ritual
phylacteries
At a glance
In short
Totafos is the word of Chumash and belongs to the head alone. Tefillin is the Mishnaic word, plural because it names the pair of head and arm together; the singular, for one box, is tefillah. Rabbi Pinchas Avraham Meyers and Rabbi Moshe Rachamim Shayo give two reasons why the berachah before laying them says tefillin and not the biblical term, and one of them is that the Torah never calls the arm box totafos.
Distinctions
Totafos (טוטפות)
Three times in Chumash (Shemos 13:16, Devarim 6:8, 11:18), each time of the head alone.
- Targum Onkelos and Targum pseudo-Yonasan render it tefillin.
- A second early tradition among the ancient translations, that of Targum Neofiti and the Peshitta, renders it instead by the Aramaic or Syriac equivalent of zikaron, "remembrance," which implies they took the core meaning to be remembering; Ibn Ezra (to Shemos 13:16) echoes that approach. On that reading it is unclear what the etymological root of totafos might be, or even what language it comes from.
Beyond that, several lines of explanation:
An ornament worn on the forehead. Tosafos (Menachos 34b) look for the word's cognates in Mishnaic Hebrew and find totefes, an article of women's jewelry (Shabbos 6:1, see Shabbos 57b), and the Aramaicized totafta, a bracelet (Targum to Shmuel II 1:10, and see Yechezkel 24:17). Ibn Janach and Radak (each in Sefer HaShorashim) take the same line and assign the word a root of its own, ט-ט-ף, which occurs nowhere in Tanach but here; so too Rashbam (to Shemos 13:9) and possibly the Zohar (Bo 43a). Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg (1785-1865) develops it: the tefillin are an ornament, a Jew's way of announcing to the world that he is proud to stand in Hashem's service. This also explains why the Gemara (Megillah 16b) sees yakar (Esther 8:16), "precious, honorable," as a reference to tefillin.
Something that has to do with seeing. Tosafos' second suggestion, adopted by Chizkuni and Rabbi Yosef Bechor Shor (to Shemos 13:16), ties totafos to gazing, the head tefillin sitting by the eyes and looking outward. The Gemara (Berachos 6a) reads "the nations of the world will see that the name of Hashem is called upon you" (Devarim 28:10) as the gentiles seeing a Jew in his tefillin, and in light of this, Rabbi Klein reasons, it makes sense that the biblical word for them might be related to seeing.
Dripping.
- Menachem Ibn Saruk (920-970; Machberes Menachem, cited by Rashi to Shemos 13:16) takes the word from the biliteral ט-ף, which yields four categories: taf (children), notef/tipah (dripping), netifos (adornments and niceties), and matif (speech, preaching). He explicitly classes totafos with the last of these, but offers no further justification for the assertion.
- A separate approach connects totafos to the "dripping" sense of (נ)ט-ף: Rabbi Yissocher Ber Eilenberg (1550-1623; Tzeidah LaDerech to Shemos 13:16) quotes in the name of his teacher Rabbi Mordechai Yaffe (1530-1612) that tefillin picture the trickle-down of how Hashem sustains the world: the black leather box above stands for His dominion rising over all of existence, the straps descending from it for the influence that reaches down into the world's inner core, represented by the wearer's torso.
- Daas Mikra (to Shemos 13:16) more simply reads totafos as head jewelry that would typically hang down, as though dripping, connecting it to netifos (Yeshayahu 3:19).
Secondary or subordinate. Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim (1740-1814; Chesheik Shlomo) champions Ibn Saruk's biliteralism and gives ט-ף the core sense of what is secondary or subordinate to a main element: taf, the children secondary to the household's master and mistress; a tipah, the small insignificant droplet that falls from a larger body of liquid; matif, prophetic or hortatory speech delivered in a controlled, slow way that resembles slowly falling drops; and (in Yerios Shlomo) tinuf (dirtiness), with a middle nun added, since what soils an object is secondary to the object. A totefes on this reading is a sort of hat fastened on the head with straps, the hat being the main frontispiece and the straps merely secondary. He then concludes: the Torah is saying the head tefillin should be worn where people would normally wear their totafos, not that totafos is the name of the tefillin.
A foreign word. All the readings above seem to presume totafos is a native Hebrew word; the Gemara supplies one that seemingly treats it as a loanword.
- Rabbi Akiva (Menachos 34b, cited by Rashi to Devarim 6:8) parses totafos as tot, two in Coptic, and fot, two in Afriki (which Rabbi Klein glosses as Phrygian), alluding to the four parshiyos written on the parchments inside (or, per Rashi to Shemos 13:16, the four chambers of the head tefillin).
- Others place the word in Aramaic: Rabbeinu Chaim Paltiel (to Shemos 13:16) relates it to t'fei ("more," "addition"), since tefillin make a person more likely to remember the exodus, and Rabbi Mecklenburg to the Aramaic for appeasement (Targum to Bereishis 34:22, Mishlei 1:10).
- Others again read it as Egyptian: Rabbi Avraham Saba (1440-1508; Tzror HaMor to Shemos 13:16) connects it to Egyptian headdresses, and Abarbanel (there) holds it is the Egyptian word for "brain."
- A similar explanation has been proposed more recently by Professor Hubert Grimme (1864-1942), cited by Professor Jeffrey H. Tigay, who derives totafos from the Egyptian ddft, "snake," a reference to the Uraeus snake often worn on the headdress in ancient Egypt.
- It has even been suggested that totafos somehow relates to the names of the Egyptian deities Thoth and Ptah, but Rabbi Klein has not seen this cited in any serious scholarship on the topic.
- Rabbi Eliyahu Benamozegh (Eim LaMikra to Devarim 6:8) argues that totafos is borrowed from an Egyptian practice, since the Egyptian gods Thot and Ptah were invoked in prayers and amulets meant to protect the dead. He notes that the Aramaic tefillin likewise alludes to their use for prayers, tefillah.
Tefillin (תפילין)
Common in the Mishnah (Berachos 3:1, Shabbos 6:2, 16:1, Eruvin 10:1, Shekalim 3:2, Megillah 1:8, Moed Katan 3:4, Nedarim 2:2, Sanhedrin 11:3, Shevuos 3:8, Yadayim 3:3). The plural is not incidental: technically it names the pair, head and arm, and the Mishnah's word for a single box is tefillah (Menachos 4:1, Keilim 16:7, 18:8, Mikvaos 10:2, 10:3-4); the possessive tefillav, "his tefillin," appears at Erchin 6:4.
- Tosafos (Menachos 34b), in the same passage that treats totafos, derive the word from פ-ל-ל, argument or proof: the tefillin are a tangible testament to the association of Klal Yisrael with Hashem. Similarly the Rosh (Hilchos Tefillin §2) and his son the Tur (Orach Chaim §25) take it from plilah, argument, since tefillin quell any argument about the specialness of Klal Yisrael, serving as a physical sign that Hashem rests His presence upon them.
- The Maharal (Be'er HaGolah §4:2) proposes that the root's core sense is intellectuality or thoughtfulness: tefillah is a thoughtful plea, judges are pelilim (Shemos 21:22) because they use their minds to decide the law, and tefillin sit at the head and beside the heart to fix mind and heart on remembering Hashem; Rabbi Yaakov Emden (Mor U'Ketziah, Orach Chaim §25, and Siddur Yaavetz on the berachos before laying tefillin) and Rabbi Yisroel Lipshitz (Tiferes Yisrael to Menachos 4:1, Yachin §2) offer comparable explanations.
- Rabbi Nosson of Rome (1035-1106) in Sefer HeAruch, his lexicon of Rabbinic Hebrew, instead files tefillin under ת-פ-ל, and Rabbi Eliyahu HaBachur (1469-1549) in Sefer HaTishbi questions why he did not give the root as פ-ל-ל (the root Tosafos give). Explaining the Aruch's position, Dr. Alexander Kohut (1842-1894) in Aruch HaShalem argues that ת-פ-ל is a permutation of ט-פ-ל (tafel, a secondary element attached to a primary one), and refers to the way tefillin are attached or tied to a person's body.
- Rabbi Yosef Teomim-Frankel (1727-1792), author of the Pri Megadim, suggests in one of his epistles that tefillin likewise derives from ת-פ-ל in its sense of "unsalted": because one dons tefillin every single weekday the mitzvah becomes like something routine and bland, with no special taste to it, and one must perform it anyway simply because Hashem decreed so. He further suggests connecting tefillin to pele/hafla'ah, wonderment, exaggeration and separation, from the root פ-ל-(א); Rabbi Mecklenburg applies that to the way Klal Yisrael consciously separate themselves from the ways of evil and from impure thoughts by binding tefillin on, and Rabbi Mordechai Abadi (1826-1884) to the way only Klal Yisrael separate Hashem from everything else and single Him out by declaring His uniqueness.
- Rashi (to Bereishis 30:8) in fact connects tefillah with pesil and the root פ-ת-ל, thread or cord, twisted, wrestling; some read Yehudah's ptil (Bereishis 38:18, usually rendered "wick" but here generally understood as "belt") as his tefillin, ptil being readable as an anagram of tefillin (Paneach Raza, Baal HaTurim there), and Noam Elimelech (to Bamidbar 18:8), echoing Tosafos, reads tefillin as what ties Klal Yisrael to Hashem and Hashem to them. Indeed, the Gemara says that He too wears tefillin, whose contents declare the uniqueness of Klal Yisrael as ours declare His oneness (Berachos 6a).
Professor Moshe Weinfeld (1925-2009) notes that in the Aramaic writings found at Elephantine the term tefillah describes a silver amulet, and that in Ugaritic tefili refers to a sort of ornament worn on the head or forehead. That would mean, Rabbi Klein observes, that the etymology of tefillin may in some ways line up with that of totafos, which may also mean an ornament.
Why the berachah says tefillin
The berachos before laying tefillin say al mitzvas tefillin and l'haniach tefillin, using the Rabbinic word rather than the biblical totafos, which is noteworthy because berachos usually prefer biblical terminology to Rabbinic. Two contemporary rabbanim, Rabbi Pinchas Avraham Meyers (Chief Rabbi of the Hague) and Rabbi Moshe Rachamim Shayo, give the same two answers: first, that totafos refers only to the head tefillin and never to the arm tefillin, so the Rabbis preferred the more inclusive tefillin; second, that totafos is more likely of foreign origin, per Rabbi Akiva, while tefillin seems more closely related to Hebrew.
Also discussed in
Radak on these roots
Sefer HaShorashim
ט-ט-ף
Totafos: a thing tied on the forehead, like a tzitz, and at times on the arm; the totefes written in the Torah is what Chazal call tefillin.
What a totefes is
וְהָיוּ לְטֽוֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵֽינֵיכֶֽם (Devarim 11:18), they shall be for totafos between your eyes. The word, he explains, is like a ציץ, a tzitz, that is tied on the forehead.
What Chazal say it is
As Chazal say, לא בטוטפת ולא בסנביטין, not with a totefes and not with sanbitin (Shabbos 57a); and they ask מאי טוטפת, what is a totefes (Shabbos 57b), and Rabbi Abahu answers, המקפת מאזן לאזן, the one that goes round from ear to ear.
Bound on the arm
A totefes is at times tied on the arm, as the Targum renders וְאֶצְעָדָה אֲשֶׁר עַל־זְרֹעוֹ (Shmuel II 1:10), and the armlet that was on his arm, as וְטוֹטַפְתָּא דְעַל דַרְעֵיהּ, and the totefes that was on his arm.
Tefillin and the four batim
The totefes written in the Torah is known: it is what Chazal call tefillin. It is Chazal who said that the head tefillin are four batim, and, following the received tradition, they rested this on the word read as טט פת, tat and pat, as they said, טט בכתפי שתים פת באפרקי שתים, tat is two in Katfi and pat is two in Afriki (Menachos 34b).
Between your eyes
Chazal explain בין עיניך, between your eyes, as בגובה הראש, on the height of the head, the place where an infant's brain is soft, which lies opposite the space between the eyes (Menachos 36a); and לֹֽא־תָשִׂימוּ קָרְחָה בֵּין עֵֽינֵיכֶם (Devarim 14:1), you shall not make a bald patch between your eyes, is explained the same way.
וְהָיוּ לְטֽוֹטָפֹת בֵּין עֵֽינֵיכֶֽם (דברים יא, יח) פירוש לשון טוטפות הוא כמו ציץ שקושרין על המצח כמו שאמרו רבותינו ז"ל (שבת נז, ע"א) לא בטוטפת ולא בסנביטין. ואמרו (שם ע"ב) מאי טוטפת?..... אמר רבי אבהו המקפת מאזן לאזן. ויש שהוא נקשר על הזרוע כמו שאמר התרגום וְאֶצְעָדָה אֲשֶׁר עַל־זְרֹעוֹ (שמואל ב' א, י) וְטוֹטַפְתָּא דְעַל דַרְעֵיהּ. וזה טוטפת הכתוב בתורה ידוע. והוא הנקרא בדברי רבותינו ז"ל תפילין ואמרו שהם ד' בתים תפילין של הראש, וסמכו בזה אחר הקבלה על לשון טט פת כמו שאמרו (מנחות לד, ע"ב) טט בכתפי שתים פת באפרקי שתים. ופירשו בין עיניך (מנחות לו, ע"א) בגובה הראש מקום שמוחו של תינוק רופס שהוא מכוון כנגד בין העינים וכן פירוש לֹֽא־תָשִׂימוּ קָרְחָה בֵּין עֵֽינֵיכֶם (דברים יד, א).
פ-ל-ל
To judge: to rule on a case, and to carry out judgment. Prayer, תְּפִלָּה, belongs here because the one who prays asks Hashem to judge him in His mercy.
Judging in one's own mind
רְאֹה פָנֶיךָ לֹא פִלָּלְתִּי (Bereishis 48:11), to see your face I had not judged, means: I had not reached the judgment and ruling in my own mind that I could ever see your face again.
Judgment done with the hand
וַיַּֽעֲמֹד פִּֽינְחָס וַיְפַלֵּל (Tehillim 106:30), Pinchas stood up and did judgment, is the judgment he carried out when he ran Zimri and Kozbi bas Tzur through.
The judge, and the man judged
On וּפִֽלְלוֹ אֱלֹהִים (Shmuel I 2:25), the judge will judge him, he says: if a man sins against a man, the judge judges him and brings him out clear of his fellow's hand, ordering what is fitting for him to do, or making a settlement between the two; but if a man sins against Hashem, מי יתפלל לו, who will act as judge for him, that is, who will take it on himself to enter into judgment with him and say, let the law between you be thus and thus. The judge is spoken of in the reflexive form, which is the form of one acted on, as also at וְנִשְׁפַּטְתִּי אִתּוֹ בְּדֶבֶר וּבְדָם (Yechezkel 38:22), I will enter into judgment with him with plague and with blood, since a judge goes back over the pleadings and shows each man the other's claim, as though he himself were the one being judged.
You judged your sister
אֲשֶׁר פִּלַּלְתְּ לַֽאֲחוֹתֵךְ (Yechezkel 16:52), that you gave judgment on your sister: the pasuk says גַּם־אַתְּ שְׂאִי כְלִמָּתֵךְ, you too bear your shame, for you sat in judgment on her when she first began to do wrong, and now you have done worse than she did, so that by your own sins, more than hers, you have made her out the righteous one.
Judgment and law
עָוֹן פְּלִילִי (Iyov 31:28), a wrong for the judges; עָוֹן פְּלִילִֽים (Iyov 31:11), a wrong the judges must deal with; וְנָתַן בִּפְלִלִֽים (Shemos 21:22), he shall pay as the judges assess; פְלִילָה (Yeshayahu 16:3), give a ruling; פָּקוּ פְּלִֽילִיָּֽה (Yeshayahu 28:7), they stumbled in giving judgment. Rabbi Yehudah holds that the verb in וְנִפְֽלַל חָלָל (Yechezkel 28:23), said of the slain, is the passive of this root. Radak gives it no gloss of its own; it stands in the run he closes with ענין הכל המשפט והדין, the sense of all of it is judgment and law.
Prayer
וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל אַבְרָהָם (Bereishis 20:17), Avraham prayed; וְהִתְפַּלֵּל אֶל־הַבַּיִת (Melachim I 8:42), and he prays toward the house; וְיִתְפַּלֵּל בַּֽעַדְךָ וֶֽחְיֵה (Bereishis 20:7), he will pray for you and you will live; and the noun, תְּפִלָּה לְמֹשֶׁה (Tehillim 90:1), a prayer of Moshe, and שָׁמַעְתִּי אֶת־ תְּפִלָּֽתְךָ (Melachim I 9:3), I have heard your prayer. The reflexive form is used of supplication and request, and it belongs to this root because the one who prays asks Him to judge him in His mercy and not to look to the many wrongs he has done, for the judgment he asks is that He let his sins go and not call them to mind against him at all; as the navi said, יַסְּרֵנִי, chasten me, Hashem, אַךְ־בְּמִשְׁפָּט אַל־בְּאַפְּךָ (Yirmiyahu 10:24), but in judgment, not in Your anger.
רְאֹה פָנֶיךָ לֹא פִלָּלְתִּי (בראשית מח, יא), לא עשיתי משפט ודין בעצמי שאוכל עוד ראה פניך. וַיַּֽעֲמֹד פִּֽינְחָס וַיְפַלֵּל (תהלים קו, ל), עשה המשפט שדקר זמרי וכזבי בת צור. וּפִֽלְלוֹ אֱלֹהִים (שמואל א' ב, כה). אֲשֶׁר פִּלַּלְתְּ לַֽאֲחוֹתֵךְ (יחזקאל טז, נב). והנפעל לדעת רבי יהודה וְנִפְֽלַל חָלָל (יחזקאל כח, כג). והתאר עם יו"ד היחש גַּם־הוּא עָוֹן פְּלִילִי (איוב לא, כח). והקבוץ בנפול יו"ד היחש וְהיּא [וְהוּא] עָוֹן פְּלִילִֽים (איוב לא, יא), וְנָתַן בִּפְלִלִֽים (שמות כא, כב). והשם עֲֽשׂי [עֲֽשׂוּ] פְלִילָה (ישעיה טז, ג), וביו"ד היחש פָּקוּ פְּלִֽילִיָּֽה (ישעיה כח, ז), ענין הכל המשפט והדין. ופירוש וּפִֽלְלוֹ אֱלֹהִים, אמר אם יחטא איש לאיש ופללו אלהים, כלומר ישפטנו הדיין ויוציאנו נקי מיד חברו בצוותו מה שיתכן לו לעשות, או יעשה פשרה ביניהם, אבל אם לי"י יחטא איש מי יתפלל לו, כלומר מי יהיה נזקק להשפט עמו ולומר נעשה ביניכם דין כך וכך. ואמר לשופט בלשון התפעל שהוא הפעול. וכן אמר וְנִשְׁפַּטְתִּי אִתּוֹ בְּדֶבֶר וּבְדָם (יחזקאל לח, כב) בהשפטי אתכם לעיניכם, לפי שהשופט חוזר הטענות ומראה טענת כל אחד לחברו כאילו הוא נשפט באבות דברי הנשפטים. ופירוש אֲשֶׁר פִּלַּלְתְּ לַֽאֲחוֹתֵךְ, אמר גַּם־אַתְּ שְׂאִי כְלִמָּתֵךְ כי את שפטת לאחותך בתחלה כשהחלה להרע היית שופטת אותה על חטאותיה ועתה הרעת לעשות ממנה ותצדק אותה בחטאותיך אשר הרבית ממנה. ואמר על התחנה והבקשה במין התפעל וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל אַבְרָהָם אֶל־הָֽאֱלֹהִים (בראשית כ, יז), וְהִתְפַּלֵּל אֶל־הַבַּיִת (מלכים א' ח, מב), וְיִתְפַּלֵּל בַּֽעַדְךָ וֶֽחְיֵה (בראשית כ, ז), והשם תְּפִלָּה לְמֹשֶׁה (תהלים צ, א), שָׁמַעְתִּי אֶת־תְּפִלָּֽתְךָ (מלכים א' ט, ג), לפי שהמתפלל יבקש ממנו שישפטנו ברחמיו ולא יפנה לרוב הרעות שעשה כי המשפט הוא שיעזוב לו מעונותיו ולא יזכרם לו כלום כמו שאמר הנביא יַסְּרֵנִי י"י אַךְ־בְּמִשְׁפָּט אַל־בְּאַפְּךָ פֶּן־תַּמְעִטֵֽנִי (ירמיה י, כד).
פ-ת-ל
Twisting and turning about, which he holds is the one sense of the whole root: crooked conduct, a thread doubled and twisted, and פָּתִיל, a small piece of cloth.
Crooked and twisted
אֵין בָּהֶם נִפְתָּל וְעִקֵּֽשׁ (Mishlei 8:8), there is nothing twisted or crooked in them; וַֽעֲצַת נִפְתָּלִים נִמְהָֽרָה (Iyov 5:13), the counsel of the twisted is rushed; וְעִם־עִקֵּשׁ תִּתְפַּתָּֽל (Tehillim 18:27), and with the crooked You show Yourself twisted. The sense of all of them is turning about and distortion, and the adjective with the letters doubled is דּוֹר עִקֵּשׁ וּפְתַלְתֹּֽל (Devarim 32:5), a crooked and twisted generation.
Wrestlings of great might
נַפְתּוּלֵי אֱלֹהִים נִפְתַּלְתִּי (Bereishis 30:8) he reads as I turned about and strove with my sister to overcome her, and I have prevailed. נפתולי is joined to the word אלהים for the greatness of the wrestlings and their might, on the model of מַאְפֵּלְיָה (Yirmiyahu 2:31), a great darkness, שַׁלְהֶבֶתְיָֽה (Shir HaShirim 8:6), a great flame, עִיר־גְּדוֹלָה לֵֽאלֹהִים (Yonah 3:3), an exceedingly great city, and כְּֽהַרְרֵי־אֵל (Tehillim 36:7), like great mountains. Some explain the phrase from the twisted thread: that is, I grew strong with my sister, since a thread doubled and twisted is the stronger for it.
A small piece of cloth
In אֲשֶׁר אֵין־צָמִיד פָּתִיל (Bamidbar 19:15), which has no covering of פָּתִיל, he explains פָּתִיל as a small piece of cloth, and like it in the words of the Mishnah (Shabbos 2:3), פתילת הבגד שקפלה ולא הבהבה, a wick of cloth that one folded and did not singe. To his mind חֹתָֽמְךָ וּפְתִילֶךָ (Bereishis 38:18), your seal and your פְּתִיל, is the same, meaning the cloak of the one addressed or the turban on his head; and that is the view of the Targum, which renders it שׁוֹשִׁפָּךְ, your wrap, as it renders וַיָּלֶט פָּנָיו בְּאַדַּרְתּוֹ (Melachim I 19:13), and he wrapped his face in his mantle, בְּשׁוֹשִׁיפֵיהּ. Some of the commentators read חותמך ופתילך as a thread doubled and twisted, but Radak holds that what he wrote is correct.
A twisted thread
פְּתִֽיל־הַנְּעֹרֶת (Shoftim 16:9), a thread of tow, and פְּתִיל תְּכֵלֶת (Shemos 39:31), a thread of techeiles, are a cord doubled and twisted, and so Chazal said (Sifrei, Shelach) פתיל שיהיה טווי ושזור, that a פתיל be spun and twisted. Everything that falls under this root is one sense, distortion and turning about, since a thread doubled and twisted is distorted, and so is cloth made from twisted threads.
נַפְתּוּלֵי אֱלֹהִים נִפְתַּלְתִּי (בראשית ל, ח), אֵין בָּהֶם נִפְתָּל וְעִקֵּֽשׁ (משלי ח, ח), וַֽעֲצַת נִפְתָּלִים נִמְהָֽרָה (איוב ה, יג). וההתפעל וְעִם־עִקֵּשׁ תִּתְפַּתָּֽל (תהלים יח, כז), וְעִם־עִקֵּשׁ תִּתַּפָּֽל (שמואל ב' כב, יז), עיקרו תִּתְתַּפַּל ומשפטו תִּתְפַּתֵּל ונהפכת עי"ן הפעל בפ"א הפעל. ענין כולם ההפוך והעוות. ופירוש נַפְתּוּלֵי אֱלֹהִים נִפְתַּלְתִּי נתהפכתי ונשתדלתי עם אחותי לנצחה גם יכולתי. וסמך נפתולי אל מלת אלהים לגורל הנפתולים ועצמם על דרך מַאְפֵּלְיָה (ירמיה ב, לא), שַׁלְהֶבֶתְיָֽה (שיר השירים ח, ו), עִיר־גְּדוֹלָה לֵֽאלֹהִים (יונה ג, ג), כְּֽהַרְרֵי־אֵל (תהלים לו, ז). אֲשֶׁר אֵין־צָמִיד פָּתִיל (במדבר יט, ט), פירוש חתיכת בגד קטנה. ודומה לו בדברי המשנה (שבת פ' שני משנה ג) פתילת הבגד שקפלה ולא הבהבה. וכמוהו לפי דעתי חֹתָֽמְךָ וּפְתִילֶךָ (בראשית לח, יח), רוצה לומר אדרתו או הצניף שעל ראשו. וכן דעת המתרגם שתרגם שׁוֹשִׁפָּךְ, ותרגום וַיָּלֶט פָּנָיו בְּאַדַּרְתּוֹ (מלכים א' יט, יג) בְּשׁוֹשִׁיפֵיהּ. ותרגום הַמַּֽחֲלָצוֹת וְהַמַּֽעֲטָפוֹת (ישעיה ג, כב) כִּתּוּנַיָא וְשׁוֹשִׁיפַיָא, ותרגום וּפָֽרְשׂוּ הַשִּׂמְלָה (דברים כב, יז) וְיִפְרְסוּן שׁוֹשִׁיפָא. פְּתִֽיל־הַנְּעֹרֶת (שופטים טז, ט), פְּתִיל תְּכֵלֶת (שמות לט, לא), חוט כפול ושזור. וכן אמרו רבותינו ז"ל (ספרי פ' שלח לך) פתיל שיהיה טווי ושזור. והקבוץ וְקִצֵּץ פְּתִילִם (ספרי פ' לט, ג). וכן חותמך ופתילך, לדעת קצת המפרשים. והנכון מה שכתבתי בו. וכל הנכנס תחת השרש הזה הוא ענין אחד ענין העוות וההפוך, כי החוט כשהוא כפול ושזור הוא מעוות. וכן הבגד שנעשה מן החוטים השזורים. ויש מפרשים מזה נַפְתּוּלֵי אֱלֹהִים נִפְתַּלְתִּי, כלומר נתחזקתי עם אחותי כי החוט כשיכפל ויהיה שזור הוא יותר חזק. והתאר בהכפל העי"ן והלמ"ד דּוֹר עִקֵּשׁ וּפְתַלְתֹּֽל (דברים לב, ה).
ת-פ-ל
Tafel: a building that has no standing, and raw meat or fish, not eaten without much salt; and תִּפְלָה, a poor thing with no sense to it.
Daubed with tafel
וְהִנָּם טָחִים אֹתוֹ תָּפֵֽל (Yechezkel 13:10), and they daub it with tafel, that is, a building that has no standing. The Targum says of it טִין פַּטִיר דְלָא תֲבָן, plain clay with no straw in it.
Food with no salt
הֲיֵֽאָכֵל תָּפֵל מִבְּלִי־מֶלַח (Iyov 6:6), can what is tafel be eaten without salt. Radak explains it as raw meat or raw fish, which is not eaten raw unless it is heavily salted.
Empty prophecy
נְבִיאַיִךְ חָזוּ לָךְ שָׁוְא וְתָפֵל (Eichah 2:14), your prophets saw for you emptiness and tafel.
Tiflah, a thing of no worth
וְלֹֽא־נָתַן תִּפְלָה לֵֽאלֹהִֽים (Iyov 1:12 in his edition), and he ascribed no tiflah to Hashem, and וֶאֱלוֹהַּ לֹא־יָשִׂים תִּפְלָֽה (Iyov 24:12), and Hashem sets no tiflah. Radak glosses tiflah as דבר גרועה שאין לו טעם, a poor thing with no sense to it, and reads the second pasuk as saying that Hashem sets them no curtailing and no hindrance upon their deeds.
וְהִנָּם טָחִים אֹתוֹ תָּפֵֽל (יחזקאל יג, י), כלומר בנין שאין לו קיימא. ואמר בו התרגום וְשָׁעֵיָע לֵיהּ טִין פַּטִיר דְלָא תֲבָן. הֲיֵֽאָכֵל תָּפֵל מִבְּלִי־מֶלַח (איוב ו, ו), פירוש בשר חי או דג חי, כי אין דרך לאכלם חיים אם לא יהיו מלוחים הרבה. נְבִיאַיִךְ חָזוּ לָךְ שָׁוְא וְתָפֵל (איכה ב, יד). וְלֹֽא־נָתַן תִּפְלָה לֵֽאלֹהִֽים (איוב א, יב), וֶאֱלוֹהַּ לֹא־יָשִׂים תִּפְלָֽה (איוב כד, יב), דבר גרועה שאין לו טעם. ופירוש ואלוה לא ישים תפלה לא ישים להם גרעין ומניעה על מעשיהם.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Bo: Filling your Phylacteries," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 20 January 2024.
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Filling your Phylacteries," What's in a Word? Synonyms in the Hebrew Language (book manuscript).
Cited in the essay: Shemos 13:16, Devarim 6:8, 11:18, 28:10; Menachos 34b with Tosafos and Rabbi Akiva; Mishnah Shabbos 6:1 with Shabbos 57b; Megillah 16b; Berachos 6a; Shemos 21:22; Yeshayahu 3:19; Bereishis 30:8, 38:18; Rashi to Shemos 13:16 and Devarim 6:8; Ibn Janach and Radak, Sefer HaShorashim; Rabbi Pappenheim, Cheshek Shlomo and Yerios Shlomo; Maharal, Be'er HaGolah §4:2; the Rosh, Hilchos Tefillin §2; Tur, Orach Chaim §25; Mishnah Shekalim 3:2; Bereishis 34:22; Mishlei 1:10; Esther 8:16; Machberes Menachem; Chizkuni; Rabbi Yosef Bechor Shor; Professor Hubert Grimme via Professor Jeffrey H. Tigay; Professor Moshe Weinfeld; Dr. Alexander Kohut, Aruch HaShalem; Benamozegh, Eim LaMikra to Devarim 6:8.