H8544 — תְּמוּנָה (tᵉmûwnâh)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H8544
Original: תְּמוּנָה
Transliteration: tᵉmûwnâh
Pronunciation: tem-oo-naw
Part of Speech: feminine noun (n-f)
Root: No root_word entry is populated for H8544 in the lexicon DB; Strong's defines it as something "portioned / fashioned out" into a shape or likeness
Occurrences: 11 tokens in 10 unique verses across 5 books
First Occurrence: Exo 20:4 — "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness..."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Something portioned (i.e. fashioned) out, as a shape; by extension phantom, embodiment, or manifestation (of favor). KJV renderings cluster tightly around image, likeness, and similitude.

The BDB data in the lexicon table keeps the OT usage narrow: a representation / form / semblance, especially in four settings visible in the corpus itself: forbidden likenesses in the image-commandment texts, the unseen form at Horeb, the LORD's form beheld by Moses, and the form of a nocturnal apparition.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
likeness (incl. "the likeness," "with thy likeness")	5	50.0%
similitude (incl. "the similitude," "of similitude," "and the similitude")	4	40.0%
image	1	10.0%

The raw lookup output includes one fragmented English segment ("but" in Deu 4:12), but semantically the distribution is almost entirely "likeness / similitude," with a single "image" rendering in Job 4:16.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Deuteronomy	6	0.6
Exodus	1	0.1
Numbers	1	0.1
Job	1	0.1
Psalms	1	0.0

Sixty percent of the corpus is concentrated in Deuteronomy 4-5. The word is therefore dominated by Horeb/Decalogue discourse: Israel heard the divine voice but saw no form, so they must not fabricate one. The remaining uses split between one authorized sight of the LORD's form (Num 12:8), one visionary apparition (Job 4:16), and one Psalmic hope of beholding God's likeness (Psa 17:15).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Forbidden Visual Representation¶

Exo 20:4 — "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness..."
Deu 4:16 — "make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure"
Deu 4:23 — "make you a graven image, [or] the likeness of any [thing]"
Deu 4:25 — "make a graven image, [or] the likeness of any [thing]"
Deu 5:8 — "Thou shalt not make thee [any] graven image, [or] any likeness..."

Here temunah names the visual representation itself. It is not yet the idol-object term (pecel), but the likeness or form that the idol attempts to capture.

2. No Visible Form at Horeb¶

Deu 4:12 — "ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude"
Deu 4:15 — "ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb"

These verses supply the logic behind the prohibition: revelation at Horeb was auditory, not visual. Israel heard a voice but was given no divine form to reproduce.

3. Granted Sight of the LORD's Form¶

Num 12:8 — "the similitude of the LORD shall he behold"
Psa 17:15 — "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness"

Outside the prohibition passages, temunah can denote a true manifestation or form belonging to the LORD rather than a fabricated representation of him.

4. Apparition / Visionary Form¶

Job 4:16 — "I could not discern the form thereof: an image [was] before mine eyes"

In Job 4:16 the word refers neither to an idol nor to covenant revelation, but to the visible form of a night apparition.

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
פֶּסֶל (pecel)	H6459	5x	"graven image ... likeness" in commandment and warning texts
עָשָׂה (asah)	H6213	5x	"make" a likeness or image
יְהֹוָה (Yehovah)	H3068	5x	the LORD whose form was unseen, forbidden to copy, or truly beheld
רָאָה (ra'ah)	H7200	2x	"saw no similitude" / "shall he behold"
קוֹל (qol)	H6963	2x	voice heard in contrast to form not seen
מַרְאֶה (mar'eh)	H4758	2x	visible appearance before the eyes

The dominant cluster is the Decalogue/Horeb formula: make + graven image + likeness. The secondary cluster is visual perception language: see / behold / appearance / voice, especially in Num 12:8 and Deu 4:12-15.

Word Family / Cognates¶

No direct cognate or root_word entry is populated for H8544 in the lexicon table.
The closest same-field Hebrew nouns surfaced by translation overlap and LXX-backmapping are H1823 דְּמוּת (dᵉmûwth), H8403 תַּבְנִית (tabnîyth), and H4758 מַרְאֶה (mar'eh).

Synonyms / Near-Synonyms¶

H1823 דְּמוּת (dᵉmûwth) — resemblance, model, shape; the strongest Hebrew overlap for "likeness."
H8403 תַּבְנִית (tabnîyth) — pattern, structure, model; more architectural or patterned than temunah.
H4758 מַרְאֶה (mar'eh) — appearance, sight, visible form; emphasizes what is seen.

Antonyms¶

No antonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for H8544.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
דְּמוּת (dᵉmûwth)	H1823	"likeness"	Broader resemblance/model language; temunah is the visible form or similitude in a more concrete sense
תַּבְנִית (tabnîyth)	H8403	"the likeness"	More a pattern, plan, or structural model; temunah is the seen likeness itself
ὁμοίωμα (homoíoma)	G3667	LXX "likeness"	Greek bridge term used for several Hebrew "likeness/form" words, not H8544 alone

Semantic Domains¶

UBS / Relationship Domain¶

[002001001048] Shape — search_relationships.py places temunah in the visual-shape/form field.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Count	PMI	Notes
ὁμοίωμα (homoioma)	G3667	7	9.10	Clear primary equivalent for likeness / similitude / form

Because the corpus is only ten verses, the lower-ranked gatherer outputs after G3667 are mostly contextual verbs and nouns from the same passages ("see," "make," "speak," "earth") rather than stable lexical equivalents. That inference comes from the tool output itself and the very small sample size.