Lexical Summary tannur: Oven, furnace Original Word: תַּנּוּר Strong's Exhaustive Concordance furnace, oven From niyr; a fire-pot -- furnace, oven. see HEBREW niyr NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originfrom the same as tenuk Definition (portable) stove, firepot NASB Translation furnace (2), Furnaces (2), oven (10), ovens (1). Brown-Driver-Briggs תַּנּוּר noun masculineLeviticus 26:26 portable stove or fire-pot (loan-word from Assyrian tinûru, id., according to DHMVOJ i. 23 (otherwise DvorakZK i. 155 ff.); ׳ת, a large earthen jar, still in Syria, WetzstVerhandl. d. Berl. Anthrop. Gesell., 1882, 467 WhitehouseHeb.Antiq.7,3 ARSKEB l. 605; Arabic  is loan-word from Aramaic תַּנּוּרָא,  , and this from Persian tanûra, according to Frä26); — ׳ת absolute Hosea 7:4 +, construct Genesis 15:17; Psalm 21:10; plural תַּנּוּרִים Nehemiah 3:11; Nehemiah 12:38; — fire-pot, for baking (אָפָה) Hosea 7:4 (read ׳בֹּעֵר הֵ֑ם אֹפֵהוּ וגו ׳ת, OortTh. Tijdschr. 1890, 480 ff. AlbrZAW xvi (1896), 88), compare Hosea 7:6; Hosea 7:7; (all in simile), Exodus 7:28 (J), Leviticus 2:4; Leviticus 7:9; Leviticus 26:26 (P), also (breakable) Leviticus 11:35; עָשָׁן ׳ת Genesis 15:17 (JE) in vision, symbol of ׳יs presence, compare Isaiah 31:9 ("" אוּר); simile of heat Lamentations 5:10, of judgment Malachi 3:19, and so אֵשׁ ׳ת Psalm 21:10; מִגְדַּל הַתַּנּוּרִים Nehemiah 3:11; Nehemiah 12:38 a tower on wall of Jerusalem [תַּנְחוּם], תַּנְחוּמוֺת, תַּנְחֻ֫מֶת see [נחם]. I. תנן (√ of following; ? akin to II. תנה in sense lament, i.e. howl). Topical Lexicon Physical description and daily life The tannur was a cylindrical, clay or stone-lined oven, narrow at the top and wider at the base, usually set into the ground or built against an outside wall. Fed with dried dung, wood, or chaff, it quickly reached high temperatures, making it ideal for baking flatbread. In Exodus 8:3 frogs invade “your ovens and kneading troughs,” confirming its place in every household. Because bread was the staple food, the tannur stood at the heart of family life and hospitality. Communal and industrial use Large versions served whole neighborhoods. Leviticus 26:26 foresees famine when “ten women will bake bread in one oven,” showing both the normal practice of communal baking and the severity of coming judgment. In post-exilic Jerusalem the “Tower of the Ovens” (Nehemiah 3:11; Nehemiah 12:38) likely marked an area where commercial bakers worked, supplying bread for the city and temple personnel. Cultic regulations Leviticus 2:4 and 7:9 stipulate that grain offerings “baked in an oven” were acceptable at the altar, teaching that ordinary tools of sustenance can become vehicles of worship. Conversely, Leviticus 11:35 commands that a clay oven contaminated by an unclean carcass be broken, underscoring the holiness required of God’s people. Together these statutes hold daily labor and equipment to a standard of purity suited to the presence of God. Symbol of covenant presence At the ratification of the Abrahamic covenant “a smoking firepot with a blazing torch passed between the pieces” (Genesis 15:17). The tannur, filled with smoke and fire yet guided by God, embodies His self-binding promise, foreshadowing the pillar of cloud and fire in the Exodus and the fiery tongues of Pentecost. Image of refining fire and righteous judgment Throughout Scripture the oven pictures the LORD’s consuming holiness. “You will burn them up like a fiery furnace when You appear” (Psalm 21:9). “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble” (Malachi 4:1). Isaiah 31:9 locates God’s “furnace in Jerusalem,” reminding Israel that judgment begins in the city of His name. Such language anticipates final judgment while reassuring the faithful that evil will not endure. Metaphor of sinful passion Hosea uses the tannur to expose Israel’s moral decay: “They are all adulterers, burning like an oven” (Hosea 7:4); “their hearts are like an oven” (Hosea 7:6); “all of them are hot like an oven” (Hosea 7:7). The prophet captures clandestine plotting, unchecked lust, and revolutionary heat—desires fanned in secret until they erupt in open rebellion. Experience of suffering Jerusalem’s survivors lament, “Our skin is as hot as an oven because of the burning heat of famine” (Lamentations 5:10). The same vessel that normally sustained life becomes a vivid measure of deprivation, revealing how sin and siege invert God’s good gifts. Historical geography: Tower of the Ovens Located on the western wall of ancient Jerusalem, this tower guarded a district where bakers congregated, ensuring supply lines for worship and commerce. Its reconstruction under Nehemiah symbolized both physical security and the restoration of covenant life after exile. Theological and ministry insights 1. Provision and purity: Like the tannur, every believer’s vocation can feed others and honor God when offered in holiness (Romans 12:1). In its fifteen appearances, tannur moves from mundane kitchen implement to potent symbol of divine encounter, judgment, and redemption, urging the reader to keep hearth and heart alike under the sovereign flame of the Lord. Forms and Transliterations בְּתַנּ֣וּר בַּתַּנּ֔וּר בתנור הַתַּנּוּרִ֔ים הַתַּנּוּרִֽים׃ התנורים התנורים׃ וְתַנּ֥וּר וּבְתַנּוּרֶ֖יךָ ובתנוריך ותנור כְּתַנּ֣וּר כְּתַנּ֥וּר כַּתַּנּ֑וּר כַּתַּנּ֔וּר כַתַּנּ֛וּר כתנור תַּנּ֧וּר תַנּ֑וּר תַנּ֔וּר תַנּ֤וּר תנור bat·tan·nūr battanNur battannūr bə·ṯan·nūr betanNur bəṯannūr chattanNur hat·tan·nū·rîm hattannuRim hattannūrîm kat·tan·nūr ḵat·tan·nūr kattanNur kattannūr ḵattannūr kə·ṯan·nūr ketanNur kəṯannūr tan·nūr ṯan·nūr tanNur tannūr ṯannūr ū·ḇə·ṯan·nū·re·ḵā ūḇəṯannūreḵā uvetannuReicha vetanNur wə·ṯan·nūr wəṯannūrLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Genesis 15:17 HEB: הָיָ֑ה וְהִנֵּ֨ה תַנּ֤וּר עָשָׁן֙ וְלַפִּ֣יד NAS: [there appeared] a smoking oven and a flaming KJV: behold a smoking furnace, and a burning INT: came and behold oven a smoking torch Exodus 8:3 Leviticus 2:4 Leviticus 7:9 Leviticus 11:35 Leviticus 26:26 Nehemiah 3:11 Nehemiah 12:38 Psalm 21:9 Isaiah 31:9 Lamentations 5:10 Hosea 7:4 Hosea 7:6 Hosea 7:7 Malachi 4:1 15 Occurrences |
    |