Hebrew word · H8547

תָּ֑מַח

tamach

Temah

A personal name found only here and in Ezra 2:53. Its etymology is uncertain. Lexicons offer only tentative suggestions, and none is secure.

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

What it means

A man living at the time of Exile and Return, first mentioned at Ezr.2.53

§ Tamah or Thamah = "laughter"

a head of a family of temple slaves who returned from exile with Zerubbabel

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 Nehemiah 7:55

Range of meaning

A personal name found only here and in Ezra 2:53. Its etymology is uncertain. Lexicons offer only tentative suggestions, and none is secure.

Against the English

BSB and WEB have 'Temah'. KJV and YLT have 'Tamah' here, and KJV has 'Thamah' in Ezra 2:53. These are just different spelling conventions for the same Hebrew name.

Used elsewhere in the period

Known only from the two parallel lists of returnees.

Where it appears

Ezra · 1

  1. Ezra 2:53 תָֽמַח׃ Temah

    the descendants of Barkos, the descendants of Sisera, the descendants of Temah,

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 7:55 תָֽמַח׃ Temah

    the descendants of Barkos, the descendants of Sisera, the descendants of Temah,

    Here: A family head of the temple servants, known only from this list and its parallel in Ezra 2:53. Where the name comes from and what it means are uncertain.

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