biology

Tehom

Tehom is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tehom rather than just read about it. In short: Tehom (Hebrew: תְּהוֹם təhôm) is a Northwest Semitic and Biblical Hebrew word meaning "the deep" or "abyss" (literally "the deeps"). It is used to describe the primeval ocean and the post-creation waters of the earth.

Key takeaways

Tehom belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tehom to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tehom from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Tehom (Hebrew: תְּהוֹם təhôm) is a Northwest Semitic and Biblical Hebrew word meaning "the deep" or "abyss" (literally "the deeps"). It is used to describe the primeval ocean and the post-creation waters of the earth. It is a cognate of the Akkadian words tiāmtum and tâmtum as well as Ugaritic t-h-m which have similar meanings. According to a theological dictionary, tehom derives from a Semitic root which denoted the sea as a non-personified entity with mythological import. In the Hebrew, tehom doesn't use a definitive article, indicating its original conception may have been for a deity, which was common in Canaanite, Egyptian and Mesopotamian conceptions. This ancient pattern of a creative act involves the separation of the primeval waters, bringing about creation and order to the world.

Genesis Tehom is mentioned in Genesis 1:2, where it is translated as "deep":

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. The same word is used for the origin of Noah's flood in Genesis 7:11:

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

Gnosticism

Gnostics used Genesis 1:2 to propose that the original creator deity, called the Pléroma "Totality" or Bythós "Deep," preexisted Elohim and gave rise to such later divinities and spirits by way of emanations, progressively more distant and removed from the original form. In Mandaean cosmology, the Sea of Suf is a primordial sea in the World of Darkness.

Kabbalah Tehom is also mentioned as the first of seven "Infernal Habitations" that correspond to the ten qlippoth (literally "peels") of Jewish Kabbalistic tradition, often in place of Sheol.

Sanchuniathon Robert R. Stieglitz stated that Eblaitic texts demonstrate the equation of the goddess Berouth in the mythology of Sanchuniathon with Ugaritic thmt and Akkadian Tiâmat, as the sea was called tihamatum, and also buʾrâtum = Canaanite beʾerôt ("fountains").

See also Abyss (religion) Abzu Atum Cosmic Ocean Nu (mythology) Tohu wa-bohu Tiamat

References

Sources

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tehom

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tehom claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tehom before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tehom ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tehom

In research: Tehom appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tehom in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tehom is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Biblical cosmology, Genesis 1, Hebrew words and phrases in the Hebrew Bible, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tehom outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tehom in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tehom means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tehom out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tehom in simple terms?

Why does Tehom matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tehom?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tehom.