תַּרְתָּן

From the study of 2 Kings 18:17

Range of meaning

A loanword from Assyrian turtānu (also tartānu): the highest military officer of the empire, its commander-in-chief, second only to the king. Under Sargon II there were two turtānus, 'of the right' and 'of the left'. In Hebrew it is used only as a title.

Against the English

KJV and WEB print 'Tartan' with no article, as if it were the man's name. YLT and BSB/ESV ('the Tartan') do better. NIV translates the meaning ('supreme commander'), which gives the sense but loses the foreign sound the Hebrew keeps.

How it drifted

Older translators did not know Assyrian, which was only deciphered in the 1850s, so they read these unfamiliar words as personal names.

Used elsewhere in the period

Assyrian administrative texts and the eponym lists (lists naming each year after an official) often record the turtānu as the official the year was named after. Isaiah 20:1 has a Tartan sent by Sargon against Ashdod in 711 BC. That is the same title, but probably not the same man.

From the study of Isaiah 20:1

Range of meaning

A borrowed Assyrian title, Akkadian turtānu (also written tartānu): the commander-in-chief of the army and the highest-ranking official after the king. Some turtānus also governed large provinces, and in Sargon's reign there seem to have been two of them (a 'turtānu of the right' and one 'of the left'). In Hebrew it never works as a personal name.

Against the English

The KJV, WEB, YLT and Vulgate all spell it out as 'Tartan,' as if it were the man's name. The BSB ('chief commander') and most modern versions translate it as a title, which is correct.

How it drifted

Older translators had no access to Assyrian sources, so an unfamiliar foreign word looked like a proper name. When Assyrian cuneiform was deciphered in the 19th century, turtānu turned out to be a title. The same happened with 'Rabsaris' and 'Rabshakeh' in 2 Kings 18:17, which are also Assyrian offices ('chief eunuch/official' and 'chief cupbearer').

Used elsewhere in the period

The title appears very often in Neo-Assyrian royal inscriptions, administrative letters and the eponym lists (the Assyrian system of naming each year after an official). The turtānu was usually the first official after the king to give his name to a year. In the Bible the word occurs only here and in 2 Kings 18:17, where Sennacherib's tartan comes to Jerusalem.