טוה, to spin, twist together: SAHD

‫טוה‬ to spin, twist together Contents: Introduction 1. Root and Comparative Material 2. Formal Characteristics 3. Syntagmatics 4. Ancient Versions 5. Lexical/Semantic Fields 6. Exegesis 6.1 Textual Evidence 6.2 Pictorial Material and Archaeology 7. Conclusions Notes Bibliography/Abbreviations Introduction Grammatical type: verb Occurrences: 2× HB (2/0/0); 0× Sir; 0× Qum; 0×Inscr. (Total: 2) Torah: Exod 35:25, 26. A.1 In mt Exod 35:25a, the plural form ‫טווּ‬, ָ ‘they spun’, has a singular form as its subject (constructio ad sententiam): ‫יה ָטווּ‬ ָ ‫ת־לב ְבּיָ ֶד‬ ֵ ‫ל־א ָשּׁה ַח ְכ ַמ‬ ִ ‫וְ ָכ‬, ‘and every woman wise of heart (sg.) – with her (sg.) hands they spun (pl.)’. In sp, the consonantal text of Exod 35:25a differs from mt: ‫( וכל אשה חכמת לב בידה טוה‬Tal & Florentin 2010: 303). With reference to the sg. forms ‫ יבוא‬in sp 35:10 and ‫ הביא‬in sp 35:22, William Propp (2006: 642, 662) suggested that the adaptation of the verbal form ‫טוו‬ to ‫ טוה‬was due to grammatical adjustment resulting in a more appropriate verbal form (3.f.sg.). However, since the expected feminine form would then be ‫טותה‬, ‘she spun’ (cf. Joüon-Muraoka, GBH, § 79), it is better to interpret ‫ טוה‬in sp as a noun (cf. DCH III, 360 s.v. ‫)טוָּ ה‬, ַ or the ‫ –ה‬as a possessive suffix (3.f.sg.) and –‫ טו‬as representing a shorter noun (Tal & Florentin 2010: 687-88): ‘and every woman wise of heart – in her hand was (her?) spun yarn’. This interpretation is confirmed by the rendering in t smr by ‫( עזלה‬var.: ‫ ;עזל‬STP I, 372-73): ‫באדה עזלה‬, ‘in her hand was (her?) spun yarn’. Similarly, the Sam. tradition interpreted ‫ מטוה‬in Exod 35:25b 2 ‫ טוה‬to spin, twist together as a combination of the preposition ‫ מן‬and the form ‫טוה‬: ‘and they brought – from (her?) spun yarn – bluish purple and reddish purple ....’; see t smr ‫מן עזלה‬, ‘from (her?) spun yarn’. In Exod 35:26, however, t smr interprets ‫( טוו‬sp and mt) as a verbal form and renders it as ‫עזלו‬, ‘they spun’: ‫ עזלו ית עזיה‬... ‫וכל נשיה‬, ‘and all the women … spun the goat hair’. See further Tal, DSA, 630. 1. Root and Comparative Material A.1 Root: The verb ‫ טוה‬has cognates in several Semitic languages, certainly in Akk. (A.3), PBHeb. (A.5) and JAram. (A.6), but probably also in Arab. and Eth. (A.7, A.8) and possibly in BAram. and Syr. (A.4). A.2 Derivatives: The noun ‫מ ְטוֶ ה‬, ַ ‘yarn’, ‘that which has been spun’, in Exod 35:25 is a deriv. of the verb ‫( טוה‬cf. BL, 491 mζ, nζ). For the deviating Sam. interpretation of the form ‫מטוה‬, see Introduction A.1. A.3 Akkadian: The Akk. cognate ṭamû (sometimes ṭawû or ṭemû; also written nu.nu) means ‘to spin, twist, braid, entwine’. See CAD Ṭ, 45-46 (similarly AHw III, 1382), with quotations from several texts referring to spinning with a gišbal = pilakku, ‘spindle’ (→ ‫)פּ ֶלְך‬. ֶ The quoted phrases demonstrate that the verb ṭamû was not only used for spinning threads from raw fibres, but also for twisting together threads that had already been spun (CAD Ṭ, 46; cf. Wisti Lassen 2010: 277): qê eṣpi taṭammīma, ‘you spin a double-stranded thread’; šipāte peṣâte šipāte ṣal[māte] qâ eṣpa ina pilakki iṭme qâ ṣīra qâ rabâ qâ bitru[ma], ‘from white wool and black wool she spun a double-stranded thread with a spindle, a mighty thread, a great thread, a multicolo[ured] thread’. A.4 Biblical Aramaic and Syriac: It has been suggested that the BAram. word ‫ ְטוָ ת‬in Dan 6:19 is a cognate of BHeb. ‫( טוה‬cf. GB, 274 s.v. ‫ ;טוה‬KBL, 350 s.v. ‫טוה‬, 1078-79 s.v. ‫ טוה‬and ‫;טוָ ת‬ ְ HALOT, 372 s.v. ‫ ;טוה‬Ges 18, 421 s.v. ‫)טוה‬. With reference to Syr. ‫( ܝ‬ṭwy), ‘to be hungry’ (cf. Sokoloff, SLB, 516), BAram. ‫ ְטוָ ת‬is interpreted as an adverb meaning ‘fasting’: ‫וּבת ְטוָ ת‬, ָ ‘he (the king) spent the night fasting’. However, it has become quite dubious whether BHeb. ‫ טוה‬and BAram. ‫ְטוָ ת‬ are really cognates (see HALOT, 1883 s.v. *‫)טוה‬. A.5 Postbiblical Hebrew: The verb ‫ טוה‬does not occur in Ben Sira and the non-biblical Dead Sea Scrolls. It does occur in rabbinic Heb., where it denotes the processing of wool (‫;צ ֶמר‬ ֶ t. Kelim Bava Batra 1:6, b. Shabbat 74b) or flax (‫;פּ ְשׁ ָתּן‬ ִ m. Negaʿim 2:4, b. Zevaḥim 79a) with a spindle (→ ‫;פּ ֶלְך‬ ֶ b. Ketubbot 72b). t. Kelim Bava Batra 1:6 includes the expression ‫טווּי ֶש ַעל גַּ ֵבּי ַה ֶפּ ֶלך‬, ָ ‘spun (wool) which is on the spindle’. See further Textual Evidence A.3. A.6 Jewish Aramaic: The verb ‫טוי‬/‫טוה‬, ‘to spin (yarn)’, occurs occasionally in JAram. (Jastrow, DTT, 523; Sokoloff, DJBA, 496; DJPA, 221), where it is appar- ‫ טוה‬to spin, twist together 3 ently a loanword from Hebrew. The more usual JAram. verb with the meaning ‘to spin’ is ‫( עזל‬Jastrow, DTT, 1061; Sokoloff, DJBA, 849-50; DJPA, 401; cf. Syr. ‫; ܠ‬ see Ancient Versions). A.7 Arabic: Many BHeb. dictionaries suggest that Arab. ṭawā, ‘to fold, wind’, is a cognate of BHeb. ‫( טוה‬Gesenius, TPC I, 546-47; BDB, 376; GB, 274; KBL, 530; HALOT, 372; Ges 18, 421). For the Arab. verb, see Lane, 1898-1900 (1900: miṭwān, ‘a thing upon which spun thread is wound’). A.8 Ethiopic: In Eth., the verb ṭawaya means ‘to be twisted’ (CDG, 600). Many BHeb. dictionaries regard it as a cognate of Heb. ‫( טוה‬BDB, 376; GB, 274; KBL, 530; HALOT, 372; Ges 18, 421). 2. Formal Characteristics A.1 ‫ טוה‬is a ‫ ל״ה‬verb (cf. Joüon-Muraoka, GBH, § 79). The ‫ –ה‬is a mater lectionis, but the –‫ –ו‬is retained in the pronunciation; cf. the pass. part. ‫טווּי‬, ָ ‘spun’, in Postbiblical Hebrew. The noun ‫( ַמ ְטוֶ ה‬Exod 35:25) is a maqtal/maqtil form (BL, 491 mζ, nζ). 3. Syntagmatics A.1 In Exod 35:25, ‫טווּ‬, ָ ‘they spun’ (pl.), has ‫ת־לב‬ ֵ ‫ל־א ָשּׁה ַח ְכ ַמ‬ ִ ‫כּ‬, ָ ‘every woman wise of heart’ (sg.), as its grammatical subject (constructio ad sententiam). In Exod 35:26, ‫טווּ‬, ָ ‘they spun’, has ‫ל־הנָּ ִשׁים ֲא ֶשׁר נָ ָשׂא ִל ָבּן א ָֹתנָ ה ְבּ ָח ְכ ָמה‬ ַ ‫כּ‬, ָ ‘all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom’, as its grammatical subject. A.2 In Exod 35:26, ‫טווּ‬, ָ ‘they spun’, has ‫את ָה ִעזִּ ים‬, ֶ here ‘goat hair’, as its direct object. The Sam. tradition interpreted ‫ טוו‬in sp Exod 35:26 as a pi‘el form (vocalisation: ṭuwwu; see Ben-Ḥayyim 2000: 88, 161), also with ‫ את העזים‬as direct object. A.3 In Exod 35:25 ‫ טוה‬is used with the preposition ‫ ְבּ‬introducing the means or instrument: ‫יה‬ ָ ‫בּיָ ֶד‬, ְ ‘with her hands’. A.4 For the different syntactical structure of sp Exod 35:25, see Introduction A.1. 4. Ancient Versions A.1 The verb ‫ טוה‬is rendered as follows in the ancient translations. a. Septuagint (lxx) νήθω, ‘to spin’:1 Exod 35:25, 26. b. Peshitta (s) ‫‘( ܠ‬zl), ‘to spin’:2 Exod 35:25, 26. c. Targumim ‫עזל‬, ‘to spin’:3 t o,psj,n Exod 35:25, 26; t smr Exod 35:26. For t smr Exod 35:25, see Introduction A.1. 4 ‫ טוה‬to spin, twist together d. Vulgate (v) neo, ‘to spin’:4 Exod 35:25, where ‫יה ָטווּ וַ ִיָּביאוּ ַמ ְטוֶ ה‬ ָ ‫ת־לב ְבּיָ ֶד‬ ֵ ‫ל־א ָשּׁה ַח ְכ ַמ‬ ִ ‫ וְ ָכ‬is translated freely as sed et mulieres doctae dederunt quae neverant, ‘but also the skilful women gave what they had spun’. No rendering in 35:26. A.2 The ancient versions appear to be unanimous in translating ‫ טוה‬by a common word meaning ‘to spin’. 5. Lexical/Semantic Fields A.1 In BHeb., the semantic field of spinning includes the verb ‫טוה‬, ‘to spin’ (Exod 35:25-26), and its derivative ‫מ ְטוֶ ה‬, ַ ‘spun yarn’ (Exod 35:25), as well as the noun → ‫פּ ֶלְך‬, ֶ which denotes the spindle, the instrument with which the spinning was performed. The verb → ‫שׁזר‬, ‘to twist’ (see ‫ ָמ ְשׁזָ ר‬in Exod 26:1, etc.), denotes an activity that was probably also covered by the verb ‫ טוה‬and that seems to have been performed also with a ‫פּ ֶלְך‬. ֶ If in Prov 31:19 the noun → ‫ ִכּישׁוֹר‬designates a distaff or another instrument used for spinning, it belongs to the same semantic field. 6. Exegesis 6.1 Textual Evidence A.1 Not only the ancient versions but also the dictionaries of BHeb. agree that the verb ‫ טוה‬means ‘to spin’ (Gesenius, TPC I, 546; BDB, 376; GB, 274; KBL, 530; DCH III, 360; HALOT, 372; Ges 18, 421). Exod 35:25-26 recounts that women spun different materials that had been collected previously (Exod 25:4; 35:6, 23): → ‫תּ ֵכ ֶלת‬, ְ ‘bluish purple’ → ‫א ְרגָּ ָמן‬, ַ ‘reddish purple’ ‫(שּׁנִ י‬ ָ ‫)ה‬ ַ ‫תּוֹל ַעת‬ ַ (→ ‫)שׁנִ י‬, ָ ‘scarlet’, ‘bright red’ ‫שׁשׁ‬, ֵ ‘fine linen’ ‫עזִּ ים‬, ִ ‘goat hair’ The three designations ‫תּ ֵכ ֶלת‬, ְ ‫ ַא ְרגָּ ָמן‬and ‫(שּׁנִ י‬ ָ ‫)ה‬ ַ ‫תּוֹל ַעת‬ ַ apparently denote sheep wool that had been coloured with these costly dyes before it was spun. Linen usually remained undyed, since its cellulose fibres do not easily absorb dyes (Andersson Strand 2015: 55; Spinazzi-Lucchese 2018: 16-17, 20; but cf. Ezek 27:7). Whenever ‫תּ ֵכ ֶלת‬, ְ ‫ ַא ְרגָּ ָמן‬and ‫(שּׁנִ י‬ ָ ‫)ה‬ ַ ‫תּוֹל ַעת‬ ַ occur together, they are mentioned in this order. They form a distinctive group, with ‫שׁשׁ‬, ֵ ‘fine linen’, mentioned either before them (Exod 26:1; 36:8; 39:29), or after them (Exod 25:4; 26:31, 36; 27:16; 28:5, 6, 8, 15; 35:6, 23, 25, 35; 36:35, 37; 38:18, 23; 39:2, 3, 5, 8), or without references to ‫ ֵשׁשׁ‬in the same context (Exod 28:33; 39:1, 24). Exod 35:26 refers separately to the spinning of the coarse ‫עזִּ ים‬, ִ ‘goat hair’ (also in Num 31:20; 1 Sam 19:13, 16), which was apparently left undyed and was used ‫ טוה‬to spin, twist together 5 to produce the protective curtains (‫ )יְ ִריעֹת‬of the tent (‫ )א ֶֹהל‬covering the sanctuary (26:7; 36:14). Although Exod 35:25 says that the women spun with their hands (‫יה‬ ָ ‫)בּיָ ֶד‬, ְ this certainly does not exclude that they made use of a → ‫פּ ֶלְך‬, ֶ ‘spindle’, the common instrument with which spinning went much faster and easier and which was driven with the hand. In order to perform the spinning properly, the female spinners needed to be ‘wise of heart’ (‫ת־לב‬ ֵ ‫ח ְכ ַמ‬, ַ 35:25; cf. ‫בּ ָח ְכ ָמה‬, ְ 35:26). After the women had spun the yarn (‫)מ ְטוֶ ה‬, ַ it was brought away, apparently by others (‫וַ ִיָּביאוּ‬, 3.m.pl., 35:25; cf. Propp 2006: 662), to be processed further. Among the craftsmen who made use of the spun yarn were producers of multicoloured cloth (‫ר ֵֹקם‬, 26:36; 27:16; 35:35; 36:37; 38:18, 23; 39:29) and weavers (‫א ֵֹרג‬, 28:32; 35:35; 39:22, 27). The spun ‫תּ ֵכ ֶלת‬, ְ ‫א ְרגָּ ָמן‬, ַ ‫(שּׁנִ י‬ ָ ‫)ה‬ ַ ‫תּוֹל ַעת‬, ַ and ‫ ֵשׁשׁ‬were used together to produce luxury curtains enclosing the sanctuary (26:1; 36:8: ‫)יְ ִריעֹת‬, the curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the tent (26:31; 36:35: ‫)פּר ֶֹכת‬, ָ and the curtains (‫)מ ָסְך‬ ָ shutting off the entrance to the tent (26:36; 36:37) and the entrance of the court (27:16; 38:18). The same kinds of spun yarn were processed together for the clothes of Aaron and other priests ministering in the sanctuary (28:5-6, 8, 15, 33; 39:1-3, 5, 8, 24, 29). Other objects were made only of spun ‫( ְתּ ֵכ ֶלת‬26:4; 28:28, 31, 37; 36:11; 39:21, 22) or only of spun ‫שׁשׁ‬, ֵ ‘fine linen’ (27:9, 18; 28:39; 38:9, 16; 39:27-28). A.2 In the verses referring to the collection of linen before it was spun (Exod 25:4; 35:6, 23, 25), the noun ‫שׁשׁ‬, ֵ ‘fine linen’, is never modified by a following ‫מ ְשׁזָ ר‬, ָ ‘twisted’ (part. hoph. → ‫)שׁזר‬. Linen ready to be used for the production of fabrics is usually designated as ‫שׁשׁ ָמ ְשׁזָ ר‬, ֵ ‘twisted fine linen’ (→ ‫)שׁזר‬, and as ‫ – ֵשׁשׁ‬without ‫ – ָמ ְשׁזָ ר‬only in 28:5, 39; 39:3, 27-28. The texts do not clearly indicate whether the twisting of the linen was performed by the spinning women, as part of the work designated by ‫טוה‬, or by the craftsmen who took care of the further processing of the materials (see ‫ֵשׁשׁ‬ without ‫ ָמ ְשׁזָ ר‬in 35:35 and 38:23). However, since the twisting of the linen threads was usually performed with a → ‫פּ ֶלְך‬, ֶ ‘spindle’ and the → ‫ ֶפּ ֶלְך‬was regarded as a women’s instrument, the twisting was probably also done by the women. See also the Akk. verb ṭamû, which denotes the spinning as well as the twisting of threads. A.3 The interpretation of ‫ טוה‬as relating to forming yarn is confirmed by rabbinic texts, which mention the → ‫פּ ֶלְך‬, ֶ ‘spindle’, as the instrument with which the spinning was performed (see Postbiblical Hebrew). t. Berakhot 6:2 describes a specific order in which the processing of the raw materials took place when it says with regard to Adam: ‫ס וצבע וטווה וארג ותפר ואחר כך לבש‬/‫ולא לבש חלוק אחד עד שגזז וליבן וניפץ‬, ‘he did not wear a single shirt until he had cut/shorn and washed and beaten and dyed and spun and woven and sewed; and after that he wore it.’ Other texts refer to exactly the same sequence of actions before the fibres were spun (‫)טוה‬: ‫גזז‬, ‘to cut/shear’; ‫לבן‬ pi., ‘to wash’; ‫ס‬/‫ נפץ‬pi., ‘to beat’; ‫צבע‬, ‘to dye’ (y. Berakhot 9, 13c; m. Shabbat 7:2; 6 ‫ טוה‬to spin, twist together cf. 13:4). These texts indicate that, after the spinning, the spun yarn (designated as ‫חוּט‬, ‘thread’, in m. Shabbat 7:2; 13:1, 4) was used for weaving (‫)ארג‬. Exod 35:25-26 also presupposes that the wool had been dyed before it was spun. b. Berakhot 58a refers to the same sequence of actions as the other rabbinic texts, but omits the reference to dyeing. 6.2 Pictorial Material and Archaeology A.1 In the Cave of the Letters (cave 5-6) in Naḥal Ḥever, three wooden and two stone spindle whorls were found, together with a bundle of dyed, unspun wool and balls of woollen and linen threads, all with 135 ce as the terminus ad quem (Yadin 1963: 35-36, 130-32, 169-88, 252, 256, plates 36, 59, 88). See further → ‫פּ ֶלְך‬, ֶ ‘spindle’. 7. Conclusion A.1 In Biblical Hebrew, the verb ‫ טוה‬means ‘to spin’. It designates the production of threads from fibres, especially wool and flax, but apparently also the plying together of two or more thin threads to form a stronger yarn (see Akkadian ṭamû and Biblical Hebrew ‫)שׁשׁ ָמ ְשׁזָ ר‬. ֵ These activities were usually carried out with a → ‫פּ ֶלְך‬, ֶ ‘spindle’. Notes 1 ↑ LSJ, 1173; GELS, 474. 2 ↑ Payne Smith, CSD, 409 (‘to spin, twist, twine’); Sokoloff, SLB, 1090 (‘to spin, weave’). 3 ↑ Jastrow, DTT, 1061; Sokoloff, DJBA, 849-50; DJPA, 401; Tal, DSA, 630. 4 ↑ Lewis & Short, LD, 1200; OLD, 1170. Bibliography For the abbreviations applied → List of Abbreviations Andersson Strand 2015 Eva Andersson Strand, ‘The Basics of Textile Tools and Textile Technology: From Fibre to Fabric’, in: Eva Andersson Strand, Marie-Louise Nosch (eds), Tools, Textiles and Contexts: Investigating Textile Production in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age (Ancient Textiles Series, 21), Oxford: Oxbow, 39-60. Ben-Ḥayyim 2000 Ze’ev Ben-Ḥayyim (with assistance from Abraham Tal), A Grammar of Samaritan Hebrew Based on the Recitation of the Law in Comparison with the Tiberian ‫ טוה‬to spin, twist together 7 and Other Jewish Traditions (revised edition), Jerusalem: Hebrew University Magnes Press; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Propp 2006 William H.C. Propp, Exodus 19–40 (AB), New York etc.: Doubleday. Spinazzi-Lucchesi 2018 Chiara Spinazzi-Lucchesi, The Unwound Yarn: Birth and Development of Textile Tools Between Levant and Egypt (Antichista, 18; Studi Orientali, 8), Venezia: Edizioni Ca’Foscari. Tal & Florentin 2010 Abraham Tal, Moshe Florentin, The Pentateuch: The Samaritan Version and the Masoretic Version, Edited and Annotated – ‫חמישה חומשי תורה׃ נוסח שומרון ונוסח‬ ‫ נספחים‬,‫ הערות‬,‫ מבוא‬:‫המסורה‬, Tel Aviv: Haim Rubin Tel Aviv University Press. Yadin 1963 Yigael Yadin, The Finds from the Bar Kokhba Period in the Cave of Letters, Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society. Wisti Lassen 2010 Agnete Wisti Lassen, ‘Tools, Procedures and Professions: A review of the Akkadian Textile Terminology’, in: C. Michel, M.-L. Nosch (eds), Textile Terminologies in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean from the Third to the First Millennia BC (Ancient Textiles Series, 8), Oxford: Oxbow, 272-82. Paul Sanders Protestant Theological University, Amsterdam First published: 29th October 2021 Last update: 27th January 2022 This article should be cited as: Paul Sanders, ‘‫ – טוה‬to spin, twist together’, pdf downloaded from http://sahd-online.com/