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  • From: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • To: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] The meaning of TAM in Gen. 25:27
  • Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:22:33 +0300

The word Tam is derived from the root TMM, and as a verb means "finished", "completed", "empty". It appears dozens of times in the Bible. Just a few are: Gen. 47:18, Josh 4:11, Lam. 4:22. As a noun or an adjective, also vocalized "Tom" it means "complete", "fulfilled" and also "wholeness", "integrity": such as in Ps. 25:21. A fuller form of the same word is "Tamim" - "whole", "complete", "perfect", both in the physical sense (such as many times in Lev. 3-5, in which the animals used for offerings must be "Tamim") and spiritually or metaphorically, such as Noah's being a "righteous Tamim" in Gen. 6:9, Abraham being told to "walk before [God] and be Tamim" in Gen. 17:1, or even God being Tamim in Deut. 32:4.

So Jacob, when compared to the rough outdoorsman Esau, was either "simple", "honest", "righteous" or "complete". Each of these words could have several different meanings in English as well. So what it comes down to, is looking at the wider context and trying to understand what the author meant when contrasting Jacob to Esau. Obviously, different commentators and translators will use different terms, because the picture Jacob differently.


Yigal Levin

----- Original Message ----- From: "Calvin Lindstrom" <pclindstrom AT yahoo.com>
To: "B Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 6:18 PM
Subject: [b-hebrew] The meaning of TAM in Gen. 25:27


For a number of years I have wondered about the translation of TAM
describing Jacob in Gen. 25:27. In contrast to Esau, a hunter and man
of the field, Jacob is described as being ISH TAM dwelling in tents.

Is there justification for translating TAM as:
ESV: quiet
NET: even-tempered
NKJV: mild
Tyndale: simple
new JPS: mild

It seems that the translations define the word in an attempt to make
a contrast with Esau make more sense than to translate the word based
on how it is used in the rest of the Tanakh. James Jordan comments
that translating the word TAM as it normally is used puts the story
of Jacob and Esau into a different perspective than how the story is
often told.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Calvin Lindstrom
Church of Christian Liberty
Arlington Heights, IL
www.christianliberty.com




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