Tachash
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Tachash or Tahash (in Hebrew תחש) is a type of leather that was used in the Tabernacle. There are different opinions about the meaning and identity of 'tachash', from ancient times to the present day. Some said it is the name of the animal from whose skin the leather was made, and many opinions exist about which animal it was. Some said it is a type of leather processing or dye for the skin of any animal.
The Tachash in pre-modern literature[edit]
The Bible says that the tabernacle and some of its vessels were covered by tachash skins. According to Ezekiel the Children of Israel made shoes of tachash skin while journeying in the wilderness. Nothing else is mentioned in the Bible about the meaning of the tachash, or any of its characteristics.[1]
The Septuagint and Vulgate translations translated 'tachash' as 'hyacinth-colored'[2]. Onkelos translated it as 'colorful' or 'brilliant'.[2][3]
In the Talmudic literature there are several opinions. Some thought it to be skin dyed altinon (Greek ἁληδινον) seemingly purple. Some maintained that the tachash was a legendary creature that existed in the time of Moses and was afterward hidden. Others gave additional signs: that it was a clean animal, that it had multicolored skin, and that it was identical with the keresh, the legendary unicorn.[1] The suggested name keresh corresponds to the Greek word κέρας (keras=horn) in the name μονόκερως (monokerōs) that Greek sources gave to the mythical unicorn around that time.[4]
Rashi and Ibn Ezra think tachash is the name of an animal, but make no attempt at identification.[2]
In Martin Luther's translation, and following that in the King James translation, the word tachash was translated as a badger. Luther's translation was based on the phonetic similarity between 'tachash' and 'dachs' (badger in German). This is now considered a flawed translation as there is no real linguistic connection between Hebrew and German.[5][1][6]
Identifying the Tachash in modern research[edit]
There are several opinions in modern research today about the identity of the tachash. The most common is that it is the marine mammal Dugong dugon, that lives in the Red Sea surrounding Sinai desert, which means it was familiar to the people living there. The name of this animal in Arabic is tukhesh, and the Bedouins living in Sinai still use the skins of the dugong to create shoes[7], which corresponds to the verse from Ezekiel 16:10.
Another common opinion is that the word tachash comes from the Akkadian word dušû[8], which is similar in pronunciation to tachash, and it represents a technique of sewing blue beads from faience onto leather for the purpose of producing different colored effects.[9][6] Alternatively in ancient Egyptian, the root 'ths' seems to mean a kind of 'stretched leather'.[10][1]
The zoologist Israel Aharoni believed, on the other hand, that the tachash was the narwhal, a type of whale, with a long tusk (up to three meters). Its main skin color is yellowish but his skin is mottled with multiple dark spots. Aharoni speculated that it is possible that a herd of these creatures came across the Sinai desert area through the Strait of Gibraltar and was thrown onto land and from there the Israelites collected it. Aharoni noted that these features correspond to what some the opinions in the Talmud said about an animal with one horn, spotted, and which appeared only for the moment and then disappeared, because the natural location of this animal is in the arctic regions, and only rarely do some of it appear in more southern regions (there is evidence of this animal rarely reaching Britain and Spain).[1][11][12] Others suggested other types of marine mammals, such as seals or dolphins.[13]
Others hypothesized that it was the giraffe, because of its colorful skin, and the horned protrusion on the middle of its forehead which corresponds to the Talmudic statement that "he had one horn on his forehead".[1][14][15] Others speculated it was the giraffe's relative the okapi.[16]
The word Tachash is modern Hebrew[edit]
In modern Hebrew the word Tachash has several meanings. At first it meant badger (following Luther's Bible translation).[17] This meaning is now obsolete. The current meanings are the dachshund dog (as it was bred to hunt badgers) and the dugong.[18]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Felix, Judah (2007). "Taḥash". Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd ed. (Farmington Hills and Detroit,), XIX, 435. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Jastrow, Morris (1906). "TAḤASH". The Jewish Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
- ↑ Julius Eisenstein (ed.) (1913), Tachash, Otzar-Israel Encyclopedia (in Hebrew), vol 10 p. 250
- ↑ Slifkin, Nosson (2007). Sacred Monsters: Mysterious and Mythical Creatures of Scripture, Talmud and Midrash. Zoo Torah. pp. 69–74. ISBN 978-1-933143-18-7. Search this book on
- ↑ P. Cooper (2000), Of Badger Skins and Dugong Hides: A Translator’s Guide to Tabernacle Covers, Bible Review, 16.6, p. 30
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Benjamin J. Noonan (2012), Hide or Hue? Defining Hebrew Ta'ashash , Biblica 93.4, 580-589
- ↑ Nasr, Dirar (2019), "Status of Red Sea Dugongs", Oceanographic and Biological Aspects of the Red Sea, Springer Oceanography, pp. 327–354, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-99417-8_18, ISBN 978-3-319-99417-8, retrieved 2024-02-25
- ↑ S. Ahituv & H. Tadmor (1982). Biblical Encyclopedia (in Hebrew) vol. VIII. pp. 520–521. Search this book on
- ↑ Stephanie Dalley (2000), Hebrew Tahas, Akkadian Duhsu, Faience and Beadwork, Journal of Semitic Studies 45/1:1-19
- ↑ Mastnjak, Nathan. (2017). Hebrew tahas and the West Semitic Tent Tradition. Vetus Testamentum. 67. pp 204-212.
- ↑ Aharoni, I. (1938). "On Some Animals Mentioned in the Bible". Osiris. 5: 461–478. doi:10.1086/368494. ISSN 0369-7827. JSTOR 301571. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ Aharoni, I. (1937). "תחש and אילה (in Hebrew)". Tarbiz. 8 (3): 319–339. ISSN 0334-3650. JSTOR 23583729.
- ↑ "Badger". Encyclopedia of The Bible. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
- ↑ Castro, Maya (2013). "The Rise and Fall of the Hebrew Term גמל נמרי (in Hebrew)". Lĕšonénu: A Journal for the Study of the Hebrew Language and Cognate Subjects. 75 (4): 463–478. ISSN 0334-3626. JSTOR 24328422.
- ↑ Peremen, Jacob (1941). "תחש (in Hebrew)". Tarbiz. 12 (3): 218–229. ISSN 0334-3650. JSTOR 23583794.
- ↑ S.M. Perlmann (1908), Is the Okapi Idenitical with the Thahash of the Jews?, The Zoologist, vol 12 , p. 256
- ↑ Eilon, Gilad (2013). "What is the tachash - a unicorn, a dachshund or a manatee? (in Hebrew)". Haaretz (in עברית). Retrieved 2024-02-25.
- ↑ Tachash, Avnion Dictionary Online (in Hebrew)
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