H2889 — טָהוֹר (tahowr)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H2889
Original: טָהוֹר
Transliteration: tahowr (ṭâhôwr)
Pronunciation: taw-hore'
Part of Speech: Adjective
Root: טָהֵר (taher, H2891) — to be clean, pure
Occurrences: 86 unique verses (94 tokens) across 17 books
First Occurrence: Gen 7:2 — "Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

From H2891; pure (in a physical, chemical, ceremonial or moral sense): — clean, fair, pure(-ness).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
pure	38	44.2%
clean	31	36.0%
and the clean	5	5.8%
that is clean / the clean / a clean	5	5.8%
fair	1	1.2%
pureness	1	1.2%
Other phrases	5	5.8%

Two dominant translations account for 80%: "pure" (material/moral contexts) and "clean" (ceremonial/dietary contexts).

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Exodus	28	2.3
Leviticus	20	2.3
Numbers	7	0.5
Deuteronomy	6	0.6
Genesis	3	0.2
Psalms	3	0.1
Proverbs	3	0.3
Ezekiel	3	0.2
2 Chronicles	4	0.5
Job	2	0.2
1 Chronicles	1	0.1
1 Samuel	1	0.1
Ecclesiastes	1	0.5
Ezra	1	0.4
Isaiah	1	0.1
Malachi	1	1.8
Zechariah	1	0.5

Heavily concentrated in Exodus (28) and Leviticus (20), which together account for 56% of all occurrences. Exodus uses almost entirely for tabernacle materials ("pure gold," "pure candlestick"), while Leviticus uses predominantly for ceremonial status ("clean/unclean" distinctions). Absent from most prophetic books and all NT.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Pure Gold / Material Purity (Tabernacle Construction)¶

The largest single use — describing gold for sacred furnishings: - Exo 25:11 — "thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without" - Exo 25:17 — "thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold" - Exo 25:31 — "thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold" - Exo 37:24 — "Of a talent of pure gold made he it, and all the vessels thereof"

2. Ceremonially Clean (Persons)¶

Describing a person's ritual status — eligible to participate in worship or handle sacred things: - Num 19:18 — "a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it" - Num 19:19 — "the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day" - Lev 15:8 — "if he that hath the issue spit upon him that is clean" - Ezra 6:20 — "the priests and the Levites were purified together, all of them were pure"

3. Clean Animals / Dietary Classification¶

Distinguishing edible from forbidden animals: - Gen 7:2 — "Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens" - Gen 8:20 — "took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings" - Lev 11:47 — "To make a difference between the unclean and the clean" - Deut 14:11 — "Of all clean birds ye shall eat"

4. Skin Disease Verdicts¶

Priestly pronouncement that a skin condition is not leprous: - Lev 13:13 — "the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean" - Lev 13:17 — "if the plague be turned into white; then the priest shall pronounce him clean" - Lev 13:40 — "the man whose hair is fallen off his head, he is bald; yet is he clean" - Lev 14:57 — "To teach when it is unclean, and when it is clean: this is the law of leprosy"

5. Moral / Inner Purity¶

Extended to describe character, words, or heart: - Psalm 12:6 — "The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times" - Psalm 51:10 — "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" - Prov 15:26 — "The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words" - Prov 30:12 — "There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness"

6. Sacred Distinction (Holy vs. Common, Clean vs. Unclean)¶

Used in teaching-formula passages about distinguishing categories: - Lev 10:10 — "that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean" - Eze 22:26 — "Her priests have violated my law… they have put no difference between the unclean and the clean" - Eze 44:23 — "they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean"

7. Pure Worship / Offering¶

Describing the quality of worship or incense: - Exo 30:35 — "thou shalt make it a perfume… tempered together, pure and holy" - Mal 1:11 — "in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering" - Psalm 19:9 — "The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
זָהָב (zahab)	H2091	28x (33%)	"pure gold" — tabernacle materials
עָשָׂה (asah)	H6213	25x (29%)	"he made [it of] pure gold" — construction
טָמֵא (tame)	H2931	13x (15%)	"unclean and clean" — contrastive pair
אָכַל (akal)	H398	10x (12%)	dietary law — "the clean shall eat"
קֹדֶשׁ (qodesh)	H6944	8x (9%)	"pure… holy" — sacred objects
צָפָה (tsaphah)	H6823	8x (9%)	"overlay with pure gold"
טָהֵר (taher)	H2891	7x (8%)	root verb nearby — purification contexts
כֹּהֵן (kohen)	H3548	7x (8%)	priest pronouncing clean/unclean
כְּלִי (kliy)	H3627	7x (8%)	"vessels of pure gold"
זֵר (zer)	H2213	6x (7%)	"crown of pure gold round about"

Word Family / Cognates¶

H2891 טָהֵר (taher) — root verb: to be clean, to purify, to pronounce clean (93v)
H2892 טֹהַר (tohar) — noun: purity, purifying, brightness
H2893 טׇהֳרָה (tohorah) — noun: purification, cleansing

Synonyms¶

No synonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H2889.

Antonyms¶

H2931 טָמֵא (tame) — "unclean, defiled." The regular opposite of tahowr in priestly and prophetic clean/unclean distinction formulas (Lev 10:10; Eze 22:26; Eze 44:23).

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
זַךְ (zak)	H2134	"pure," "clean" (10v)	zak = transparency/clarity (Job-Proverbs poetic); tahowr = broader — ritual, material, moral
בַּר (bar)	H1249	"pure," "clean" (2v)	bar = grain-purity metaphor, "beloved"; tahowr = established ritual/material term
צָרַף (tsaraph)	H6884	"pure" (2v)	tsaraph = verb "to refine by smelting"; tahowr = adjectival state after purifying
טָמֵא (tame)	H2931	antonym pair	tame = unclean/defiled — the direct opposite; co-occurs 13x in contrastive formulas

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domains¶

[002003001014] Pure — search_relationships.py places tahowr in the core purity field with neighbors such as H2134 זַךְ, H2141 זכך, H2891 טהר, H2892 טֹהַר, H4357 מִכְלֹות, and H4935 מִשְׁעִי.
[002001001012] Clean — the same tool also groups tahowr with cleanliness vocabulary including H1252/H1253 בֹּר, H1305 ברר, H1740 דוח, H2212 זקק, and H2219 זרה.
[002003003015] Innocent — a secondary domain linking purity with blamelessness, with neighbors such as H935 בוא, H1252/H1253 בֹּר, H1305 ברר, and H1460 גֵּו.
[002001001029] Good — relationship data also associates tahowr with positive quality language, including H158 אַהַב, H166/H167 אהל, H571 אֱמֶת, and H974 בחן.
[002001002012] Great — another secondary field links tahowr with excellence or elevated quality, alongside H117 אַדִּיר, H142 אדר, H145 אֶדֶר, H155 אַדֶּרֶת, and A311/H310 אַחַר.
[002001003014] Right — search_relationships.py also places tahowr near rightness / uprightness vocabulary, including H571 אֱמֶת, A749 אֲרִיךְ, H833 אשׁר, and A1247/A1251/H1248 בַּר.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
καθαρός (katharos) G2513	65	7.06	Primary — used in ~76% of LXX renderings
ἀκάθαρτος (akathartos) G169	14	4.98	Contextual — translates the "unclean" in clean/unclean contrast passages
χρυσίον (chrysion) G5553	17	4.46	Co-textual — "gold" appears alongside tahowr in tabernacle passages

The dominant bridge is G2513 katharos (65 co-occurrences, PMI 7.06) — the standard Greek adjective for "clean/pure." This is a strong one-to-one mapping.