זָנָב (za.nav)
za.nav
tail
H:N-MQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 7 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-M
Definition
Definition
Brown-Driver-Briggs
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
What This Word Means for Your Faith
In Scripture, the word for 'tail' often carries a heavy symbolic weight regarding status and leadership. It appears in Deuteronomy as a stark warning: if Israel turns away from God, they will become the tail rather than the head. This imagery speaks to the loss of influence and dignity that comes when we drift from divine guidance. Conversely, remaining faithful ensures we lead with wisdom rather than following blindly.
Yet the word also appears in vivid, physical descriptions, such as Samson using fox tails for fire or the majestic description of God’s creatures. These instances remind us that God uses even the smallest or most unexpected parts of creation to accomplish His purposes. Whether in moments of warning or wonder, this term grounds us in the reality that our position before God determines our standing in the world.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 7 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- tail2×
- into/ [the] tail2×
- the/ tails1×
- tail/ its1×
- on/ tail/ its1×
- and/ tail1×
- [the] stumps of1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- לְ/זָנָֽב\׃1×
- לְ/זָנָ֔ב1×
- זָנָב֙1×
- זָנָ֔ב1×
- זַנְב֧וֹת1×
- זְנָב֣/וֹ1×
- וְ/זָנָ֖ב1×
- הַ/זְּנָב֖וֹת1×
- בִּ/זְנָב֑/וֹ1×
Key Verses
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Deuteronomy 28:13
Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail. You will be above only, and you will not be beneath, if you listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you today, to observe and to do,
This verse establishes 'tail' as a metaphor for subjugation and loss of leadership, contrasting sharply with being the 'head' through obedience.
-
Deuteronomy 28:44
He will lend to you, and you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail.
Here the tail imagery intensifies to describe economic dependence and reversal of fortune as a consequence of covenant failure.
-
Judges 15:4
Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took torches, and turned tail to tail, and put a torch in the middle between every two tails.
Samson’s use of tails for torches shows the word in a literal, tactical context where physical attributes are repurposed for deliverance.
-
Isaiah 7:4
Tell him, ‘Be careful, and keep calm. Don’t be afraid, neither let your heart be faint because of these two tails of smoking torches, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.
Isaiah calls the leaders of Syria and Israel 'smoking torches' (tails), using the term to depict weak, dangerous, but ultimately insignificant threats.