תָּמָר
Tamar
BDB lists 5 entries for ‘Tamar’ fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Proper
- A name of a specific person, place, or people (e.g. Abraham, Zion, Israel).
Every verse where H8559 appears in the Book of Genesis — 4 distinct verses. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Genesis
- Genesis 38:6 תָּמָֽר n Proper Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.
- Genesis 38:11 לְ/תָמָ֨ר תָּמָ֔ר prep + n Proper n Proper Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, "Remain a widow in your father's house, until Shelah, my son, is grown up;" for he said, "Lest he also die, like his brothers." Tamar went and lived in her father's house.
- Genesis 38:13 לְ/תָמָ֖ר prep + n Proper It was told Tamar, saying, "Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep."
- Genesis 38:24 תָּמָ֣ר n Proper It happened about three months later, that it was told Judah, saying, "Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute; and moreover, behold, she is with child by prostitution." Judah said, "Bring her forth, and let her be burnt."
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
תמר (Tâmâr) is a Hebrew name most often rendered “Tamar.” 2 Samuel dominates its distribution — 13 of 23 verses. Spanning 23 verses in 6 books, it ranks among the uncommon words of the Hebrew Bible. Scripture first uses it in Genesis 38:6. The sections below give every occurrence and version rendering.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H8559 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 23
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 23 distinct verses.
- 6 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 6 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #1,282
- by frequency
- Top 2500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 1,282 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 23 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- 2 Samuel 13 verses 57%
- Genesis 4 verses 17%
- 1 Chronicles 2 verses 9%
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 23 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 16 verses · 70%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 4 verses · 17%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 3 verses · 13%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 2 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Tamar 18×, Was tamar 3×
- American Standard Version†: Tamar 16×, Was tamar 3×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Tamar 23×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Tamar 20×, Was tamar 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H8559 across 24† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 3 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H8559 across 24† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H8559 across 26† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 3 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H8559 across 24† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 1 rendering that appears only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 5 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
תמר I palm-tree, date-palm, Phoenix dactylifera
תמר II
- 1. f.
- a. daughter-in-law of Judah Gn 38:6, 11(×2), 13, 24; 1 Ch 2:4; Ru 4:12. e.g. Genesis 38:6
- b. daughter of David, sister of Absalom 2 S 13:1, 2 + 11 times 13, 2 Ch 3:9. e.g. 2 Samuel 13:1
- c. daughter of Absalom 2 S 14:27. e.g. 2 Samuel 14:27
- 2. loc. Ez 47:19; 48:28; 1 K 9:18 Kt (> Qr תַּדְמֹר q.v.), so read also ‖ 2 Ch 8:4 (for MT תַּדְמֹר); site not certain, cf. BuhlG. 184.—בַּעַל תָּמָר v. בַּעַל (s. p. 346). e.g. Ezekiel 47:19
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
n.m. palm-tree, date-palm, Phoenix dactylifera;—ת׳ Jo 1:12; in sim. of prosperity ψ 92:13, of (graceful) stature Ct 7:8, cf. (fig.) v 9; pl. תְּמָרִים in oasis Ex 15:27 (J), ‖ Nu 33:9 (P); כַּפֹּת ת׳ Lv 23:40 (H) palm-branches, cf. עֲלֵי ת׳ Ne 8:15; עִיר הַתְּמָרִים = Jericho Dt 34:3 (JE), 2 Ch 28:15 Ju 1:16; 3:13.—Vid. PostHast.DB; palm-tree M’LeanEncy. Bib. Id. TrNHB 378 ff. Theob. FischerDattelpalme, 1881.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from תמר (tâmâr) (H8558) — palm tree.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
תָּמַר
- , Pi. תִּמֵּר (denom. of תָּמָר) to rise straight up. Yoma 28ᵇ תימור של לבנה מְתַמֵּר ועולה כמקל the light-column of the moon rises straight up like a stick; opp. מפציע (v. פָּצַע); Y. ib. III, beg. 40ᵇ. Bab. ib. 38ᵃ של הללו מתמר וכ׳ the smoke of the frankincense prepared by those (of the house of Abṭinas) went straight up &c.; Cant. R. to I, 14 מְתַמֶּרֶת; Y. Shek. V, 49ᵃ top; Tosef. Yoma II, 6. Tanḥ. T’tsav. 15 כשהיה ענן הקטרת מתמר וכ׳ when (on the Day of Atonement) the cloud of the incense rose straight up …, he knew that Israel’s sins were forgiven. Gen. R. s. 45 קוצין … אליהם יוצאים ומְתַמְּרִים וכ׳ thorns are not sown …, but grow forth of themselves and rise high up, but wheat &c.; Yalk. ib. 79 (corr. acc.). Keth. 111ᵇ עתידה חטה שתְּתַמֵּר כדקל וכ׳ in the latter days wheat shall sprout forth and rise like palms on mountain tops; a. e.
תָּמָר I
- (b. h.) pr. n. f. Tamar,
- 1. Judah’s daughter-in-law. Meg. IV, 10 (25ᵃ) מעשה ת׳ נקרא ומיתרגם the story of Tamar (Gen. XXXVIII) is read (in the synagogue) and translated. Gen. R. s. 92 (ref. to Gen. XLIV, 16) מה נאמר לאדני במעשה ת׳ וכ׳ what have we to say to my lord (for our justification) about the story of Tamar, what to speak about the story of Bilhah (Gen. XXXV, 22) ? Gen. R. s. 85; a. fr.— Absalom’s sister. Meg. 25ᵇ מעשה אמנון ות׳ וכ׳ the story of Amnon and Tamar (II Sam. XIII) may be read and translated. Ab. V, 16 אהבת אמנון ות׳ Amnon’s love of T. Snh. 21ᵃ; a. e. e.g. Genesis 38:24
- 3. a woman that informed against the Rabbis before Roman authorities. Y. Meg. III, 74ᵃ bot., v. תַּמְרוּרִים
תָּמָר II
- palm; date-palm; fruit of the date-palm, date. Succ. 45ᵇ; Meg. 14ᵃ, v. לֵב. Ib. (ref. to Jud. IV, 5) מאי שנא תחת תּוֹמֶר why did she hold her sessions under a palm-tree? Midr. Till. to Ps. XCII, 16 (ref. to ib. 13) מה הת׳ והארז וכ׳ as the palm and the cedar are higher than all other trees, so Israel is &c.; אי מה הת׳ וכ׳ you may think, as the palm and the cedar when uprooted from their places (transplanted) do not grow new shoots, so Israel does &c.; a. fr.—Pl. תְּמָרִים dates. Ter. XI, 2 דבש ת׳ date honey. Ib. 3; a. fr. e.g. Judges 4:5
תָּמָר
- Targ. Cant. II, 12.—Lev. R. s. 12; a. e.—Pl. תְּמָרַיָּא, תַּמְרִין, תַּמְרֵי, תּוּמְ׳. Targ. II Chr. XXXI, 5. Targ. Y. Deut. VIII, 8.—Ber. 38ᵃ דובשא דת׳ date-honey. [Ib. האי תמרי של תרומה, read with Ms. M. תמרים של תרומה.] Y. Ab. Zar. II, 40ᵈ גרעינין דתו׳ date-stones. Sabb. 110ᵇ ת׳ פרסייתא (fem.) Persian dates; a. fr.—בר תמרי pr. n. m. Bar-Tamré. Ḥull. 110ᵃ רמי בר ת׳ וכ׳ Rami bar Tamré, also called Bar-Diḳḳulé (cmp. דִּיקּוּלָא).—Cant. R. to VII, 9 אבון בר ת׳ quot. in Levy Talm. Dict. (ed. חסדי).
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 16 distinct written forms H8559 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| תָּמָ֗ר | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 13:4 | 4 |
| תָּמָ֣ר | Noun, Proper | Genesis 38:24 | 3 |
| תָּמָ֥ר | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 13:19 | 3 |
| מִ/תָּמָ֗ר | Noun, Proper | Ezekiel 47:19 | 2 |
| תָּמָ֑ר | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 13:1 | 2 |
| וְ/תָמָ֥ר | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 3:9 | 1 |
| וְ/תָמָר֙ | Noun, Proper | 1 Chronicles 2:4 | 1 |
| לְ/תָמָ֖ר | Noun, Proper | Genesis 38:13 | 1 |
| לְ/תָמָ֨ר | Noun, Proper | Genesis 38:11 | 1 |
| תָמָ֖ר | Noun, Proper | Ruth 4:12 | 1 |
| תָמָ֨ר | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 13:5 | 1 |
| תָּמָ֔ר | Noun, Proper | Genesis 38:11 | 1 |
| תָּמָ֖ר | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 13:7 | 1 |
| תָּמָֽר | Noun, Proper | Genesis 38:6 | 1 |
| תָּמָר֙ | Noun, Proper | 2 Samuel 13:20 | 1 |
| תמר | Noun, Proper | 1 Kings 9:18 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H8559, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
- תימרה tîymârâh H8490 pillar
- תמר tômer H8560 palm column
- תמר timmôr H8561 palm ornament
- תמרור tamrûwr H8564 guideposts
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 8 — not the complete family. 2 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Bible dictionary
Public-domain dictionary articles matched to this entry by name (Tamar). A biblical name can be shared by more than one person or place, so an article may treat several.
Easton's Bible Dictionary · M. G. Easton, 1897
Palm. (1.) A place mentioned by Ezekiel (47:19; 48:28), on the southeastern border of Palestine. Some suppose this was "Tadmor" (q.v.).
(2.) The daughter-in-law of Judah, to whose eldest son, Er, she was married (Gen. 38:6). After her husband's death, she was married to Onan, his brother (8), and on his death, Judah promised to her that his third son, Shelah, would become her husband. This promise was not fulfilled, and hence Tamar's revenge and Judah's great guilt (38:12-30).
(3.) A daughter of David (2 Sam. 13:1-32; 1 Chr. 3:9), whom Amnon shamefully outraged and afterwards "hated exceedingly," thereby illustrating the law of human nature noticed even by the heathen, "Proprium humani ingenii est odisse quem laeseris", i.e., "It is the property of human nature to hate one whom you have injured."
(4.) A daughter of Absalom (2 Sam. 14:27).
Smith's Bible Dictionary · William Smith, 1863
(palm tree).
+ The wife successively of the two sons of Judah, Er and Onan. (Genesis 38:8-30) (B.C. about 1718.) Her importance in the sacred narrative depends on the great anxiety to keep up the lineage of Judah. It seemed as if the family were on the point of extinction. Er and Onan had successively perished suddenly. Judah's wife, Bathshuah, died; and there only remained a child, Shelah, whom Judah was unwilling to trust to the dangerous union as it appeared, with Tamar, lest he should meet with the same fate as his brothers. Accordingly she resorted to the desperate expedient of entrapping the father himself into the union which he feared for his son. The fruits of this intercourse were twins, Pharez and Zarah, and through Pharez the sacred line was continued. + Daughter of David and Maachah the Geshurite princess, and thus sister of Absalom. (2 Samuel 13:1-32; 1 Chronicles 3:9) (B.C. 1033.) She and her brother were alike remarkable for their extraordinary beauty. This fatal beauty inspired a frantic passion in her half-brother Amnon, the oldest son of David by Ahinoam. In her touching remonstrance two points are remarkable: first, the expression of the infamy of such a crime "in Israel" implying the loftier standard of morals that prevailed, as compared with other countries at that time; and second, the belief that even this standard might be overborne lawfully by royal authority--"Speak to the king, for he will not withhold me from thee." The intense hatred of Amnon succeeding to his brutal passion, and the indignation of Tamar at his barbarous insult, even surpassing her indignation at his shameful outrage, are pathetically and graphically told. + Daughter of Absalom, (2 Samuel 14:7) became, by her marriage with Uriah of Gibeah, the mother of Maachah, the future queen of Judah or wife of Abijah. (1 Kings 15:2) (B.C. 1023.) + A spot on the southeastern frontier of Judah, named in (Ezekiel 47:19; 48:28) only, evidently called from a palm tree. If not Hazazon-tamar, the old name of Engedi, it may he a place called Thamar in the Onamasticon [HAZAZON-TAMAR), a day's journey south of Hebron.
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary · Roswell D. Hitchcock, 1869
palm; palm-tree
Classic public-domain reference works; full attribution on Sources.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 22 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 23 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
