מְחוּגָה meḥūgāh – callipers
Semantic Fields:
Utensils
Author(s):
Konrad D. Jenner, Geert Jan Veldman
First published: 2025-03-07
Citation: Konrad D. Jenner, Geert Jan Veldman, מְחוּגָה meḥūgāh – callipers,
Semantics of Ancient Hebrew Database (sahd-online.com), 2025
(WORK IN PROGRESS)
Introduction
Grammatical type: n.f.
Occurrences: 1x HB (0/1/0); 0x Sir; 0x Qum; 0x Inscr. (Total: 1)
- Nebiim: Isa 44:13.
Ketiv/ Qere: none.
A.1 The HB has preserved only one occurrence of the word מְּחוּגָה, viz. Isa 44:13, 1QIsaa has מחגה.
1. Root and Comparative Material
A.1 Root. The √חוג, ‘to draw a circle’ or ‘move in a circle’, is attested in Hebrew, Jewish-Aramaic, Syriac, and Mandaic (HAHAT, 328). The Hebrew noun חוג, ‘circle’, is derived from it. It is not impossible that the root is related to √חגג, ‘to make a pilgrimage, dance’, Arabic √ḥǧǧ, ‘to make a pilgrimage’, as well as Middle-Hebrew עוג, ‘to draw a circle’ (cf. CEDHL, 207, 210).
A.2 Old and Imperial Aramaic. In the Old Aramaic inscription KAI 202B:5 the phrase ʾyt kl mḥgt ḥsnyʾ occurs the meaning of which might be ‘a complete circle of fortresses’ (for other proposals, cf. Hoftijzer & Jongeling, DNWSI, 611).
A.3 Jewish Aramaic. מְחוּג, ‘drawing an outline of something in the air, gesturing’, which is a loanword from the Middle Persian māwāg/māhwāg, ‘means of communication used in rituals where speech is forbidden’ (cf. Jastrow, DTT, 757; Sokoloff, DJBA, 614).
A.4 Syriac. ܚܓ ḥāg, ‘to circle’ (Payne Smith, TS, 1217; Brockelmann, LS, 218; Sokoloff, SLB, 420); ܚܘܓܬܐ ḥūgtā, ‘circle’ (Payne Smith, TS, 1217; Brockelmann, LS, 218; Sokoloff, SLB, 421).
A.5 Mandaic. hgaga, ‘circle’ (Macuch, MD, 130).
2. Formal Characteristics
A.1 מְּחוּגָה seems to be the maqtal feminine form of √חוג (BL 491 par 61 iζ).
3. Syntagmatics
A.1 The word מְּחוּגָה occurs in Isa 44:13 in a singular absolute state.
A.2 מְּחוּגָה is preceded by the preposition בְּ, which בְּ introduces the instrument with which the action is performed; תאר pi., ‘to outline’ or ‘to draw’.
4. Ancient Versions
a. Septuagint (LXX) and other Greek versions:
- κόλλα, ‘with glue’:1 Isa 44:13.
b. Peshitta (Pesh):
- ܬܬܐ (tetā), ‘glue’:2 Isa 44:13.
c. Targumim (Tg):
- נצורין, ‘clasps’:3 Isa 44:13.
d. Vulgate (Vg):
- circinus, ‘pair of compasses’:4 Isa 44:13.
A.1 The lxx shortens the verse a little, but apparently καὶ ἐν κόλλῃ ἐρρύθμισεν αὐτό is its rendering of בַמְּחוּגָה יְתָאֳרֵהוּ. Usually the lxx's rendering is translated as something like ‘and he composed it with glue’. However, the primary meaning of ῥυθμίζῶ being ‘to bring into a measure of time or proportion’ (LSJ, 1576), one wonders if ἐν κόλλῃ might not be an early error for ἐν κύκλῳ, ‘with a circle’.
A.2 The renderings in αʹ and other later Greek translations have unfortunately not been preserved. In αʹ, ἐποίησεν αὐτὸ ἐν περιγωνίοις5 apparently renders יַעֲשֵׂהוּ בַּמַּקְצֻעֹות (→ מַקְצֻעָה), ‘and he fashions it with planes’. The wording however probably fits better with מְּחוּגָה. But compare the rendering of αʹ which is a cognate of מְּחוּגָה, viz. the hapax legomenon לְחָגָּה (Isa. 19:17) γύρωσιν, ‘circle’, whereas most other versions render that word with a word meaning ‘terror’ or ‘fear’.
A.3 s, possibly influenced by lxx, renders ܘܒܬܬܐ ܕܒܩܗ (wabtetā dbqēh), ‘he fastens it with glue’, but adds ܘܓܠܦܗ (wgalpēh), ‘and engraves it’, which looks like the remnant of an earlier rendering (for this earlier rendering see also the discussion in → שֶׂרֶד).
A.4 ובנצורין מאחיד ליה, ‘and he is grasping it in נצורין’. The latter word is usually translated as ‘clasps’ or the like (so e.g., Jastrow, DTT, 927; Dalman, ANHT, 275), but Levy, CWT, Bd. 2, 126 writes, ‘Form od. Messwerkzeug, womit man ein Kunstwerk nach seinen Umrissen bestimmt, proportionell abmisst’. Levy, CWT, Bd. 3, 431: ‘Werkzeug der Zimmerleute, wie Schraubstock u. dgl.’ A variant reading is ובנשמין for which the dictionaries give similar meanings.
A.5 Vg has the rendering in circino tornavit illud, ‘in callipers he rounded it off’. For circinus, ‘pair of compasses, callipers’, with which a space is measured, see LD, 334.
5. Lexical/Semantic Fields
A.1 The word is part of a set of utensils used by the carpenter to make an ornamental human-like image (כְּתַבְנִ֣ית אִ֔ישׁ).
6. Exegesis
6.1 Textual Evidence
The word מְּחוּגָה is part of a long, rather ironic description of the making of an anthropomorphic idol (Isa 44:9-20). In v. 13 a description is given of some stages in the labour of the woodworker חָרַשׁ עֵצִים. He stretches a measuring-line tight (→ קַו, outlines the shape with an awl (יְתָאֲרֵהוּ בַשֶּׂרֶד), → שֶׂרֶד, uses various chisels for further shaping (→ מַּקְצֻעָה) and וּבַמְּחוּגָה יְתָאֳרֵהוּ ‘outlines it with a מְּחוּגָה’. The same verb תאר pi., ‘to outline’ or ‘to draw’, is used with both the שֶׂרֶד and the מְּחוּגָה, suggesting that both instruments were used for drawing lines.
Rather than a precise description of the successive stages in the work of the sculptor the whole description wants to bring home the message that making an idol is an utterly human, very laborious process that stands in stark contrast to God’s making/forming his human servant ‘Jacob’ from the womb (Isa 44:2).
KJV, RSV, NRSV, JPS, NJB, and Childs 2001, 338, render ‘compass’ (cf. Klein, CEDHL, 332). This is also found in BDB, 295: ‘circle-instrument, compass’; Alonso Schökel, DBHE, 391: ‘Compás’; DCH V, 215: ‘compass’; GB, 413: ‘Zirkel, als Instrument’; KBL, 512 ‘Zirkel, circle-instrument, compass’; Zorell, 425: ‘circinus (Zirkel, compas)’; Genesius & Roediger, TPC, 450: ‘circinus’, or in German lexicons ‘Zirkel’ as in both HALAT, 538, and HAWAT, 217, and also in: HCHAT, Bd. 1, 721 ‘eig. Werkzeug, Kreise zu machen, Zirkel’, or HWAT, 336: ‘Zirkel, als Instrument’, see also MHH, 598 מכשיר להתוויית עיגלים ‘instrument for drawing circles’).
ASV and NIV have ‘compasses’. Cf. Oswalt 1998, 178: ‘scrapers’, and Baltzer 2001, 190: ‘rounding tool’, apparently following Elliger’s rendering ‘Drechseleisen’ (a lathe for polishing) which is no more than a guess, as he himself admits (Elliger 1978, 428) (also mentioned as a possibilty in HAHAT, 656 and DCH V, 215). Blenkinsopp 2002, 238, has ‘callipers’.
The context itself does not reveal the exact meaning of מְּחוּגָה other than that it is an instrument used by a woodworker (see also vv. 14-16, 19). If the parallelism of the instruments in v. 13a-b is embracing, the measuring rope (→ קַו) balances the מְּחוּגָה which suggests that the latter too might be some kind of tool to measure the width of a solid object and mark the result on another object.
6.2 Figurative Use
A.1 Not attested.
6.3 Pictorial Material
A.1 [Will be added later]
6.4 Archaeology
A.1 As a callipers is the likeliest option (for which see Conclusion) one may point at an example given by Petrie 1917: plate 77 of a late Egyptian example. A callipers was a well known and used instrument (so Petrie 1917: 60).
7. Conclusion
A.1 The word מְּחוּגָה is a hapax legomenon. Consequently, there is no reference frame of other occurrences, so that conclusions concerning the meaning of the word and the functioning of the utensil can only be drawn from Isa 44:13, the ancient versions and etymology. The interpretation of this verse is difficult, because it refers to four typical instruments the carpenter used when making a cult object or idol. The meaning of three of them is doubtful. The word belongs to the small category of technical terms (→ עֵט, → צִפֹּרֶן, → קֶסֶת, → שֶׂרֶד, → חֶרֶט), the basic function of which is either the essential shaping of artefacts or the writing of characters.
The over-technical description in Isa 44:13 merely serves to ridicule the plainly human nature of the fabrication of idols. It does not aim at providing the reader with either an exact technical knowledge of the making of cult objects or a complete survey of the tools of the craftsman. Its distinctive purpose is the denunciation of idolatry and the proclamation that Yhwh’s power is indisputable against the empty boast of the Mesopotamian deities and their representations. The contrast in magnitude between the Creator, הַיֹּשֵׁב עַל־חוּג הָאָרֶץ, ‘who dwells on the circle of the earth’ (Isa 40:22), and shapes the whole cosmos instead of a pitiful anthropomorphic image (Isa 40:12) could not be greater.
It is sometimes assumed that the description of the activities of the carpenter in v. 13 is inextricably bound up with those of the smith in v. 12. This would be the case if the smith made the plating for the wooden core of the statue. However, in that case it is strange that the metalwork precedes the woodwork. Moreover, iron plating of divine statues is unknown and the vv. 12 and 13 are separated from each other by a Setumah in 1QIsaa. So we have to assume that in v. 12 the fashioning of a solid metal idol is involved, whereas in v. 13 the making of a wooden image is ridiculed.
For the determination of the meaning of מְּחוּגָה Targum and Vulgate are the most helpful. Both point in the direction of callipers, an instrument used to measure the diameter of objects. There is a remote possibility that the lxx originally supported this too (section Ancient Versions A.2). The noun מְּחוּגָה is clearly derived from the root חוג and might mean an instrument to encircle. If the parallelism of the instruments in v. 13 is embracing (cf. section Exegesis), the מְּחוּגָה might be a pair of callipers to measure the diameter of various parts of the wooden image to ensure complete congruence (cf. Koole 1985: 288).
Bibliography
For the abbreviations see the List of Abbreviations.
Klaus Baltzer, Deutero-Isaiah: A Commentary on Isaiah 40-55, tr. M. Kohl (Hermeneia), Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 190.
Joseph Blenkinsopp, Isaiah 40-55 (AncB,19A), New York: Doubleday, 238.
Brevard S. Childs, Isaiah (OTL), Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 339.
Karl Elliger, Deuterojesaja, I (BK 11/1), Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 407, 428.
Jan L. Koole, Jesaja II (COT), Kampen: Kok 1985, 288.
John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 40-66 (NICOT), Grand Rapids: Eerdmans 1998, 178.
W.M. Flinders Petrie, Tools and Weapons: Illustrated by the Egyptian Collection in University College, London, and 2,000 Outlines from Other Sources (British School of Archaeology in Egypt and Egyptian Research Account Twenty-Second Year, 1916), London: British School of Archaeology in Egypt University College 1917.
Silvia Schroer, In Israel gab es Bilder: Nachrichten von darstellender Kunst im A.T. (OBO, 74), Fribourg: Éditions Universitaires / Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 218.