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BADGERS’ SKINS.—Mentioned (in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ) as the upper covering of the Tabernacle, etc. (Exo_25:5; Exo_26:14 etc.), and materials for making sandals (Eze_16:10). It is almost certain the word tahash is mistranslated ‘badger,’ as badgers, though found in Southern Palestine, are not common enough, nor are their skins suitable for such use to have been made of them. The RV [Note: Revised Version.] sealskins (mg. porpoise-skins) hardly eases the difficulty zoologically, although having some support from etymology. Delitzsch, from the similarity of tahash to the Assyr. [Note: Assyrian.] tahshan = ‘wether,’ thinks it probable that the word means the same in Hebrew. A recent suggestion that the Heb. word tahash is taken from the Egyp. ths, meaning ‘leather,’ seems the most reasonable explanation.
E. W. G. Masterman.