StrongerBible

tom

תֹּם

HebrewH8537integrity, uprightness, ...

Appears 23 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 20:5Gen 20:62Sa 15:111Ki 9:41Ki 22:342Ch 18:33Job 4:6Job 21:23Psa 7:8(9)Psa 25:21Psa 26:1Psa 26:11Psa 41:12(13)Psa 78:72Psa 101:2Pro 2:7Pro 10:9Pro 10:29Pro 13:6Pro 19:1Pro 20:7Pro 28:6Isa 47:9
Root family
Word studyTOHMnoun

What tom means

completeness or wholeness: an entire, undivided condition, most often the moral integrity of a person whose character has no hidden fault

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintyStrong

At root this word means being whole or complete, and Hebrew stretches that one idea across a surprising range. Applied to a person, it names integrity: a life that is all of one piece, with no gap between the inside and the outside and no double-dealing. This is by far its most common use, especially in the Psalms and Proverbs, where people are said to walk in their integrity or to have integrity of heart.

That integrity is not a claim to be sinless. It describes an honest, undivided loyalty rather than a flawless record. David is repeatedly credited with it even though the same books record his failures. The picture is of a heart turned fully toward God, without a hidden agenda pulling the other way.

The same wholeness shows up in two narrower ways. In a set phrase, to act in one's integrity means to act in good faith, with no scheming behind it: the men who followed Absalom without knowing his plot went in their innocence, and the soldier who shot the fatal arrow drew his bow without aiming at anyone in particular. In a few places the word keeps its plain sense of full extent or peak condition, as when disaster arrives in full measure or a person dies in the fullness of vigor.

Nuances

1ablameless character: a whole, undivided life lived honestly before God, with nothing hidden or double
Gen 20:5Gen 20:61Ki 9:4Job 4:6Psa 7:8(9)Psa 25:21Psa 26:1Psa 26:11Psa 41:12(13)Psa 78:72Psa 101:2Pro 2:7
1binnocence: acting in good faith, with no scheming or hidden aim behind what one does
2Sa 15:111Ki 22:342Ch 18:33
1cfullness: the complete extent or peak condition of something, its full measure
Job 21:23Isa 47:9

What scholars say about tom

The standard lexica (BDB, HALOT) treat this as a single noun from the root tmm (to be complete, finished), glossing it completeness, integrity. The concrete idea of completeness underlies both the dominant moral sense (integrity, blamelessness, especially in the recurring construct phrases tom-lebab, integrity of heart, and tom-derek, integrity of way, in the Psalms and Proverbs) and two peripheral uses: the adverbial idiom le-tummo, in his innocence or unsuspectingly (2 Samuel 15:11; the archer of 1 Kings 22:34 par. 2 Chronicles 18:33), and the sense of full extent or vigor (Isaiah 47:9; Job 21:23, be-etzem tummo). It stands beside the adjective tamim and the abstract noun tummah within the same root family. TDOT and TWOT note that the integrity in view is wholehearted, undivided devotion rather than sinless perfection, a point reinforced by its application to David. The LXX renders it variously, including with akakia and forms tied to guilelessness and completeness.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. תֹּםlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. תֹּםlexicon
  • TDOT, s.v. תָּמַם (tāmam)theological dictionary
  • TWOT, s.v. תָּמַםtheological dictionary

All attested forms of תֹּם

m s construct

תָּם, תֹם

Gen 20:5, Gen 20:6, 1Ki 9:4, Psa 101:2, Pro 13:6, Job 4:6, Psa 78:72

m s construct

תֻּמּוֹ

1Ki 22:34, 2Ch 18:33, Job 21:23, Pro 19:1, Pro 20:7, Pro 28:6

m s absolute

תֹּם

Psa 25:21, Pro 2:7, Pro 10:9, Pro 10:29

m s construct

תֻמִּי

Psa 7:8, Psa 26:1, Psa 26:11, Psa 41:12

m s construct

תֻמָּם

2Sa 15:11, Isa 47:9