Isaiah 28:7:5Isa.28.7.W5TAB
תָּע֑וּ
tau
“they wander or stagger”
- Transliteration
- ta-U
- Extended
- taa-OO
- IPA
- /taˈʕuː/
Meaning by language
- English
- they wander or stagger
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Tav | t as in top | |
| Qamets | long 'ah' | |
| Ayin | deep guttural stop, voiced pharyngeal | |
| Vav | v as in vine; marks long ō / ū |
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Now you try — trace the word:
The word
Word in context
- word
ta-U
- clause
ve-gam-E-le ba-YA-yin sha-GU u-va-she-KHAR ta-U
- sentence
ve-gam-E-le ba-YA-yin sha-GU u-va-she-KHAR ta-U ko-HEN ve-na-VI sha-GU va-she-KHAR niv-le-U min-ha-YA-yin ta-U min-ha-she-KHAR sha-GU ba-ro-E pa-KU pe-li-li-YA
Exegesis
A series of prepositional phrases in wine {ba-yayin | ba-yă-yîn} ‘in wine’ and in strong drink {u-va-šē-khar | u-va-šē-khar} ‘in potent drink’ frames the repeated perfect verbs shagu {שָׁגוּ | šā-ɡû} ‘they have erred’, tau {תָּע֑וּ | tā-‘û} ‘they have wandered’, and the niphal nivleu {נִבְלְעוּ | niv-lə-‘û} ‘they are swallowed up’. This sequence emphasizes intensifying excess. The parallel mention of priest and prophet underscores leadership failure. The alternating prepositions create a chiastic pattern that highlights both cause and consequence.
Root and etymology
ע־ו־ה
“to wander, stray”
In context — Isaiah 28:7
And these also err in wine and wander in strong drink; the priest and the prophet err in strong drink, are swallowed up by wine, wander from strong drink; they err in vision and stumble in judgment .
About this coordinate
Isaiah 28:7:5 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 5 of Isaiah 28:7, so the Hebrew word תָּע֑וּ (tau) can be cited, linked and studied at exactly this position rather than somewhere in the verse. In the Biblical Knowledge Coordinate System the same position is written Isa.28.7.W5, which extends further down to each syllable (Isa.28.7.W5.S1) and character.