Badger
And the covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of
badgers' skins, and the vail of the covering,
Read More
And he made a covering for the tent [of] rams' skins dyed red,
and a covering [of] badgers' skins above [that].
Read More
baj'er: tachash: The word tachash occurs in the descriptions
of the tabernacle in Ex 25; 26; 35; 36 and 39, in the
directions for moving the tabernacle as given in Nu 4, and
in only one other passage, Ezek 16:10, where Jerusalem is
spoken of as a maiden clothed and adorned by her Lord. In
nearly all these passages the word tachash occurs with `or,
"skin," rendered: the King James Version "badgers' skins,"
the Revised Version (British and American) "sealskin," the
Revised Version, margin "porpoise-skin," Septuagint dermata
huakinthina. In all the passages cited in Ex and Nu these
skins are mentioned as being used for coverings of the
tabernacle; in Ezek 16:10, for shoes or sandals. The
Septuagint rendering would mean purple or blue skins, which
however is not favored by Talmudic writers or by modern
grammarians, who incline to believe that tachash is the name
of an animal. The rendering, "badger," is favored by the
Talmudic writers and by the possible etymological connection
of the word with the Latin taxus and the German Dachs. The
main objection seems to be that badgers' skins would
probably not have been easily available to the Israelites.
The badger, Meles taxus, while fairly abundant in Lebanon
and Anti-Lebanon, does not seem to occur in Sinai or Egypt.
A seal, Monachus albiventer (Arabic fukmeh), the porpoise,
Phocoena comrnunis, and the common dolphin, Delphinus
delphis, are all found in the Mediterranean. The dugong,
Halicore dugong, inhabits the Indian Ocean and adjoining
waters from the Red Sea to Australia. The Arabic tukhas or
dukhas is near to tachash and is applied to the dolphin,
which is also called delfin. It may be used also for the
porpoise or even the seal, and is said by Tristram and
others to be applied to the dugong. The statement of
Gesenius (Boston, 1850, under the word "tachash") that the
Arabs of Sinai wear sandals of dugong skin is confirmed by
recent travelers, and is of interest with reference to Ezek
16:10, ".... shod thee with badgers' skin" (King James
Version). The dugong is a marine animal from 5 to 9 ft. in
length, frequenting the shore and feeding upon seaweed. It
belongs to the order Sirenia. While outwardly resembling
Cetacea (whales and porpoises), the Sirenia are really more
allied to the Ungulata, or hoofed animals. The dugong of the
Indian Ocean and the manatee of the Atlantic and of certain
rivers of Africa and South America, are the only living
representatives of the Sirenia. A third species, the sea-cow
of Behring Sea, became extinct in the 18th century. The seal
and porpoise of the Revised Version (British and American),
the dolphin, and the dugong are all of about the same size
and all inhabit the seas bordering on Egypt and Sinai, so
that all are possible candidates for identification with the
tachash. Of the four, recent opinion seems most to favor the
dugong.
Mr. S. M. Perlmann has suggested (Zoologist, set. 4, XII,
256, 1908) that the okapi is the animal indicated by
tachash.
Gesenius (Leipzig, 1905) cites Bondi (Aegyptiaca, i. ff) who
adduces the Egyptian root t-ch-s and makes the expression
`or tachash mean "soft-dressed skin." This suits the context
in every passage and is very promising explanation.
Alfred Ely-Day
Read More
-(R. V., SEAL or PORPOISE.)
-Skins of, used for covering of the tabernacle
Ex 25:5; 26:14; 35:7,23; 36:19; 39:34; Nu
4:6,8,10,11,12,14,25
-For shoes
Eze 16:10
-(R. V., SEALSKIN.)
Read More
There is much obscurity as to the meaning of the word tachash,
rendered "badger" in the Authorized Version, Ex 25:5; 35:7
etc. The ancient versions seem nearly all agreed that it
denotes not an animal but a color, either black or sky-blue.
The badger is not found in the Bible lands. The Arab duchash
or tufchash denotes a dolphin, including seals and cetaceans.
The skins referred to are probably those of these marine
animals, some of which are found in the Red Sea. The skin of
the Halicore, one of these, from its hardness would be well
suited for making soles for shoes. Eze 16:10
Read More
this word is found in Ex. 25:5; 26:14; 35:7, 23; 36:19;
39:34;
Num. 4:6, etc. The tabernacle was covered with
badgers' skins;
the shoes of women were also made of them (Ezek.
16:10). Our
translators seem to have been misled by the
similarity in sound
of the Hebrew _tachash_ and the Latin _taxus_, "a
badger." The
revisers have correctly substituted "seal skins."
The Arabs of
the Sinaitic peninsula apply the name _tucash_ to
the seals and
dugongs which are common in the Red Sea, and the
skins of which
are largely used as leather and for sandals. Though
the badger
is common in Israel, and might occur in the
wilderness, its
small hide would have been useless as a tent
covering. The
dugong, very plentiful in the shallow waters on the
shores of
the Red Sea, is a marine animal from 12 to 30 feet
long,
something between a whale and a seal, never leaving
the water,
but very easily caught. It grazes on seaweed, and is
known by
naturalists as Halicore tabernaculi.
Read More
(Exodus 26:14). Badger skins were the outer covering of the
tabernacle, in the wilderness; and of the ark, the table,
the candlestick, the golden altar, and altar of burnt
offering (Numbers 4:6-14). In Ezekiel 16:10 Jehovah alludes
to this, under the image of the shoes made of badger skins
for delicate and beautiful women; "I shod thee with badger
skin." This was the material of the shoes worn by Hebrew on
festival days. Weighty authorities render Hebrew tachash a
"seal," not a "badger"; seals were numerous on the shores of
the Sinaitic peninsula.
Others say it is the halicore, a Red Sea fish, which
still is used by the Arabs to make soles for shoes and like
purposes; called dahash, like tachash. Others think it is
the stag goat, of the antelope kind, called thacasse,
related perhaps to tachash, to be seen on Egyptian
monuments. A great objection to the badger is, it is not
found in Bible lands, Syria, Arabia, or Egypt, and certainly
not in sufficient quantities for the Israelites' purpose.
The objection to the halicore is Leviticus 11:10; "all that
have not fins and scales in the seas." But that prohibition
refers only to using them as food; moreover, the tachash
probably includes marine animals in general, their skins
made into "leather" were well fitted to protect against the
weather. Josephus makes the color sky blue (Ant. 3:6,
section 4).
Read More
And they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the
tabernacle of the congregation, his covering, and the covering
of the badgers' skins that [is] above upon it, and the hanging
for the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,
Read More
No mention of the badger (Meles (genus)|meles]] taxus) is found in the D.V., whereas the A.V. regularly gives it as the English equivalent for táhásh. The skin of the táhásh is repeatedly spoken of as used for the outer cover of the tabernacle and the several pieces of its furniture. The old translations, and the D.V. after them, understood the word táhásh to mean a color (violet; Exodus 25:5; 26:14; 35:7, 23; 36:19; Numbers 4:10, 25; Ezekiel 16:10); but this is a misrepresentation; so also is the rendering of the A.V.; for though the badger is common in Israel, yet the Hebrew name most probably indicates the dugong (halicore hemprichii or halicore tabernaculi), a very large species of the seal family living in the Red Sea, the skin of which is used to the present day for such purposes as those alluded to in the Bible.
Read More
