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תָּמַם

𐤕𐤌𐤌

tâmam

H8552 verb

SILEX Entry

Definition

To be complete, finished, or whole; to reach a state of entirety or fullness, either in a process, quality, or quantity. The verb may describe the completion of a task or period of time, the exhaustion or consumption of an object or person, or the attainment of moral integrity or wholeness. In various contexts, it may carry the sense of being perfected, coming to an end, being consumed, or demonstrating blamelessness or uprightness.

Semantic Range

to be completed or finished, to be exhausted or consumed, to end or cease, to perish, to have integrity or be blameless, to be perfect or whole, to sum up or be accounted for, to be at an end, to demonstrate uprightness

Root / Etymology

The root is תּ-מ-ם (t-m-m), expressing the idea of completeness, wholeness, or finishing. The verb תָּמַם is the qal form of the root, conveying primarily intransitive notions, but it appears in other binyanim as well. Words derived from this root include תָּם (tam, 'blameless, pure'), תָּמִים (tamim, 'complete, without defect, blameless'), and תְּמוּנָה (temunah, 'form, likeness'), which share the semantic field of wholeness and integrity.

Historical & Contextual Notes

תָּמַם is used in diverse textual settings throughout the Hebrew Bible. In historical and narrative contexts, it often marks the conclusion or complete consumption of a thing, time period, or resource (e.g., 'the days were completed,' Gen 21:15; 'the manna ceased,' Josh 5:12). In wisdom and poetic literature, especially in parallelism, the root highlights moral or existential completeness or blamelessness, contrasting with moral failure or deficiency (e.g., 'the upright perish,' Isa 57:1). The term appears frequently in priestly and legal texts to describe ritual or physical wholeness and integrity (e.g., unblemished animals). Largely, English translations use 'complete,' 'consume,' 'finish,' 'end,' 'perish,' 'be spent,' 'be perfect,' or 'be blameless,' but none capture the entire range of nuances. The root covers both positive completions (fulfillment, perfection) and negative finalities (destruction, exhaustion), so context is key to discerning which sense applies.

Translation Consistency

primary "finish" 36 occurrences

Most common and natural rendering across contexts for תָּמַם — conveys completion, coming to an end, exhaustion/consumption, and the idea of being brought to a whole or finished state. ‘Finish’ is the most frequent simple English equivalent in the P2 data and reads naturally in idiomatic constructions; rarer senses (e.g., blameless/perfect) are outside the typical range and can be handled contextually while keeping 'finish' as the consistent base form.

Alternatives (27 occurrences):
"consumed" (6x) "complete" (4x) "spent" (2x) "show yourself whole" (2x) "bring to completion" (2x) "when it was completed" (1x) "perish" (1x) "came to completion" (1x) "all gone" (1x) "when you complete" (1x) "completion of" (1x) "completion" (1x) "brought to completion" (1x) "fail" (1x) "blameless" (1x) "make perfect" (1x)

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

a primitive root; to complete, in a good or a bad sense, literal, or figurative, transitive or intransitive; accomplish, cease, be clean (pass-) ed, consume, have done, (come to an, have an, make an) end, fail, come to the full, be all gone, [idiom] be all here, be (make) perfect, be spent, sum, be (shew self) upright, be wasted, whole.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

תמם (t-m-m) — completeness, wholeness, finishedness, integrity

Root תּמם to be complete, to be finished, to be whole, to come to an end
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H4974 מְתֹם sound wholeness
H8535 תָּם whole and blameless
H8537 תֹּם wholeness
H8549 תָּמִים in integrity
H8550 תֻּמִּים the perfections

Word Forms

27 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H8552-10 תַּ֜מּוּ tamu HVqp3cp had finished they were complete they finished 10
H8552-14 תֹּ֥ם tom HVqc are finished to be complete to finish 10
H8552-15 תֻּמָּֽ/ם tumam HVqc/Sp3mp they were finished their being complete their finishing 6
H8552-26 יִתַּ֖מּוּ yitamu HVqi3mp Let [them] be consumed they will come to completion they will finish 5
H8552-08 תַּ֣ם tam HVqp3ms had finished whole, blameless is finished 4
H8552-09 תַּ֖מְנוּ tamenu HVqp1cp they complete we were finished they complete 4
H8552-12 תִּתַּמָּֽם titamam HVti2ms you show yourself perfect you will show yourself whole you will show yourself whole 2
H8552-20 וַ/תִּתֹּם֮ vatitom HC/Vqw3fs and it was and she came to completion and it finished 2
H8552-24 וְ/תַ֨מּוּ vetamu HC/Vqq3cp and-they-will-be-consumed and they were finished and they were finished 2
H8552-25 וְ/יַתֵּ֣ם veyatem HC/Vhi3ms and let him sum up and he will complete and he will complete 1

Occurrences in Scripture

63 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H8552-22 Genesis 47:15 וַ/יִּתֹּ֣ם vayitom HC/Vqw3ms and was spent and he was finished and was spent
H8552-20 Genesis 47:18 וַ/תִּתֹּם֮ vatitom HC/Vqw3fs and when ended and she came to completion and when it was completed
H8552-08 Genesis 47:18 תַּ֣ם tam HVqp3ms is spent whole, blameless is finished
H8552-23 Leviticus 26:20 וְ/תַ֥ם vetam HC/Vqq3ms and shall be spent completeness-of and shall be spent
H8552-14 Numbers 14:33 תֹּ֥ם tom HVqc are finished to be complete to finish
H8552-26 Numbers 14:35 יִתַּ֖מּוּ yitamu HVqi3mp they shall be consumed they will come to completion they will finish
H8552-09 Numbers 17:28 תַּ֖מְנוּ tamenu HVqp1cp we be finished we were finished we perish
H8552-14 Numbers 32:13 תֹּם֙ tom HVqc was finished to be complete to finish
H8552-14 Deuteronomy 2:14 תֹּ֨ם tom HVqc had perished to be complete to finish
H8552-15 Deuteronomy 2:15 תֻּמָּֽ/ם tumam HVqc/Sp3mp they were all perished their being complete their finishing
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