Hebrew word · H8497

תָּכָה

tuku

to follow

Unknown. It appears nowhere else. Suggested meanings come from context and guesses at related words: 'they sat / lay down', 'prostrated themselves', 'followed', 'were led', 'were gathered'. Some scholars correct the text to a known verb.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) (Pual) to be led, be assembled

1a) meaning wholly uncertain

2) (CLBL) (Pu) to lay down, recline

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 Deuteronomy 33:3

Range of meaning

Unknown. It appears nowhere else. Suggested meanings come from context and guesses at related words: 'they sat / lay down', 'prostrated themselves', 'followed', 'were led', 'were gathered'. Some scholars correct the text to a known verb.

Against the English

KJV, BSB and WEB have 'sat down at your feet', which suggests a quiet, receptive posture. Other modern versions choose 'followed in your steps' or 'bow down'. Each is an educated guess, but English readers see a confident statement.

How it drifted

KJV's 'sat down at thy feet' fits the later picture of a disciple at a teacher's feet (Luke 10:39; Acts 22:3). That picture shaped how the line is read, though nothing in the word requires it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Rashi links the word to the people placing themselves at the foot of the mountain (Exodus 19:17). The Septuagint has 'these are under you', a paraphrase that shows the translators also had trouble with it. The phrase 'at the foot of' someone means following behind them in Exodus 11:8, Judges 4:10 and 1 Samuel 25:42.

Where it appears

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 33:3 תֻּכּ֣וּ they were led

    Surely You love the people; all the holy ones are in Your hand, and they sit down at Your feet; each receives Your words—

    Here: A word found only here, and its meaning is unknown. Translators guess from context: 'sat down', 'bowed down', 'followed', 'were led'. The form looks passive ('were made to ...').

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