Bible Dictionary
Explore biblical people, places, events, objects, ideas, and other terms. Search the dictionary directly, browse alphabetically, or narrow the list by category or Testament.
Tomb
Objects & Symbols - Both
A tomb was commonly a natural cave or chamber cut into rock, often containing deep recesses for bodies. Jewish burial practices generally used simple rock-hewn sepulchres rather than coffins or elaborate sarcophagi.
Tombs
Objects & Symbols - Both
Hebrew tombs were generally natural caves or chambers excavated in solid rock, sometimes located in gardens. Their entrances were commonly closed with stones, and tombs could also be whitewashed.
TONGS
Temple & Tabernacle - Both
Tongs were implements used to handle hot objects, especially coals from the altar. In several passages the related term refers more specifically to snuffers used with the lamps of the sanctuary.
TONGUES OF FIRE
Holy Spirit - New Testament
The tongues of fire were the fire-like manifestations resting upon the disciples when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. They signified the Spirit’s empowering presence and accompanied the miraculous speaking of various languages as the disciples proclaimed God’s works.
Tongues, Confusion of
Doctrine & Theology - Old Testament
The confusion of tongues refers to God’s judgment at Babel, where human speech was confused and the people were scattered over the earth. The event explains the division of mankind into nations and languages.
Tongues, Gift of
Holy Spirit - New Testament
The gift of tongues was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit seen especially at Pentecost and in the early churches. It involved Spirit-enabled speech requiring interpretation in congregational worship, while at Pentecost people heard the message in their own languages.
TOOLS
Agriculture & Daily Life - Both
Biblical tools included hammers, chisels, knives, axes, saws, awls, drills, styluses, measuring lines, compasses, plumb-lines, and related implements. They were used in woodworking, stonework, metalwork, building, engraving, and agriculture, generally being made of iron, bronze, or stone.
Tooth
Agriculture & Daily Life - Both
Teeth are mentioned in Scripture in connection with justice, suffering, anger, famine, and judgment. “Gnashing of teeth” expresses rage or despair, while “cleanness of teeth” describes famine.
TOPARCHY
Government & Society - Inter-testament
A toparchy was a small administrative district or province. In the Maccabean period, several such districts were detached from Samaria and attached to Judea, which itself was divided into a number of toparchies.
Topaz
Objects & Symbols - Both
Topaz was a precious stone used in the high priest’s breastplate and included among the foundations of the New Jerusalem. The biblical stone may correspond to what is now called chrysolite rather than modern topaz.
Tophel
Places & Geography - Old Testament
Tophel was a place mentioned in Moses’ address to Israel in the wilderness. Its exact location is uncertain, though it has been associated with the region near modern Tafileh east of the Dead Sea.
Tophet
Sin & Judgment - Old Testament
Tophet was a place in the Valley of Hinnom associated with child sacrifice and later with burning and divine punishment. Because of these associations, it became a symbol of the place of judgment.
Topheth
Places & Geography - Old Testament
Topheth was a place in the Valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem. It became infamous as a site where children were sacrificed by fire to Molech and was later defiled during Josiah’s reforms.
TORCH
Objects & Symbols - Both
A torch was a large portable light or flambeau, used for illumination and sometimes associated with armies, visions, or divine signs. Biblical references include Gideon’s men, prophetic imagery, Jesus’ arrest, and judgment imagery in Revelation.
Torches
Objects & Symbols - New Testament
Torches were handheld lights used to illuminate the night. Men carrying lanterns and torches accompanied Judas when he came with the authorities to arrest Jesus in Gethsemane.
Tormah
Other - Old Testament
Tormah appears only in the margin of Judges 9:31 as an alternative rendering of “privily” or “craftily.” It is not known as the name of a place, and the underlying text is uncertain.
Torment
Sin & Judgment - Both
Torment means severe distress or suffering. In biblical usage it can describe painful disease, affliction, or punishment.
TORMENTOR
Sin & Judgment - New Testament
A tormentor may mean a torturer or jailer, especially one holding a debtor until restitution was made. In the parable of the unforgiving servant, the term refers to those who inflicted imprisonment and suffering.
Tortoise
Agriculture & Daily Life - Old Testament
The animal called the tortoise in older English Bibles is more likely the great lizard or thorny-tailed lizard. It was listed among the unclean creeping animals in Leviticus 11:29.
TOTEMISM
Jewish Life & Customs - Old Testament
Totemism is the theory that clans or peoples identify with and reverence an animal, plant, or other ancestral symbol. Animal-related personal and tribal names have been cited as possible evidence in early Israel, but the evidence is uncertain and does not show that totemism shaped Israel’s established religion.
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