Divine Symbols and Historical Shifts: The Significance of the Tav Mark in Ezekiel and the Precise Moment of the Patriarchs' Merit's End (Shabbat 55a)
The letter "tav" (תיו - tav/taw/tau), marking the righteous and the wicked in Ezekiel 9:4,1 is discussed in this sugya, see Ezekiel.9.3-6, bolding and italics mine:
וכבוד אלהי ישראל נעלה מעל הכרוב אשר היה עליו אל מפתן הבית ויקרא אל־האיש הלבש הבדים אשר קסת הספר במתניו
ויאמר יהוה אלו עבר בתוך העיר בתוך ירושל͏ם והתוית תו על־מצחות האנשים הנאנחים והנאנקים על כל־התועבות הנעשות בתוכה
ולאלה אמר באזני עברו בעיר אחריו והכו (על) [אל־]תחס (עיניכם) [עינכם] ואל־תחמלו
זקן בחור ובתולה וטף ונשים תהרגו למשחית ועל־כל־איש אשר־עליו התו אל־תגשו וממקדשי תחלו ויחלו באנשים הזקנים אשר לפני הבית
And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house; and He called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn on his side.
And the LORD said unto him: ‘Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark (התוית תו) upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof.’
And to the others He said in my hearing: ‘Go ye through the city after him, and smite; let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity;
slay utterly the old man, the young man and the maiden, and little children and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark (תו); and begin at My sanctuary.’ Then they began at the elders that were before the house.
From a historical-critical perspective, in paleo-Hebrew, this letter looks like an X or a crossed t.2
See Wikipedia, “Ezekiel 9”, section “Verse 4”:
“Mark" (Hebrew: תו tāw): interpreted as a "sign of exemption from judgment" (also in Ezekiel 9:6).
The word "tāw" for "mark" is also for calling the last letter in Hebrew alphabet; in Paleo-Hebrew alphabet and Phoenician alphabet it was written "somewhat like the English X””
Outline
The Meaning of the Mark (Tav) on the Forehead in Ezekiel 9:4
When Did the Patriarchs' Merit Cease?
Rav: in the time of Hosea (Hosea 2:12)
Shmuel: Hazael (II Kings 13:22-23)
R’ Yehoshua ben Levi: Elijah (I Kings 18:36)
R’ Yoḥanan: Hezekiah (Isaiah 9:6)
The Passage
The Meaning of the Mark (Tav) on the Forehead in Ezekiel 9:4
Various sages interpret the meaning of the letter tav here differently, presenting five opinions:
Rav: “you will live” (תחיה)3 and “you will die" (תמות)
Shmuel: “cessation/completion” (תמה) of the merit of the biblical Patriarchs4
R’ Yohanan: “the Patriarchs merit will cause mercy” (תחון).5
Reish Lakish links it to God's seal, “truth” (אמת), which ends with the letter tav.
R' Shmuel bar Naḥmani: “these are people who observed the entire Torah from aleph through tav”.6
ומאי שנא ״תיו״?
אמר רב: ״תיו״ — תחיה, ״תיו״ — תמות.
ושמואל אמר: תמה זכות אבות.
ורבי יוחנן אמר: תחון זכות אבות.
וריש לקיש אמר: ״תיו״ — סוף חותמו של הקדוש ברוך הוא, דאמר רבי חנינא: חותמו של הקדוש ברוך הוא ״אמת״.
רבי שמואל בר נחמני [אמר]: אלו בני אדם שקימו את התורה כלה מאלף ועד תיו.
The Gemara asks further: And what is different about the letter tav, that it was inscribed on the foreheads of the righteous?
Rav said: Tav is the first letter of the word tiḥye, you shall live, indicating that the righteous shall live. Tav is also the first letter of the word tamut, you shall die, indicating that the wicked shall die.
And Shmuel said: The letter tav is the first letter of the word tama, ceased, indicating that the merit of the Patriarchs has ceased and will not help the wicked.
R' Yoḥanan said: The letter tav is the first letter of the word taḥon, will have mercy, indicating that due to the merit of the Patriarchs God will have mercy on the righteous.
And Reish Lakish said: The letter tav is the last letter of the seal of the Holy One, Blessed be He, as R' Ḥanina said: The seal of the Holy One, Blessed be He, is truth [emet], which ends with the letter tav.
R' Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: The letter tav teaches that these are people who observed the entire Torah from alef through tav.
When Did the Patriarchs' Merit Cease?
The Talmud discusses when the merit of the Patriarchs ceased to protect Israel, presenting four opinions.
Each opinion identifies a specific historical or prophetic moment in the Bible when reliance on the Patriarchs’ merit ceased (leaving Israel dependent solely on God’s direct intervention).
מאימתי תמה זכות אבות?
With regard to the statement that the merit of the Patriarchs has ceased, the Gemara asks: From when did the merit of the Patriarchs cease?
Rav: in the time of Hosea (Hosea 2:12)
The merit ceased during the days of the prophet Hosea (c. 8th century BCE), as indicated by the verse, “None shall deliver her out of My hand” (Hosea 2:12), implying Israel would no longer be saved by the merit of the Patriarchs.
אמר רב:
מימות הושע בן בארי,
שנאמר:
״אגלה את נבלתה לעיני מאהביה
ואיש לא יצילנה מידי״.
Rav said:
From the days of the prophet Hosea, son of Beeri,
as it is stated:
“And now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers,
and none shall deliver her out of My hand” (Hosea 2:12). Israel will no longer be saved by the merit of the Patriarchs.
Shmuel: Hazael (II Kings 13:22-23)
It ended in the time of Hazael (c. late 9th century BCE), king of Aram, based on II Kings 13:22-23, where God’s grace due to His covenant with the Patriarchs was mentioned for the last time.
ושמואל אמר:
מימי חזאל,
שנאמר: ״וחזאל מלך ארם לחץ את ישראל כל ימי יהואחז״.
וכתיב:
״ויחן ה׳ אותם
וירחמם
ויפן אליהם
למען בריתו את אברהם יצחק ויעקב
ולא אבה השחיתם
ולא השליכם מעל פניו עד עתה״.
And Shmuel said:
The merit of the Patriarchs ceased since the days of Hazael,
as it is stated: “And Hazael, king of Aram, oppressed (לחץ) Israel all the days of Jehoahaz” (II Kings 13:22).
And it is written there:
“And the Lord was gracious to them,
and had compassion on them,
and turned toward them
because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
and would not destroy them;
neither has He till now cast them away from His presence” (II Kings 13:23).
That was the last time that the merit of the Patriarchs was mentioned.
R’ Yehoshua ben Levi: Elijah (I Kings 18:36)
The merit ceased in the era of the prophet Elijah (c. 9th century BCE), as inferred from Elijah’s prayer at Mount Carmel (I Kings 18:36), which emphasized acknowledgment of God “this day,” suggesting the merit would no longer be invoked afterward.
רבי יהושע בן לוי אמר:
מימי אליהו,
שנאמר:
״ויהי בעלות המנחה
ויגש אליהו הנביא ויאמר:
ה׳ אלהי אברהם יצחק וישראל
היום יודע כי אתה אלהים בישראל
ואני עבדך
ובדברך עשיתי [את] כל הדברים האלה וגו׳״.
R' Yehoshua ben Levi said:
The merit of the Patriarchs ceased since the days of Elijah the Prophet,
as it is stated:
“And it came to pass at the time of the evening sacrifice,
that Elijah the Prophet came near and said,
Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,
let it be known this day that you are God in Israel,
and that I am Your servant,
and that I have done all these things at Your word” (I Kings 18:36).
By inference: Let it be known this day and not afterward because the merit of the Patriarchs will cease today.
R’ Yoḥanan: Hezekiah (Isaiah 9:6)
The merit ended during the reign of Hezekiah (c. 700 BCE), king of Judah, as Isaiah 9:67 is interpreted to imply that moving forward, providence over Israel would stem solely from “God’s zeal” (קנאת ה׳ צבאות), not the merit of the Patriarchs.
ורבי יוחנן אמר:
מימי חזקיהו,
שנאמר:
״למרבה המשרה
ולשלום אין קץ
על כסא דוד, ועל ממלכתו
להכין אותה, ולסעדה
במשפט ובצדקה
מעתה ועד עולם
קנאת ה׳ צבאות תעשה זאת וגו׳״.
And R' Yoḥanan said:
The merit of the Patriarchs ceased since the days of Hezekiah,
as it is stated:
“For the increase of the realm
and for peace without end,
upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom
to order it, and to establish it
with judgment and with justice;
from now and forever
the zeal of the Lord of hosts performs this” (Isaiah 9:6).
That is to say, from this point on, the merit of the Patriarchs will not protect Israel, leaving only the zeal of the Lord.
See Wikipedia, “Ezekiel 9“:
This chapter, sub-titled "The Wicked Are Slain" in the New King James Version, contains God's "judgment on the idolaters" who defiled the temple in Jerusalem.
Ezekiel's vision of the defiled temple continues as far as Ezekiel 11:25.
For another talmudic discussion of the letter tav, in the context of a homiletic discussion of the entire alphabet in sequence, see my previous piece, on R’ Yehoshua ben Levi and the alphabet: ““The likes of which were not said even in the days of Yehoshua bin Nun”: Talmudic Homiletics on the Hebrew Alphabet - Pt.1 - the Names and Shapes of Letters (Shabbat 104a)“.
There, tav is said to symbolize truth (like Reish Lakish’s opinion here):
תי״ו — אמת.
Tav: Truth [emet].
The Talmud then goes on to clarify two aspects concerning the Hebrew terms for truth and falsehood:
Why the three letters of the Hebrew word for “falsehood” (שקר - SH-Q-R) are adjacent to one another in the alphabet, whereas the letters of the word for “truth” (אמת - E-M-T) are spread apart
Why the three letters forming the Hebrew word for “falsehood” (שקר) each “stand on a single foot (כרעיה)”, while the letters forming the letters of the word for “truth” (אמת) rest on broad, stable bases “like bricks” (לבוני):
מאי טעמא שקר מקרבן מיליה, אמת מרחקא מיליה?
שיקרא שכיח, קושטא לא שכיח.
ומאי טעמא שיקרא אחדא כרעיה קאי, ואמת מלבן לבוני?
קושטא קאי, שיקרא לא קאי.
Why are the letters of the word sheker (שקר) adjacent to one another in the alphabet, while the letters of emet (אמת) are distant from one another?
That is because while falsehood (שיקרא) is easily found, truth (קושטא) is found only with great difficulty.
And why do the letters that comprise the word sheker all stand on one foot, and the letters that comprise the word emet stand on bases that are wide like bricks?
Because the truth stands eternal and falsehood does not stand eternal.
In second-person masculine future, and same for the next. In Hebrew, second-person masculine future is always prefixed with a tav (ת), see Wikipedia, “Modern Hebrew verbs“, section “Future tense“, with the accompanying tables:
A verb in the future tense (עָתִיד /(ʔ)aˈtid/ 'atid) inflects for person, number, and gender; which is expressed by adding prefixes and suffixes to stems shown below.
The second-person singular masculine and third-person singular feminine forms are identical for all verbs in the future tense.
זכות אבות - “the merit of the Forefathers” - a recurring trope in the Talmud. The rest of the sugya here discusses an aspect of it.
Here, the tav is the prefix for the third-person feminine future of the Hebrew word for “merit" (זְכוּת- z’khut), which is grammatically feminine.
See Wiktionary, “חנן“, section “Hebrew”:
Verb
חָנַן • (khanán) (pa'al construction, infinitive לחון / לָחֹן, future יחון / יָחֹן, imperative חון / חֹן)
to pity, have mercy, deal kindly ; quotations:
Tanach, Numbers 6:25, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:
יָאֵר יְהוָה פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִיחֻנֶּךָּ׃
ya'ér YHVH panáv elékha vikhunéka.
yāʾēr YHWH pānāw ʾēléḵā wīḥunnékkā.The LORD make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee;
אָבִינוּ מַלְכֵּנוּ חָנֵּנוּ וַעֲנֵנוּ כִּי אֵין בָּנוּ מַעֲשִׂים עֲשֵׂה עִמָּנוּ צְדָקָה וָחֶסֶד וְהוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ.
avínu malkénu khonénu va'anénu kí 'én bánu ma'asím asé imánu ts'daká vakhésed v'hoshi'énu.
ʾāḇī́nū malkḗnū ḥonnḗnū waʿănḗnū kī ʾēn bā́nū maʿăśīm ʿăśē ʿimmā́nū ṣəḏāqā wāḥésed wəhōšīʿḗnū.Our Father, our King, be gracious to us and answer us, for we have no meritorious deeds; deal charitably and kindly with us and deliver us.
So Hebrew verb חנן (“to pardon, grant amnesty, to pity, have mercy, deal kindly“) can be conjugated as תָּחון (takhon) in the third-person feminine singular form, meaning—transitively—"she will cause graciousness". See the third-person masculine singular form here, referring to God, in the biblical Priestly Blessing, Numbers.6.25 (cited in that Wiktionary entry):
יאר יהוה פניו אליך
וִיחֻנֶּךָּ
May the LORD make His face shine upon you,
and be gracious to you (יחֻנֶּךָּ)
Ed. Steinsaltz imprecisely interprets:
“[the word taḥon, will have mercy, indicating] that [due to] the merit of the Patriarchs [God] will have mercy [on the righteous]."
In fact, based on the requirements of the feminine grammatical gender, the more precise reading is as I translated: "the Patriarch’s merit will cause mercy”.
I.e. from the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet to the last.
Compare the English expression “from A to Z”, which has the same meaning as here of “covering a complete range; comprehensively; from beginning to end”.
In the section discussing “The government of the promised son (9:1–7)“. R’ Yohanan understands this as referring to Hezekiah; see similarly Wikipedia ibid., section “Jewish interpretation":
Rashi, having applied ‘Emmanuel’ to Hezekiah also applies the ‘Pele Yoez’, "Wonderful Counsellor" prophecy to Hezekiah, saying that God "called the name of Hezekiah "Prince of Peace".