StrongerBible

takhan

תָּכַן

HebrewH8505weigh, measure, ...

Appears 18 times · tap a cell to see the verses

1Sa 2:32Ki 12:11(12)Job 28:25Psa 75:3(4)Pro 16:2Pro 21:2Pro 24:12Isa 40:12Isa 40:13Ezk 18:25 (3×)Ezk 18:29 (3×)Ezk 33:17 (2×)Ezk 33:20
Root family
Word studytaw-KHANverb

What takhan means

to weigh or measure something against a fixed standard: to mete out a quantity, gauge a person's true worth, or come out right when tested

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintyStrong

The picture behind the word is a set of scales or a measuring cup. At its plainest it means to hand out an exact amount: in Isaiah's hymn of creation God "metes out" the waters, marks off the heavens, and fixes the weight of the wind. Isaiah sets it beside מדד, the verb for measuring length with a line, so that together they sweep across every kind of measuring.

From weighing quantities the word moves to weighing people. Proverbs pictures the LORD lifting human hearts and motives onto the scales, gauging what a person is truly worth beneath what they claim. To be "weighed" by God is to have one's real character assessed against a standard that nothing can fool.

The same image turns sharp in Ezekiel. The people protest that the way of the Lord is not balanced, which older translations give as "not equal" and newer ones as "not fair." Their charge is that God's dealings do not come out even. God throws it back: it is their own conduct, not his, that fails to weigh true.

So one verb reaches from apportioning a measured amount, to weighing a heart, to a life "coming out right," held together by the idea of a fixed standard that something is measured against.

Nuances

1ato measure out or mete out: to apportion a quantity by exact measure, or set something in its right proportion
2Ki 12:11(12)Job 28:25Psa 75:3(4)Isa 40:12
1bto weigh or gauge: to assess the true worth of a person, heart, or deed against a standard
1Sa 2:3Pro 16:2Pro 21:2Pro 24:12Isa 40:13
1cto be balanced or fair: to come out right and equitable when measured, said of conduct or a way
TranslatabilityPartial
Ezk 18:25 (3×)Ezk 18:29 (3×)Ezk 33:17 (2×)Ezk 33:20

What scholars say about takhan

The standard lexica treat תכן as a single root meaning to regulate, measure, or weigh. BDB distinguishes qal "estimate, examine, prove," niphal "be estimated, be adjusted, made even or right," piel "weigh out, mete out," and pual "be weighed, measured," and HALOT and DCH give the same range. The metaphorical extension to God's weighing of hearts and motives in Proverbs and to conduct that is or is not balanced in Ezekiel is well recognized. The Ezekiel idiom לֹא יִתָּכֵן דֶּרֶךְ אֲדֹנָי is generally understood as the people's charge that God's way is inequitable, which the oracle rebuts by turning the measure back on them; the ancient versions render it with terms for what is right or straight. In Isaiah 40:13 the verb describes gauging the mind of the LORD, a line taken up in the Greek of Romans 11:34 and 1 Corinthians 2:16 with a verb of knowing rather than of measuring.

Sources

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

All attested forms of תָּכַן

niphal imperfect 3ms

יִתָּכֵן

Ezk 18:25, Ezk 18:25, Ezk 18:29, Ezk 18:29, Ezk 33:17, Ezk 33:17, Ezk 33:20

piel perfect 3ms

תִּכֵּן

Job 28:25, Isa 40:12, Isa 40:13

qal participle m s absolute

תֹכֵן

Pro 16:2, Pro 21:2, Pro 24:12

niphal imperfect 3mp

יִתָּכְנּוּ, יִתָּכֵנוּ

Ezk 18:29, Ezk 18:25

niphal perfect 3cp

נִתְכְּנוּ

1Sa 2:3

piel perfect 1cs

תִכַּנְתִּי

Psa 75:3

pual passive-participle m s absolute

מְתֻכָּן

2Ki 12:11