Hebrew word · H8511
תָּלָא
telu'im
to hang
From tala', a by-form of talah, 'to hang' (hang a body on a tree, hang a shield on a wall). As a passive participle it means 'hung', 'suspended', and by extension 'dependent on', 'attached to', or 'left hanging, uncertain'.
Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
(Qal) to hang, hang to, cling to
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
- Range of meaning
From tala', a by-form of talah, 'to hang' (hang a body on a tree, hang a shield on a wall). As a passive participle it means 'hung', 'suspended', and by extension 'dependent on', 'attached to', or 'left hanging, uncertain'.
- Against the English
KJV, BSB and others say 'bent on/to' and WEB says 'determined to'. These turn the picture into stubborn willpower. YLT keeps the literal 'hanging in suspense'. The Hebrew picture is passive and physical: the people hang on their apostasy as an object hangs on a peg.
- How it drifted
'Bent on' goes back to older English translation, and it reads a stubborn inner attitude into a picture of attachment. The two ideas overlap, but the Hebrew stresses being stuck and dependent more than active resolve.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Deuteronomy 28:66 uses the same spelling with aleph: 'your life will hang [teluʾim] before you', meaning held in suspense and dread. Elsewhere the root is used for hanging executed bodies (Deut 21:22–23; 2 Sam 21:12) and for hanging things on pegs (Isa 22:24).
Where it appears
Deuteronomy · 1
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Deuteronomy 28:66 תְּלֻאִ֥ים hung up
So your life will hang in doubt before you, and you will be afraid night and day, never certain of survival.
2 Samuel · 1
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2 Samuel 21:12 תְּלָא֥וּם they had hung up them
he went and took the bones of Saul and his son Jonathan from the men of Jabesh-gilead, who had stolen them from the public square of Beth-shan where the Philistines had hung the bodies after they had struck down Saul at Gilboa.
Hosea · 1
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Hosea 11:7 תְלוּאִ֖ים [is] hung up
My people are bent on turning from Me. Though they call to the Most High, He will by no means exalt them.
Here: A passive participle: 'hung up', 'hanging on', 'attached to'. The people are pictured hanging from their apostasy as from a hook. They are fixed to it and dependent on it, not just leaning toward it. The same form in Deuteronomy 28:66 means 'hanging in doubt'.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.