טֶ֫בַח
te.vach
slaughter
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# H2874 (tebach): Slaughter The Hebrew word *tebach* refers to slaughter—the killing of animals, typically for food or sacrifice. Based on its twelve biblical occurrences, this term represents a concrete, practical activity rather than an abstract concept. The word describes the actual process of animal killing in both domestic and religious contexts, reflecting an important aspect of ancient Israelite life where animal processing was essential for sustenance and worship. The relatively limited frequency of *tebach* in the biblical text suggests it was a specific, recognizable term with a defined meaning rather than a general word for killing. Its presence across twelve separate biblical passages indicates the concept was significant enough to warrant consistent terminology. The word reflects the reality of ancient Mediterranean life, where slaughter of livestock was both an ordinary necessity and a religiously regulated practice, particularly within temple and sacrificial systems. Understanding *tebach* helps modern readers recognize that biblical texts engaged directly with practical, material realities of animal husbandry and food production. Rather than avoiding or euphemizing such activities, the biblical writers used specific vocabulary to denote them, indicating a straightforward approach to describing the economic and religious necessities of their world.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
12 total occurrences across the text
He followed her immediately, as an ox goes to the slaughter, as a fool stepping into a noose.
Proverbs 9:2She has prepared her meat. She has mixed her wine. She has also set her table.
Isaiah 34:2For Yahweh is enraged against all the nations, and angry with all their armies. He has utterly destroyed them. He has given them over for slaughter.
Isaiah 34:6Yahweh’s sword is filled with blood. It is covered with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams; for Yahweh has a sacrifice in Bozrah, And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.
Isaiah 53:7He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he didn’t open his mouth.
Isaiah 65:12I will destine you to the sword, and you will all bow down to the slaughter; because when I called, you didn’t answer. When I spoke, you didn’t listen; but you did that which was evil in my eyes, and chose that in which I didn’t delight.”
Jeremiah 48:15Moab is laid waste, and they have gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,” says the King, whose name is Yahweh of Armies.
Jeremiah 50:27Kill all her bulls. Let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them! For their day has come, the time of their visitation.
Ezekiel 21:10It is sharpened that it may make a slaughter. It is polished that it may be as lightning. Should we then make mirth? The rod of my son condemns every tree.
Ezekiel 21:15I have set the threatening sword against all their gates, that their heart may melt, and their stumblings be multiplied. Ah! It is made as lightning. It is pointed for slaughter.
Ezekiel 21:28“You, son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says this concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach: “A sword! A sword is drawn! It is polished for the slaughter, to cause it to devour, that it may be as lightning;
Genesis 43:16When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and butcher an animal, and prepare; for the men will dine with me at noon.”