Tevach

טבה


Genesis 22:24 mames him as a son of Nachor.

The word was a wrightname - like Tailor, Smith and Baker in English, they designate a trade - this one being the ancient equivalent of the Shochet, the man who slayed the animals on the altar of sacrifice; and also the chief executioner who slayed men on the block. It was a job, not a person, and it appears most significantly in the Yoseph story (Genesis 37:36; 39:1 et al), where Sar Ha Tabach (סר הטבח) is translated as "baker" when it should really be translated as the "royal executioner", though whether he executed orders or people, or indeed both, may be a matter of context.

See also 2 Kings 25:8, Jeremiah 39:9 and 41:10, all three of which speak of Nevu-Zaradan
Nebuchadnezzar's Rav Tavachim (נְבוּזַרְאֲדָן רַב טַבָּחִים), who first comes to warn the Beney Yisra-El, then to take them into captivity; not a task normally delegated by Emperors to their chief baker.



Copyright © 2019 David Prashker
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