2912. tachan
Lexical Summary
tachan: To grind, crush

Original Word: טָחַן
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: tachan
Pronunciation: tah-khan'
Phonetic Spelling: (taw-khan')
KJV: grind(-er)
NASB: grind, grinding, grinder, ground
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. to grind meal
2. (hence) to be a concubine (that being their employment)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
grinder

A primitive root; to grind meal; hence, to be a concubine (that being their employment) -- grind(-er).

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to grind
NASB Translation
grind (3), grinder (1), grinding (3), ground (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
[טָחַן] verb grind (Late Hebrew crush, olives, etc.; Aramaic טְחַן grind; Arabic grind; Ethiopic : polenta, farina bordacea) —

Qal Perfect וְטָֽחֲנוּ Numbers 11:8; Imperfect וַיִּטְחַן Exodus 32:20; 3feminine singular תִּטְחַן Job 31:10; 2masculine plural תִּטְחָ֑נוּ Isaiah 3:15; Infinitive absolute טָחוֺן Deuteronomy 9:21; Imperative feminine singular טַחֲנִי Isaiah 47:2; Participle טוֺחֵן Judges 16:21; טֹחֲנוֺת Ecclesiastes 12:3; — grind, the work of women, with accusative, with millstones רֵחַיִם Numbers 11:8 (J E; object the manna), Isaiah 47:2 (object קָ֑מַח), this figurative of humiliation of Babylon; absolute Judges 16:21; תטחן לאחר אשׁתי Job 31:10, i.e. serve him as his slave; no object expressed Exodus 32:20 (E), Deuteronomy 9:21 (of golden calf); הַטֹּחֲנוֺת Ecclesiastes 12:3 = the teeth (compare Arabic molar teeth; so in Lexicons Syriac , ); ׳מְּנֵי עֲנִיִּים ט Isaiah 3:15 the face of the poor ye grind, figurative of extreme oppression.

Topical Lexicon
Meaning and Imagery

The verb conveys the action of pulverizing grain or any material between opposing surfaces. Scripture uses it literally for preparing food and figuratively for acts of judgment, humiliation, or decay. Each occurrence adds depth to the biblical theology of work, sin, and redemption.

Domestic Provision and Daily Bread

Grinding was a routine, often female, household task in the ancient Near East, essential for turning grain into flour. Numbers 11:8 depicts Israel’s daily dependence on God’s manna: “The people went around and gathered it, and ground it in handmills or crushed it in a mortar, boiled it in a cauldron and made it into cakes…” The scene stresses God’s faithful provision while reminding readers that even supernatural food still demanded human labor. Ecclesiastes 12:3 later recalls “the grinders” ceasing as old age weakens the body, illustrating the fragility of human strength and the transience of earthly toil.

Instrument of Divine Judgment

Grinding also becomes a graphic sign of judgment upon idolatry. When Israel bowed to the golden calf, Moses “burned it in the fire; and he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it” (Exodus 32:20). Deuteronomy 9:21 repeats the episode, underscoring that false worship is destined for total obliteration. By forcing the people to ingest the pulverized idol, Moses dramatized the utter futility of their sin and the severe holiness of God.

Servitude and Humiliation

Judges 16:21 recounts Samson’s downfall: blinded, shackled, and compelled “to grind grain in the prison.” What had been a domestic chore now symbolizes disgrace and captivity. Job invokes the same image as the severest curse upon marital infidelity: “then may my own wife grind grain for another man” (Job 31:10). In both passages grinding marks subjugation—physical, social, or moral.

Metaphor for Physical Decay

Ecclesiastes 12:3 uses “grinders” for teeth that fail with age, part of a poetic portrayal of declining faculties. The loss of ability to grind food implies approaching death, pointing readers to remember their Creator “before the days of trouble come” (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

Prophetic Condemnation of Oppression

Isaiah employs the verb in denunciations of exploitation. “Why crush My people and grind the faces of the poor?” (Isaiah 3:15). Here grinding pictures systemic injustice that God vows to judge. Isaiah 47:2 foretells Babylon’s humiliation: “Take millstones and grind flour; remove your veil…” Once the mistress of nations, Babylon will be reduced to a lowly servant’s task, stripped of honor and security.

Thematic Threads Across Scripture

1. Transience of human strength—seen in the waning grinders of Ecclesiastes.
2. Totality of divine judgment—idols are ground to dust; oppressors are forced to grind.
3. Paradox of provision—God supplies food, yet invites human participation through labor.
4. Anticipation of ultimate deliverance—every power opposed to God will be crushed, echoing Genesis 3:15 and prefiguring the stone that “will crush anyone on whom it falls” (Luke 20:18).

Ministry Application

• Idolatry must be pulverized, not managed; believers renounce sin decisively, as Moses did.
• Labor, even the most menial, holds dignity when offered to God, but becomes degrading when imposed through oppression; ministries of compassion should defend the marginalized Isaiah condemns.
• Aging and weakness invite believers to hope beyond the present; Ecclesiastes pushes the church to shepherd seniors toward eternal perspectives.
• Preaching on Samson or Babylon can highlight how hidden compromise eventually leads to public grinding—yet God’s grace can restore, as Samson’s final prayer and Revelation’s fall of Babylon reveal.

Forms and Transliterations
הַטֹּֽחֲנוֹת֙ הטחנות וְטַ֣חֲנִי וְטָחֲנ֣וּ וַיִּטְחַ֖ן וטחנו וטחני ויטחן טָחוֹן֙ טוֹחֵ֖ן טוחן טחון תִּטְחַ֣ן תִּטְחָ֑נוּ תטחן תטחנו haṭ·ṭō·ḥă·nō·wṯ hattochanOt haṭṭōḥănōwṯ ṭā·ḥō·wn tachOn ṭāḥōwn tiṭ·ḥā·nū tiṭ·ḥan titChan titChanu tiṭḥan tiṭḥānū ṭō·w·ḥên toChen ṭōwḥên vaiyitChan veTachani vetachaNu way·yiṭ·ḥan wayyiṭḥan wə·ṭa·ḥă·nî wə·ṭā·ḥă·nū wəṭaḥănî wəṭāḥănū
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Englishman's Concordance
Exodus 32:20
HEB: וַיִּשְׂרֹ֣ף בָּאֵ֔שׁ וַיִּטְחַ֖ן עַ֣ד אֲשֶׁר־
NAS: [it] with fire, and ground it to powder,
KJV: [it] in the fire, and ground [it] to powder,
INT: and burned fire and ground against which

Numbers 11:8
HEB: הָעָ֨ם וְלָֽקְט֜וּ וְטָחֲנ֣וּ בָרֵחַ֗יִם א֤וֹ
NAS: and gather [it] and grind [it] between two millstones
KJV: and gathered [it], and ground [it] in mills,
INT: the people and gather and grind millstones or

Deuteronomy 9:21
HEB: וָאֶכֹּ֨ת אֹת֤וֹ טָחוֹן֙ הֵיטֵ֔ב עַ֥ד
NAS: and crushed it, grinding it very small
KJV: and stamped it, [and] ground [it] very small,
INT: fire and crushed grinding very against

Judges 16:21
HEB: בַּֽנְחֻשְׁתַּ֔יִם וַיְהִ֥י טוֹחֵ֖ן בְּבֵ֥ית [הָאֲסִירִים
NAS: him with bronze chains, and he was a grinder in the prison.
KJV: him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison
INT: bronze become was a grinder house bound

Job 31:10
HEB: תִּטְחַ֣ן לְאַחֵ֣ר אִשְׁתִּ֑י
NAS: May my wife grind for another,
KJV: [Then] let my wife grind unto another,
INT: grind another may my wife

Ecclesiastes 12:3
HEB: הֶחָ֑יִל וּבָטְל֤וּ הַטֹּֽחֲנוֹת֙ כִּ֣י מִעֵ֔טוּ
NAS: stoop, the grinding ones stand idle
KJV: shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease
INT: and mighty stand the grinding because almost some

Isaiah 3:15
HEB: וּפְנֵ֥י עֲנִיִּ֖ים תִּטְחָ֑נוּ נְאֻם־ אֲדֹנָ֥י
NAS: My people And grinding the face
KJV: to pieces, and grind the faces
INT: the face afflicted and grinding said the Lord

Isaiah 47:2
HEB: קְחִ֥י רֵחַ֖יִם וְטַ֣חֲנִי קָ֑מַח גַּלִּ֨י
NAS: the millstones and grind meal.
KJV: the millstones, and grind meal:
INT: Take the millstones and grind meal Remove

8 Occurrences

Strong's Hebrew 2912
8 Occurrences


haṭ·ṭō·ḥă·nō·wṯ — 1 Occ.
ṭā·ḥō·wn — 1 Occ.
tiṭ·ḥan — 1 Occ.
tiṭ·ḥā·nū — 1 Occ.
ṭō·w·ḥên — 1 Occ.
way·yiṭ·ḥan — 1 Occ.
wə·ṭa·ḥă·nî — 1 Occ.
wə·ṭā·ḥă·nū — 1 Occ.

2911b
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