Hebrew word · H8622

תְּקוּפָה

tekufat

circuit

A turning or circuit; the completion of a cycle of time. Used of the 'turn of the year' (Exod 34:22, the Feast of Ingathering at the year's turn; 2 Chr 24:23) and of the sun's circuit (Ps 19:6 [19:7 Heb.]).

Appears 4 times in 4 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) coming round, circuit of time or space, a turning, circuit

1a) at the circuit (as adverb)

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 1 Samuel 1:20

Range of meaning

A turning or circuit; the completion of a cycle of time. Used of the 'turn of the year' (Exod 34:22, the Feast of Ingathering at the year's turn; 2 Chr 24:23) and of the sun's circuit (Ps 19:6 [19:7 Heb.]).

Against the English

BSB/NIV 'in the course of time' and ESV 'in due time' read like an indefinite 'eventually'. YLT 'at the revolution of the days' keeps the picture of a cycle coming round. KJV restructures the clause so the period runs from conception to birth.

How it drifted

The English idiom 'in the course of time' suggests a long, vague interval. The Hebrew points to a cycle completed.

Used elsewhere in the period

Exod 34:22 tequfat hashanah, 'the turn of the year'; Ps 19:6, the sun's circuit. In later Hebrew, tequfah became a technical term for the seasonal turning points (solstices and equinoxes).

From the study of Exodus 34:22

Range of meaning

'Circuit' or 'turning', from nqp, 'to go around'. Psalm 19:6 (Hebrew v. 7) uses it for the sun's circuit. 1 Samuel 1:20 has 'at the turnings of the days', meaning when the time came round. 2 Chronicles 24:23 has 'at the turn of the year'. In later rabbinic Hebrew tequfah means an equinox or solstice.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and some modern versions have 'year's end', which suggests the end of the calendar year. 'Turn of the year' (BSB, NASB, NIV) or YLT's 'revolution of the year' is closer. The image is a cycle coming round, not a line reaching its end.

How it drifted

To a modern reader 'year's end' means December. The text means the autumn turning, around September/October, when one farming year closed and the next began.

Used elsewhere in the period

The parallel Exodus 23:16 has betset hashanah, 'at the going out of the year'. The Gezer Calendar starts the year with ingathering. The Septuagint here has 'in the middle of the year', which reflects a calendar starting in spring (compare Exodus 12:2).

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 34:22 תְּקוּפַ֖ת [the] circuit of

    And you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.

    Here: From a root meaning 'go around'. It is the point where the year comes round, the turn of the seasons in early autumn. It does not mean the end of a calendar year in our sense.

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 1:20 לִתְקֻפ֣וֹת to [the] circuit of

    So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”

    Here: 'At the turnings of'. The word pictures time coming round in a circle, a cycle reaching its end. Here it points to a defined period coming round, not a vague 'eventually'.

2 Chronicles · 1

  1. 2 Chronicles 24:23 לִתְקוּפַ֣ת to [the] circuit of

    In the spring, the army of Aram went to war against Joash. They entered Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the leaders of the people, and they sent all the plunder to their king in Damascus.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 19:6 וּתְקוּפָת֥וֹ and circuit its

    it rises at one end of the heavens and runs its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.

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