Tachash is an animal referred to in the Bible (Exodus 25, 26, 35, 36 and 39; Numbers 4, and Ezekiel 16:10), the skin of which was used in the Tabernacle, as the outer covering of the tent of the
TabernacleThe Tabernacle , according to the Hebrew bible/Old Testament, was the portable dwelling place for the divine presence from the time of the Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan...
and to wrap sacred objects used within the Tabernacle for transport.
What animal the word 'tachash' refers to is a matter of some debate. According to the Babylonian Talmud and
RashiShlomo Yitzhaki, better known by the acronym Rashi , , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of the first comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh .Acclaimed for his ability to present the basic meaning of the text in a...
's commentary, the tachash was a kosher, multi-colored, one horned desert animal which came into existence to be used to build the Tabernacle and ceased to exist afterward.
Tachash is an animal referred to in the Bible (Exodus 25, 26, 35, 36 and 39; Numbers 4, and Ezekiel 16:10), the skin of which was used in the Tabernacle, as the outer covering of the tent of the
TabernacleThe Tabernacle , according to the Hebrew bible/Old Testament, was the portable dwelling place for the divine presence from the time of the Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan...
and to wrap sacred objects used within the Tabernacle for transport.
What animal the word 'tachash' refers to is a matter of some debate. According to the Babylonian Talmud and
RashiShlomo Yitzhaki, better known by the acronym Rashi , , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of the first comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh .Acclaimed for his ability to present the basic meaning of the text in a...
's commentary, the tachash was a kosher, multi-colored, one horned desert animal which came into existence to be used to build the Tabernacle and ceased to exist afterward. The
King James Version of the BibleThe Authorized King James Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible begun in 1604 and completed in 1611 by the Church of England. Printed by the King's Printer, Robert Barker, the first edition included schedules unique to the Church of England; for example, a lectionary for morning...
translates the word tachash as badger. Another hypothesis is that the Hebrew term "orot t'chashim" refers to very fine dyed sheep or goat leather, hence the Jerusalem Bible translates the term as "fine leather". A currently popular hypothesis is that the term "tachash" means
dugongThe dugong is a large marine mammal which, together with the manatees, is one of four living species of the order Sirenia. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest modern relative, Steller's Sea Cow , was hunted to extinction in the 18th century...
. This translation is based upon the similarity between tachash and the Arabic word tukhas, which means
dugongThe dugong is a large marine mammal which, together with the manatees, is one of four living species of the order Sirenia. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest modern relative, Steller's Sea Cow , was hunted to extinction in the 18th century...
. In accordance with this hypothesis several translations, such as the Jewish Publication Society translation, render tachash as dolphin or sea cow. Others believe the tachash was related to the keresh, a creature most often identified with the
giraffeThe giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant. It is covered in large, irregular patches of yellow to black fur separated by white, off-white, or dark yellowish brown background. The average mass for an adult male...
, with a similar description mentioned in the
GemaraThe Gemara is the part of the Talmud that contains rabbinical commentaries and analysis of the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra) (from Aramaic גמרא gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by...
.
It is not explicitly stated if the tachash was a mammal or not.
In Literature
The poet
Robert GravesGraves considered himself a poet first and foremost. His poems, together with his translations and innovative interpretations of the Greek Myths, his memoir of the First World war, Good-bye to All That, and his historical study of poetic inspiration, The White Goddess, have never been out of...
says in
The White GoddessThe White Goddess: a Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth is a book-length essay upon the nature of poetic myth-making by author and poet Robert Graves. First published in 1948, based on earlier articles published in Wales, corrected, revised and enlarged editions appeared in 1948, 1952 and 1961...
the covering skin of the Ark was "dolphin hide", but in
I, ClaudiusI, Claudius is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, first published in 1934, that deals sympathetically with the life of the Roman Emperor Claudius and cynically with the history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's...
, has the narrator describe it as badger skin.
Unclean animals excluded
In light of Leviticus (11:4-8; 11:10-12; 20:25-26 -- most translations) the Tahash is excluded because it does not "chew the cud and divide the hoof"; the dugong, dolphin and porpoise are excluded because they do not have "fins and scales"; and the giraffe is probably excluded because its range was primarily Africa. This supports the hypothesis that "orot t'chashim" refers to very fine dyed sheep or goat leather as a parallel with "rams' skins dyed red." The New American Bible footnote to Exodus 25:5 (in part) says of Tahash: "The Greek and Latin versions took it for the color hyacinth." In this case, we have "a covering of rams' skins dyed red, and above that a covering of hyacinth skins": a covering of skins dyed red and an outer covering of skins dyed indigo.
Other Biblical Translations
The
New American Standard BibleThe New American Standard Bible , also informally called New American Standard Version , is an English translation of the Bible....
(NASB) translates tachash as porpoise.