קוד: טפח - שני מובנים שונים בתנ"ך
סוג: פרטים1
מאת: אבנר רמו
אל:
In the Book of Kings we read about the house that Solomon built for Pharaoh's daughter:
כל-אלה אבנים יקרת, כמדות גזית, מגררות במגרה, מבית ומחוץ; וממסד עד-הטפחות, ומחוץ עד-החצר הגדולה.
ומיסד, אבנים יקרות אבנים גדלות-אבני עשר אמות, ואבני שמנה אמות.
ומלמעלה, אבנים יקרות כמדות גזית-וארז.
“All these were of costly stones, according to the measures of hewn stones, sawed with saws, within and without, even from the foundation to the coping, and so on the outside to the great court.
And the foundation was of costly stones, even great stones, stones of ten cubits, and stones of eight cubits.
And above were costly stones, after the measure of hewn stones, and cedar-wood” (1 Kin 7:9-11).
Now we read in the Book of Isaiah:
אני-הוא אני ראשון, אף אני אחרון.
אף-ידי יסדה ארץ, וימיני טפחה שמים;
“I am the first, I also am the last.
Yea, My hand had laid the foundation of the earth, and My right hand had spread out the heavens” (Is 48:12-13).
It is not clear how the English translator determined that here טפחה means “had spread out” and such an understanding is not supported by the Greek translator. However, the comparison between these verses suggests that טפחה (tipkhah) means “copped.”
It seems that are other words from the root טפח (t,ph,kh) that have a different meaning.
In the Book of Exodus we read about the table:
ועשית לו מסגרת טפח סביב; ועשית זר-זהב למסגרתו סביב.
“And you shall make to it a border of a handbreadth round about, and you shall make a golden crown to the border thereof round about” (Ex 25:25; see also: Ex 37:12).
A similar measure describes the thickness of the Molten Sea (1 Ki 7:26; see also: 2 Ch 4:5). In any case it appears that טפח (tephakh) was considered a small measure.
Now we hear the Psalmist:
הודיעני יהוה קצי-ומדת ימי מה-היא; אדעה מה-חדל אני.
הנה טפחות נתתה ימי- וחלדי כאין נגדך;
“YHWH, make me to know my end, and the measure of my days, what it is; let me know how short-lived I am.
Behold, You have made my days as hand-breadths; and my age is as nothing before You” (Ps 39:5-6).
Compared to God’s immortality, the length of human life is just a few hand-breadths.