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תֵּל

𐤕𐤋

têl

H8510 noun

SILEX Entry

Definition

An artificial mound, often composed of accumulated layers of debris from successive human habitation, typically created over centuries as settlements were built atop the ruins of earlier occupations. In biblical contexts, denotes a man-made ruin-mound marking the location of an ancient city or settlement.

Semantic Range

mound (artificial or ruin-mound), heap (of ruins), site of city ruins, by extension: strength (rare and idiomatic)

Root / Etymology

Root: תלל ('tl'). The verb תלל means 'to heap up, pile.' תֵּל is a nominal form denoting a physical mound, especially one formed from accumulated ruins. The link is from the idea of heaping up material to create a raised feature in the landscape.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In the Hebrew Bible, תֵּל refers specifically to prominent ruin-mounds characteristic of the Near Eastern landscape, signifying the remains of destroyed or abandoned cities. These mounds, known archaeologically as 'tells,' are composed of stratified cultural layers. The term is used in prophetic and historical texts to describe sites of former settlements, often to symbolize desolation or the passage of time (e.g., Jeremiah 30:18; Ezra 4:10). Modern English 'tell' (from Arabic 'tall') is a direct cognate and used in archaeology. In ancient Israel and its neighbors, a תֵּל was a potent visual marker, contrasting with natural hills (גִּבְעָה, 'giv‘ah'). English translations like 'heap' or 'mound' capture the basic sense but may miss the nuance of human construction and the historical memory signified by such features. There is little shift in the semantic range from the monarchic to post-exilic periods, though the sense of historical ruin may have grown more pronounced after the destruction of prominent cities. The idiomatic extension to 'strength' is rare and probably secondary, either via the visual imagery of a strong fortifiable mound, or as a scribal gloss.

Translation Consistency

primary "mound" 3 occurrences

Têl refers primarily to an artificial or ruin-mound marking an ancient site. “Mound” is the most natural, concise English noun that covers the typical archaeological/ruin sense (and easily yields plural/possessive forms). It avoids the technical borrowing “tell” while preserving the meaning of “ruin-mound” used in the source; rarer idiomatic senses (e.g., “strength”) can be handled by context-specific translations.

Alternatives (2 occurrences):
"ruin-mound of" (2x)

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

by contraction from תָּלַל; a mound; heap, [idiom] strength.

Bantu Hebrew

No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been recorded for this word yet.

Root Family

תלל (Tulon) — to hang, suspend

Root תלל to heap up, to pile, to mound
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H8436 תּוּלוֹן And Suspension-One
H8524 תָּלַל mound-raised
H8534 תַּלְתַּל pendulous tufts

Word Forms

4 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H8510-02 תֵּ֣ל tel HNcmsc a heap ruin-mound of ruin-mound of 2
H8510-01 לְ/תֵ֣ל letel HR/Ncmsc a mound to mound-of-ruins a mound of ruins 1
H8510-03 תִּלָּ֔/הּ tilah HNcmsc/Sp3fs its mound her ruin-mound its mound 1
H8510-04 תִּלָּ֔/ם tilam HNcmsc/Sp3mp their mounds their ruin-mound their mounds 1

Occurrences in Scripture

5 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H8510-02 Deuteronomy 13:17 תֵּ֣ל tel HNcmsc a-heap ruin-mound of ruin-mound of
H8510-02 Joshua 8:28 תֵּל tel HNcmsc a heap ruin-mound of ruin-mound of
H8510-04 Joshua 11:13 תִּלָּ֔/ם tilam HNcmsc/Sp3mp their mounds their ruin-mound their mounds
H8510-03 Jeremiah 30:18 תִּלָּ֔/הּ tilah HNcmsc/Sp3fs its mound her ruin-mound its mound
H8510-01 Jeremiah 49:2 לְ/תֵ֣ל letel HR/Ncmsc a mound to mound-of-ruins a mound of ruins
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