Dictionary:תְּלָאָה/0

תְּלָאָה

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תְּלָאָה

Part of Speech	Noun
Occurrences	4
Possible Meanings	Weariness Difficulties
Related Words	לאה

Possible Meanings

There are only four Biblical instances of the noun תְּלָאָה. Three of the cases, Shemot 18:8, Bemidbar 20:14, Nehemyah 9:32, plainly speak of the תְּלָאָה which befell the Children of Israel, and it is likely that the fourth verse, Eikhah 3:5, does so as well.¹ However, the meaning of the word and the events to which it refers are not completely clear in any of the occurrences. The basic possibilities correspond to the two possible meanings of the verb לאה.

1. Weariness

• See RadakSefer HaShorashim לאהAbout Radak

2. Difficulties, hardship, travails

• See Targum OnkelosShemot 18:8About Targum Onkelos, Ibn EzraLong Commentary Shemot 18:8Short Commentary Shemot 18:8About Ibn Ezra,² R. Avraham b. HaRambamShemot 18:8About R. Avraham b. HaRambam

Disputed Cases

Shemot 18:8

See the discussion in Shemot 18 of Two Accounts which Yitro Heard regarding the implications for understanding what Moshe told Yitro.³

Malakhi 1:13 – מַתְּלָאָה

The etymology and meaning of this word are the subject of significant debate.

Semantic Evolution

Intra-Biblical

Rabbinic Hebrew

Modern Hebrew

¹ If so, "רֹאשׁ" in that verse may mean a bitter or poisonous herb (like its homonym "רוש", see "ראש"). Tur-Sinai, though, in his entry on "תלאה" in the The Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew, suggests that "רֹאשׁ" there may carry its usual meaning of a head, with "תְלָאָה" meaning a heel (based on an Arabic parallel).

² Ibn Ezra traces the etymology by explaining that תְּלָאָה refers to travails that a person is unable to endure or describe.

³ I.e. must תְּלָאָה refer to the weariness resulting from the lack of food and water during the journey, or can it refer to the difficulties of the encounter with the Egyptians at Yam Suf.