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Part One · Chapter Three — Temunah and Tavnit
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It is supposed that temunah and tavnit have one and the same meaning in the Hebrew language; but it is not so.
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For tavnit is a noun derived from banah ('to build'), and its meaning is the building of a thing and its configuration — I mean its shape — such as being square, round, triangular, and the other figures.
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It says, 'the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its vessels' (Exod 25:9); and it says, 'after their pattern, which thou wast shown on the mount' (Exod 25:40); 'the form of any bird' (Deut 4:17); 'the form of a hand' (Ezek 8:3); 'the pattern of the porch' (1 Chr 28:11). All of this is shape.
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And therefore the Hebrew language never applies these words to any descriptions pertaining to God in any way.
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As for temunah, it is a noun said of three meanings by way of amphiboly (tashkīk).
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Namely: it is said of the form of a thing perceived by the senses outside the mind — I mean its shape and outline — and that is His saying, 'and you make a graven image, the form of anything' (Deut 4:16), and so forth, 'for you saw no form' (Deut 4:15).
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And it is said of the imagined form present in the imagination — that of a person after he has gone from the senses — and that is His saying, 'in thoughts from the visions of the night' (Job 4:13), and so forth, and the end of the passage: 'it stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; a form was before my eyes' (Job 4:16) — meaning an image facing my eyes in sleep.
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And it is said of the true notion apprehended by the intellect. It is according to this third meaning that temunah is predicated of Him, may He be exalted: it says, 'and the form of the Lord does he behold' (Num 12:8) — its meaning and explanation being: and the true reality of God he apprehends.