Hebrew word · H8593

תַּ֫עַר

ta'ar

razor

(1) A razor (Num 6:5; 8:7; Isa 7:20; Ezek 5:1). (2) A sheath or scabbard for a sword (1 Sam 17:51; 2 Sam 20:8; Jer 47:6; Ezek 21:3-5). Here the qualifier 'sharpened' makes 'razor' certain.

Appears 13 times in 13 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) razor, sheath (making naked)

1a) razor

1b) sheath (of sword)

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 Psalm 52:2

Range of meaning

(1) A razor (Num 6:5; 8:7; Isa 7:20; Ezek 5:1). (2) A sheath or scabbard for a sword (1 Sam 17:51; 2 Sam 20:8; Jer 47:6; Ezek 21:3-5). Here the qualifier 'sharpened' makes 'razor' certain.

Against the English

All major English versions say 'razor'. Some add 'sharp' and some 'sharpened'. 'Sharpened' better keeps the participle's sense that someone honed it.

Used elsewhere in the period

Razors appear with vows and mourning (the Nazirite, Num 6:5), with purifying the Levites (Num 8:7), and as a picture of humiliating judgement (Isa 7:20, God shaves Judah with 'a razor hired beyond the River'; Ezek 5:1). The tongue as a blade is a common image in Psalms and Proverbs: 'their tongue a sharp sword' (Ps 57:4), 'who whet their tongue like a sword' (Ps 64:3), words 'like the thrusts of a sword' (Prov 12:18).

From the study of Numbers 6:5

Range of meaning

Ta‘ar is a razor or blade (also a sheath for a sword, 1 Sam 17:51). ‘Avar means "to pass over or through." Together, "a razor shall not pass over" is the idiom for cutting the hair.

Against the English

KJV/WEB: "no razor come upon his head." BSB: "no razor shall touch his head." YLT: "a razor doth not pass over his head", which is closest to the Hebrew.

Used elsewhere in the period

Num 8:7 uses the same pair for the Levites, but positively: "let them pass a razor over all their flesh." Ezek 5:1 uses ta‘ar for the prophet's sign-act of shaving his head. Samson's and Samuel's stories use a different word for razor (morah) in a similar formula.

From the study of Jeremiah 36:23

Range of meaning

Ta'ar means a razor (Num 6:5; Isa 7:20; Ezek 5:1). It can also mean a sword's sheath (1 Sam 17:51; Jer 47:6; Ezek 21:3–5), which is a different use of the same word. Joined with "the scribe", it means the small blade scribes kept for sharpening reed pens and trimming or cutting sheets.

Against the English

KJV "penknife" was actually exact in 1611, when the term meant a small knife for cutting quill pens. Modern readers hear "pocket knife". BSB, NASB and NIV "scribe's knife" keep the link to scribes. Versions that say only "a knife" lose the irony of a writer's tool used to destroy writing.

How it drifted

"Penknife" kept its form but lost its connection to pens once quills went out of use.

Used elsewhere in the period

Writing kits from Egypt and the Levant included a palette, reed pens, and a small knife for trimming. The Greek translation (LXX Jer 43:23) renders the phrase with xyron, "razor", keeping the razor sense.

Where it appears

Numbers · 2

  1. Numbers 6:5 תַּ֖עַר a razor

    For the entire period of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. He must be holy until the time of his separation to the LORD is complete; he must let the hair of his head grow long.

    Here: A barber's blade. The ban is on cutting the hair at all, not only on shaving it to the skin.

  2. Numbers 8:7 תַ֙עַר֙ a razor

    This is what you must do to cleanse them: Sprinkle them with the water of purification. Have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves.

    Here: A blade for shaving. The same word is used for the Nazirite's forbidden razor (Num 6:5). Here it is required, not forbidden.

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 17:51 מִתַּעְרָהּ֙ from sheath its

    David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword and pulled it from its sheath and killed him, and he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 20:8 בְּתַעְרָ֔הּ in sheath its

    And while they were at the great stone in Gibeon, Amasa joined them. Now Joab was dressed in military attire, with a dagger strapped to his belt. And as he stepped forward, he slipped the dagger from its sheath.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 52:2 כְּתַ֥עַר like a razor

    Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.

    Here: 'Like a razor': a barber's blade, used right against the skin, quietly and at close range. The comparison suits speech that wounds without any visible violence.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 7:20 בְּתַ֨עַר with a razor

    On that day the Lord will use a razor hired from beyond the Euphrates—the king of Assyria—to shave your head and the hair of your legs, and to remove your beard as well.

Jeremiah · 2

  1. Jeremiah 36:23 בְּתַ֣עַר with [the] knife of

    And as soon as Jehudi had read three or four columns, Jehoiakim would cut them off with a scribe’s knife and throw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll had been consumed by the fire.

    Here: The same word is used for a barber's razor (Num 6:5; Ezek 5:1). Here it is a small, sharp blade.

  2. Jeremiah 47:6 תַּעְרֵ֔ךְ sheath your

    ‘Alas, O sword of the LORD, how long until you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still!’

    Here: 'Your sheath'. The same noun means 'razor' elsewhere (Num 6:5), but with a sword it is the scabbard (1 Sam 17:51; Ezek 21:3–5). A sheathed sword is the plain picture of war stopping.

Ezekiel · 5

  1. Ezekiel 5:1 תַּ֤עַר <the> razor of

    “As for you, son of man, take a sharp sword, use it as a barber’s razor, and shave your head and beard. Then take a set of scales and divide the hair.

  2. Ezekiel 21:3 מִתַּעְרָ֑הּ from sheath its

    and tell her that this is what the LORD says: ‘I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.

    Here: 'Ta'ar' can mean a razor (Ezek 5:1) or a sheath. Here it plainly means the scabbard. A sword drawn from its sheath is a sword about to be used.

  3. Ezekiel 21:4 מִתַּעְרָ֛הּ from sheath its

    Because I will cut off both the righteous and the wicked, My sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north.

  4. Ezekiel 21:5 מִתַּעְרָ֑הּ from sheath its

    Then all flesh will know that I, the LORD, have taken My sword from its sheath, not to return it again.’

  5. Ezekiel 21:30 תַּעְרָ֑הּ sheath its

    Return the sword to its sheath! In the place where you were created, in the land of your origin, I will judge you.

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