StrongerBible

taman

טָמַן

HebrewH2934hide, bury, ...

Appears 31 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 35:4Exo 2:12Deu 33:19Jos 2:6Jos 7:21Jos 7:222Ki 7:8 (2×)Job 3:16Job 18:10Job 20:26Job 31:33Job 40:13 (2×)Psa 9:15(16)Psa 31:4(5)Psa 35:7Psa 35:8Psa 64:5(6)Psa 140:5(6)Psa 142:3(4)Pro 19:24Pro 26:15Isa 2:10Jer 13:4Jer 13:5Jer 13:6Jer 13:7Jer 18:22Jer 43:9Jer 43:10
Root family
Word studytah-MAHNverb

What taman means

to hide something by covering it over, usually by burying it in the ground

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This verb pictures a very concrete action: you put a thing where it cannot be seen by covering it up, most often by burying it in the earth, the sand, or a wall. Moses hides the body of the Egyptian in the sand; Jacob buries the household idols under a tree; Achan buries the stolen goods in the floor of his tent. The word is not the general idea of getting out of view. It is the specific act of tucking something away so it stays out of reach.

That same picture powers its most frequent use in the Psalms, where enemies hide a net, a snare, or a pit. The point is ambush: the trap is set out of sight so the victim walks into it without warning. When you read that someone has hidden a snare, the danger is not that the trap is merely stored somewhere but that it lies concealed in the path.

From there the word stretches a little further. A person can be hidden away (Rahab hides the spies under stalks of flax), a person can hide himself in the dust to escape terror, and a guilty person can bury his sin in his own heart so no one sees it. In every case the core stays the same: something is covered over and kept from sight.

The book of Proverbs even turns it into a joke. The lazy man buries his hand in the dish and is too worn out to lift it back to his mouth. The humor works because the ordinary meaning of the word is so physical: he has plunged his hand in and left it there, as good as buried.

Nuances

1ato bury or cover an object or body out of sight, in the ground, sand, a wall, or a hiding place
Gen 35:4Exo 2:12Deu 33:19Jos 7:21Jos 7:222Ki 7:8 (2×)Jer 13:4Jer 13:5Jer 13:6Jer 13:7Jer 43:9Jer 43:10
1bto set a hidden trap: to place a net, snare, cords, or pit out of sight to catch a victim
Job 18:10Psa 9:15(16)Psa 31:4(5)Psa 35:7Psa 35:8Psa 64:5(6)Psa 140:5(6)Psa 142:3(4)Jer 18:22
1cto conceal a person, oneself, or a thing (including wrongdoing) so it cannot be found
Jos 2:6Job 3:16Job 20:26Job 31:33Isa 2:10
1din a proverb, to bury the hand in the dish: the picture of the sluggard too lazy to lift it back out
Pro 19:24Pro 26:15

What scholars say about taman

The lexica are agreed on the meaning: qal "to hide, conceal, bury," with a well-attested transferred use of concealing a net or snare for prey, plus a niphal "to hide oneself" and a rare hiphil causative. HALOT and BDB treat it as a single semantic field centered on covering something out of sight, distinguishing it from סתר (general concealment) and צפן (storing up in reserve). TWOT notes the recurring poetic image in the Psalter of the wicked hiding a net or pit, and the proverbial idiom of the sluggard who buries his hand in the dish (Prov 19:24; 26:15).

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. טמןlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. טמןlexicon
  • TWOT, §811 טָמַןtheological-dictionary

All attested forms of טָמַן

qal perfect 3cp

טָמְנוּ, טָמָנוּ

Psa 31:4, Psa 35:7, Psa 140:5, Psa 142:3, Jer 18:22, Psa 9:15

qal passive-participle m s absolute

טָמוּן, טָּמוּן

Job 3:16, Job 18:10, Job 20:26, Job 40:13

qal infinitive-construct construct

טְמוֹן, טָמְנ

Job 31:33, Psa 64:5, Jer 13:6

qal perfect 3ms

טָמַן

Psa 35:8, Pro 19:24, Pro 26:15

hiphil consecutive-imperfect 3mp

וַיַּטְמִנוּ

2Ki 7:8, 2Ki 7:8

qal consecutive-imperfect 3ms

וַיִּטְמְנֵ, וַיִּטְמֹן

Exo 2:12, Gen 35:4

qal imperative 2ms

טָמְנֵ

Job 40:13, Jer 13:4

qal perfect 1cs

טְמַנְתִּי, טָמָנְתִּי

Jer 13:7, Jer 43:10

niphal imperative 2ms

הִטָּמֵן

Isa 2:10

qal consecutive-imperfect 1cs

וָאֶטְמְנֵ

Jer 13:5

qal consecutive-imperfect 3fs

וַתִּטְמְנֵ

Jos 2:6

qal consecutive-perfect 2ms

וּטְמַנְתָּ

Jer 43:9

qal passive-participle f s absolute

טְמוּנָה

Jos 7:22

qal passive-participle m p absolute

טְמוּנִים

Jos 7:21

qal passive-participle m p construct

טְמוּנֵי

Deu 33:19