Hebrew word · H8604

תִּפְלָה

tiflah

folly

Unseemliness, unsavoriness, something offensive or improper. It comes from the root t-p-l, whose adjective tafel means 'tasteless, unsalted' (Job 6:6: 'Can something tasteless be eaten without salt?'). The noun occurs only three times: Job 1:22 (Job did not charge God with tiflah, i.e.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) that which is empty, folly, silly, foolish

2) (BDB) unsavouriness, unseemliness (moral)

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 Jeremiah 23:13

Range of meaning

Unseemliness, unsavoriness, something offensive or improper. It comes from the root t-p-l, whose adjective tafel means 'tasteless, unsalted' (Job 6:6: 'Can something tasteless be eaten without salt?'). The same root is used for 'whitewash', a thin coating that hides what is underneath (Ezek 13:10–15). The noun occurs only three times: Job 1:22 (Job did not charge God with tiflah, i.e. with wrongdoing or impropriety), Job 24:12, and here.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT have 'folly'. BSB and NASB have 'an offensive thing', ESV 'an unsavory thing', NIV 'repulsive'. 'Folly' makes a modern reader think of silliness or a foolish mistake. The Hebrew word is about moral distaste: something that leaves a bad taste, something unfit, something offensive.

How it drifted

'Folly' probably comes from the Latin Vulgate's fatuitas. The Latin fatuus, like the Hebrew root, could mean both 'insipid, tasteless' and 'foolish'. English kept only the 'foolish' half.

Used elsewhere in the period

In Lamentations 2:14 Jerusalem's prophets 'saw for you shav' ve-tafel', meaning empty and whitewashed or tasteless visions. That is the same root used for the same group, false prophets. The Greek Septuagint here has anomēmata, 'lawless deeds', which reads the word morally, not intellectually.

From the study of Job 24:12

Range of meaning

Unseemliness, something offensive or indecent, a moral outrage. It is probably related to tāpēl, "tasteless, insipid, whitewash" (Job 6:6; Lam 2:14), so the idea is something that "leaves a bad taste" or is morally repugnant.

Against the English

KJV and WEB "folly" suggests silliness or poor judgment. BSB, NIV and ESV take the phrase as "charges no one with wrong". NASB's "pay attention to folly" keeps the word but blurs it. NRSV re-points it to "prayer".

How it drifted

In 1611, "folly" could mean wickedness or lewdness (compare "wrought folly in Israel"). Today it means foolishness, so KJV now reads as if God ignores silliness.

Used elsewhere in the period

It appears in only three places. In Job 1:22, "in all this Job did not sin, nor ascribe tiplâ to God". In Jer 23:13, the prophets of Samaria committed "an offensive thing" by prophesying by Baal. Here in Job 24:12 is the third.

Where it appears

Job · 2

  1. Job 1:22 תִּפְלָ֖ה unseemliness

    In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.

  2. Job 24:12 תִּפְלָֽה׃ offensiveness

    From the city, men groan, and the souls of the wounded cry out, yet God charges no one with wrongdoing.

    Here: Something morally distasteful and indecent, an outrage against what is fitting. It is the same word as Job 1:22, where Job "did not ascribe tiplâ to God". Here Job says God does not set tiplâ against what is happening, meaning he does not treat this outrage as an outrage.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 23:13 תִפְלָ֑ה offensiveness

    “Among the prophets of Samaria I saw an offensive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel astray.

    Here: From a root used for food with no salt or taste. It names something distasteful, unfit and offensive. It does not mean silly foolishness. This is the first half of a deliberate step up: v.14 calls Jerusalem's prophets something far stronger, 'a horror'.

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