Hebrew word · H8499

תְּכוּנָה

tekhunato

place

A rare noun from kûn, "to be firm, set up, established." It occurs only three times. In Job 23:3 it means "place, seat, station." In Ezek 43:11 it means "arrangement, layout" (of the temple). In Nah 2:9 [Heb. 2:10] it means "store, supply" ("there is no end to the treasure").

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

fixed place, seat, place

Another spelling of te.khu.nah (תְּכוּנָה "fitting" H8498)

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 Job 23:3

Range of meaning

A rare noun from kûn, "to be firm, set up, established." It occurs only three times. In Job 23:3 it means "place, seat, station." In Ezek 43:11 it means "arrangement, layout" (of the temple). In Nah 2:9 [Heb. 2:10] it means "store, supply" ("there is no end to the treasure"). The shared idea is something fixed, set in order, established.

Against the English

KJV, ESV, NASB, BSB and WEB have "seat." NIV has "dwelling." NLT has "court." "Seat" can sound like a mere chair to modern ears. "Dwelling" sounds domestic. "Court" gives the legal sense of verse 4 but goes beyond the word itself.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same root is used for God's throne being "established": Ps 9:7 [Heb. 9:8], "he has established (kônēn) his throne for judgment"; Ps 103:19, "the LORD has established (hēkîn) his throne in the heavens." The Septuagint (the Greek translation) does not render it as a place at all. It has eis telos, "to the end." The Vulgate has solium, "throne."

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 23:3 תְּכוּנָתֽוֹ׃ place his

    If only I knew where to find Him, so that I could go to His seat.

    Here: "His fixed place / his established seat." The word comes from the root kûn, "to be firm, established." It is the place where God is set and can be found. Since the next verse moves straight into a courtroom ("I would lay my case before him"), the place Job has in mind works as the seat where God gives judgment.

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