טַבָּח H2876
A royal executioner or bodyguard ('slaughterer'); rarely, a cook who slaughters and prepares food.
Derived from the root meaning 'to slaughter,' this noun took two strikingly different paths in biblical usage. In the overwhelming majority of occurrences (30x), it denotes a member of the royal guard — literally a 'slaughterer' in the king's service, charged with executions and security. The phrase 'captain of the guard' (rab tabbachim) appears repeatedly for Nebuchadnezzar's chief officer Nebuzaradan (2 Kgs 25:8ff; Jer 39:9ff) and for Potiphar in the Joseph narrative (Gen 37:36; 39:1). Only twice (1 Sam 9:23-24) does the word mean 'cook' — the person who slaughtered and prepared the sacrificial meal for Samuel's guests. Spanish 'guardias'/'la-guardia' and French 'garde' capture the bodyguard sense, while 'cocinero' and 'cook' reflect the rare culinary meaning.
1. executioner, bodyguard (royal slaughterer) — A royal executioner, bodyguard, or member of the king's armed retinue — the 'slaughterer' who served the monarch in matters of security and capital punishment. Potiphar is 'captain of the guard' (sar hattabbachim) in Genesis (37:36; 39:1), and Nebuzaradan holds the parallel title rab tabbachim throughout the Babylonian siege narratives (2 Kgs 25:8-20; Jer 39:9-14; 52:12-30). Spanish 'guardias'/'los-guardias' and French 'garde' uniformly render this as a military-security role. The Aramaic cognate in Daniel 2:14 (rab tabbachayya) confirms the semantic continuity across biblical languages. 30×
AR["الشُرَطِ","الشُّرَطِ"]·ben["দেহরক্ষীদের","রক্ষীদের","রক্ষীদের।"]·DE["Schlaechter","executioners"]·EN["executioners","the-executioners"]·FR["executioners","garde"]·heb["טבחים"]·HI["अंगरक्षक","अंगरक्षकों-का","अंगरक्षकों-के","अंगरक्षकों-ने","तब्बाखीम","देहरक्षकों","देहरक्षकों-ने"]·ID["-pengawal","Tabakhim","pengawal"]·IT["boia","capitano-della-guardia"]·jav["juru-jagal","pengawal"]·KO["경호대의","친위대의"]·PT["Tabachim","guardas","os-guardas"]·RU["Тавахим","стражи","телохранителей"]·ES["guardias","la-guardia","los-guardias","verdugos"]·SW["walinzi"]·TR["Tabbahim","muhafizlarin","muhafızların"]·urd["جلادوں","جلادوں-نے","جلادوں-کا","جلادوں-کے","مویشی-خانے-کا","مویشی-خانے-کے"]
Gen 37:36, Gen 39:1, Gen 40:3, Gen 40:4, Gen 41:10, Gen 41:12, 2 Kgs 25:8, 2 Kgs 25:10, 2 Kgs 25:11, 2 Kgs 25:12, 2 Kgs 25:15, 2 Kgs 25:18 (+18 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
2. cook, one who slaughters and prepares food — A cook — one who slaughters animals and prepares meat for a meal. This rare sense (only 1 Sam 9:23-24) describes the cook to whom Samuel gave instructions regarding the reserved portion of meat for Saul's honor meal. Spanish 'al-cocinero'/'el-cocinero' clearly distinguishes this culinary meaning from the military sense. The semantic link between the two senses is the root act of slaughtering: what diverges is whether the slaughter serves a royal security function or a food-preparation function. 2×
AR["الـ-طَبَّاخُ","لِلـ-طَبَّاخِ"]·ben["-রাঁধুনি","-রাঁধুনিকে"]·DE["der-cook","zu-der-cook"]·EN["the-cook","to-the-cook"]·FR["le-cook","à-le-cook"]·heb["ה-טבח","ל-טבח"]·HI["रसोई-ने","से-रसोई"]·ID["kepada-tukang-masak","tukang-masak"]·IT["a-il-cuoco","il-cuoco"]·jav["dhateng-juru-masak","juru-masak"]·KO["그-요리사가","그-요리사에게"]·PT["ao-cozinheiro","o-cozinheiro"]·RU["повар","повару"]·ES["al-cocinero","el-cocinero"]·SW["kwa-mpishi","mpishi"]·TR["-aşçı","-aşçıya"]·urd["باورچی-سے","باورچی-نے"]
Related Senses
H4421 1. war, battle, armed conflict (319×)H0341 1. enemy, adversary, foe (284×)H3898a 1. Nifal: to fight, wage war (167×)H2026 1. kill, slay (active) (146×)H2451 1. wisdom, discernment (146×)H5483b 1. horse (the animal) (138×)H0006 1. to perish, be destroyed (105×)H7843 1. Hifil: destroy, annihilate (83×)H2491a 1. slain, fatally pierced (74×)H6862c 1. adversary, enemy, foe (69×)H8045 1. destroy, exterminate (69×)G0615 1. kill, put to death (60×)H6571b 1. horseman, cavalryman (52×)H8077a 1. desolation, waste (abstract state) (52×)G4678 1. of wisdom (51×)G4717 1. crucify, fasten to a cross (46×)H2763a 1. utterly destroy (Hifil active) (44×)G0622 1. perish, be destroyed (intransitive) (41×)H0006 2. to destroy, annihilate (Piel) (38×)H8074 1. be desolate, lie waste (36×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
טַבָּח n.m. 1 S 9:23 1. cook, 2.guardsman;— †1. cook (who also killed the animal for food and served it) טַבָּח abs. 1 S 9:23, 24†. 2. elsewhere only pl. טַבָּחִים guardsmen, bodyguard (orig. royal slaughterers; v. RSOTJC 426 (262); Sem i. 1st ed., 396); always in the foll. combinations: שַׂר הַטּ׳ captain of Pharaoh’s bodyguard Gn 37:36; 39:1 (both J), 40:3, 4; 41:10, 12 (all E); רַב־ט׳ chief of…