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H8567 · Hebrew · Old Testament
תָּנַן
Tanan
Verb (Hithpael)
To present oneself / To extend

Definition

A rare Hebrew verb appearing only in Judges 11:40 in the Hithpael stem, meaning to commemorate, to go repeatedly (in a custom), or to rehearse/recite. Jephthah's daughter's companions would "go out to rehearse" her story annually — keeping memory alive through communal practice.

Usage & Theological Significance

The custom of young women going to commemorate Jephthah's daughter four days each year is one of the Bible's most poignant memorials. A young woman whose name is never recorded gave her life to honor her father's vow, and Israel's daughters kept her memory alive for generations. The act of tanan — going out to rehearse her story — models how communities preserve the memory of costly sacrifice. The Christian practice of the Lord's Supper ("do this in remembrance of me") belongs to this same tradition of sacred remembrance, keeping the memory of the ultimate sacrifice alive until Christ returns.

Key Bible Verses

Judges 11:40 and each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
Judges 11:36 She replied, "My father, you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites."
Psalm 78:4 We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD.
Deuteronomy 16:3 You shall eat unleavened bread with it so that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of Egypt.
1 Corinthians 11:26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

Related Words

External Resources

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