tabernacle and for the wrappings of its holy objects in transport (Exodus 25:5; 26:14; 35–36; 39:34; Numbers 4:6–25). Proposals for its meaning: (1) a sea animal such as the dugong or dolphin, comparing Arabic tuḫas; (2) a leather of a particular colour or finish, comparing Akkadian dušû, a yellowish-orange colour and stone, with dušû-coloured leathers known from Mesopotamian texts; (3) the 'badger' of later Jewish tradition; (4) simply 'fine leather'.

Against the English

KJV and YLT have 'badgers' skin', NASB 1995 'porpoise skin', NLT 'fine goatskin leather', while BSB, ESV, NIV and WEB have 'fine leather' or 'leather'. The modern 'fine leather' is the honest choice: it keeps the sense of luxury and does not claim to know the animal.

How it drifted

'Badger' comes from rabbinic identification (the Talmud discusses the tachash as a special, multicoloured animal) and passed into Reformation-era English Bibles. The ancient Greek and Latin translators understood a colour instead, 'hyacinth' or violet.

Used elsewhere in the period

Septuagint Ezekiel 16:10 has hyakinthon ('hyacinth', i.e. violet/blue-purple), and the Septuagint of Exodus has 'hyacinth-coloured skins'. The Vulgate has ianthino ('violet'). Akkadian texts mention dušû-coloured leather. No pre-modern source identifies a badger.

Similar words

Where it appears

Exodus · 6

  1. Exodus 25:5 תְּחָשִׁ֖ים dolphins

    ram skins dyed red and fine leather; acacia wood;

  2. Exodus 26:14 תְּחָשִׁ֖ים dolphins

    Also make a covering for the tent out of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of fine leather.

  3. Exodus 35:7 תְּחָשִׁ֖ים dolphins

    ram skins dyed red and fine leather; acacia wood;

  4. Exodus 35:23 תְּחָשִׁ֖ים dolphins

    Everyone who had blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen, goat hair, ram skins dyed red, or articles of fine leather, brought them.

  5. Exodus 36:19 תְּחָשִׁ֖ים dolphins

    Additionally, he made for the tent a covering of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of fine leather.

  6. Exodus 39:34 הַתְּחָשִׁ֑ים the dolphins

    the covering of ram skins dyed red, the covering of fine leather, and the veil of the covering;

Numbers · 7

  1. Numbers 4:6 תַּ֔חַשׁ dolphin

    They are to place over this a covering of fine leather, spread a solid blue cloth over it, and insert its poles.

  2. Numbers 4:8 תָּ֑חַשׁ dolphin

    And they shall spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover them with fine leather, and insert the poles.

  3. Numbers 4:10 תָּ֑חַשׁ dolphin

    Then they shall wrap it and all its utensils inside a covering of fine leather and put it on the carrying frame.

  4. Numbers 4:11 תָּ֑חַשׁ dolphin

    Over the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth, cover it with fine leather, and insert the poles.

  5. Numbers 4:12 תָּ֑חַשׁ dolphin

    They are to take all the utensils for serving in the sanctuary, place them in a blue cloth, cover them with fine leather, and put them on the carrying frame.

  6. Numbers 4:14 תַּ֖חַשׁ dolphin

    and place on it all the vessels used to serve there: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and sprinkling bowls—all the equipment of the altar. They are to spread over it a covering of fine leather and insert the poles.

  7. Numbers 4:25 הַתַּ֥חַשׁ the dolphin

    They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with the covering of fine leather over it, the curtains for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 16:10 תָּ֑חַשׁ leather

    I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk.

    Here: A rare and costly leather. Apart from this verse it appears only as the outer covering of the tabernacle (Exodus 25–26; Numbers 4). Which animal it came from, or what colour or treatment is meant, is uncertain. What the word clearly signals is luxury, and a link to the sanctuary.

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