---
title: תַּנִּין — serpent · The Tanakh dictionary
description: תַּנִּין (8577), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 14 times: serpent. BDB 1906: n.m. serpent, dragon, sea-monster. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/8577.html)

<!-- crumbs -->
[home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [Tanakh](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/) / [ת](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1514-2.md)‎ / תַּנִּין‎

<!-- .hw dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
# תַּנִּין

<!-- .meta -->
«תַּנִּין» in the Tanakh dictionary: **serpent** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Used:** 14 times · **Key:** 8577 · **BDB:** תַּנִּין

### Glosses

monster (4); \[the\].sea.monster (2); serpent (2)

### Meaning (OSHB)

serpent [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1514/8577/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

n.m. serpent, dragon, sea-monster [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1514/8577/#m2)

<!-- fold -->
**The whole BDB entry:** (erron. תַּנִּים) n.m. Ez 29:3 serpent, dragon, sea-monster (NH id. (rare); Arabic تَنِّينٌ, loan-word from Aramaic תַּנִּינָא, ܬܰܢܺܝܢܳܐ Frä123; Ethiopic ተመን );—abs. ת׳ Ex 7:9 +, ים— Ez 29:3; 32:2 (by confusion with pl. of \[תַּן\]); pl. תַּנִּינִם Gn 1:21, etc.;— serpent, Dt 32:33 (venomous), ψ 91:13 (‖ פֶּתֶן), Ex 7:9, 10, 12 (P). dragon, as devourer (sim.) Je 51:34; עֵין הַתּ׳ Ne 2:13, near Jerus. sea- (or river-) monster, Gn 1:21 (P); fig. Jb 7:12 ψ 74:13 (i.e. Egyptians), Is 27:1; 51:9 (‖ רַהַב mythol. personif. of chaos) Ez 29:3; 32:2; called to praise י׳ ψ 148:7 (‖ תְּהֹמוֹת).—Vid. CheEncy. Bib. dragon GunkSchöpfung 69 ff. BartonJAOS xv. 1(1891), 23 f.; personif. of water-spout RSSem i. 161; 2nd ed. 176; cf. Gk. fish-name θύννος LewyFremdw. 15.

<!-- .note -->
Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 14 of its verses cited, 3 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (4 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (3 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «תַּנִּין» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1514/8577/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

<!-- div verse -->

<!-- .ref -->
[Deuteronomy 32:33](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/DEU.32.33/)

<!-- .vt dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
חֲמַ֥ת תַּנִּינִ֖ם יֵינָ֑ם וְרֹ֥אשׁ פְּתָנִ֖ים אַכְזָֽר׃

*Word for word:* \[is.the\].venom of.serpents wine their and.\[the\] poison of.cobras cruel

*JPS 1917:* Their wine is the venom of serpents, and the cruel poison of asps.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- div verse -->

<!-- .ref -->
[Psalms 91:13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/PSA.91.13/)

<!-- .vt dir=rtl lang=hbo -->
עַל־שַׁ֣חַל וָפֶ֣תֶן תִּדְרֹ֑ךְ תִּרְמֹ֖ס כְּפִ֣יר וְתַנִּֽין׃

*Word for word:* on a.lion and a.cobra you.will.tread you.will.trample a.young.lion and a.serpent

*JPS 1917:* Thou shalt tread upon the lion and asp; the young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under feet.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [תַּנְחֻמֶת](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/8576.md)
- next →: [תִּנְשֶׁמֶת](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/8580.md)
- ↑ back to [ת](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1514-2.md)