StrongerBible

tur

טוּר

HebrewH2905row, course, ...

Appears 26 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Exo 28:17 (3×)Exo 28:18Exo 28:19Exo 28:20Exo 39:10 (3×)Exo 39:11Exo 39:12Exo 39:131Ki 6:36 (2×)1Ki 7:21Ki 7:31Ki 7:41Ki 7:12 (2×)1Ki 7:181Ki 7:201Ki 7:241Ki 7:422Ch 4:32Ch 4:13Ezk 46:23
Root family
Word studyTOORnoun

What tur means

a row: a line of matching things set side by side in a fixed, repeating order

TranslatabilityDirectCertaintySettled

This word names any orderly line of like items arranged one beside the next. It is a plain, concrete term, and English "row" fits it closely in every place it appears. What ties its uses together is the idea of deliberate, repeated arrangement: not a random cluster but a set line, counted and even.

In practice it shows up in two settings. It names the four rows of engraved gems set into the high priest's breastpiece, and it names rows in building and decoration: courses of cut stone, ranks of pillars, tiers of window frames, and bands of carved pomegranates, gourds, or oxen running around the temple furnishings. In both cases the point is the same, that the maker laid things out in orderly lines.

Because the word is so ordinary, English versions freely swap among "row," "rank," and "course" depending on what is being lined up, but the Hebrew behind them is one and the same word.

Nuances

1aa row of set gemstones: one of the four lines of engraved stones on the high priest's breastpiece
Exo 28:17 (3×)Exo 28:18Exo 28:19Exo 28:20Exo 39:10 (3×)Exo 39:11Exo 39:12Exo 39:13
1ba row or course in building and ornament: a layer of cut stone, a rank of pillars, a tier of windows, or a band of carved decoration
1Ki 6:36 (2×)1Ki 7:21Ki 7:31Ki 7:41Ki 7:12 (2×)1Ki 7:181Ki 7:201Ki 7:241Ki 7:422Ch 4:32Ch 4:13Ezk 46:23

What scholars say about tur

The standard lexica (BDB, HALOT, DCH) give a single sense for this noun, a row or course, most likely from a root meaning to set or arrange in a line. Its distribution is narrow and technical: the four gem rows of the priestly breastpiece in Exodus, and the stone courses, pillar ranks, window tiers, and ornamental bands of Solomon's building projects in Kings and Chronicles, with one late use for a masonry course in Ezekiel's temple vision. It is to be kept distinct from the homographic Aramaic noun meaning mountain (Daniel 2), and from the near-synonyms of the root arrange, which supply the terms for the showbread rows and for a battle rank.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. טוּרlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. טוּרlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. טוּרlexicon

All attested forms of טוּר

m p absolute

טוּרִים, טֻרִים

Exo 28:17, 1Ki 7:4, 1Ki 7:12, 1Ki 7:18, 1Ki 7:24, 1Ki 7:42, 2Ch 4:3, 2Ch 4:13

m s absolute

וְהַטּוּר, הַטּוּר

Exo 28:18, Exo 28:19, Exo 28:20, Exo 39:11, Exo 39:12, Exo 39:13, Exo 28:17, Exo 39:10

m s construct

וְטוּר, טוּר

1Ki 6:36, 1Ki 7:12, Ezk 46:23, Exo 28:17, Exo 39:10

m p construct

טוּרֵי

Exo 39:10, 1Ki 6:36, 1Ki 7:2