Pemikiran Yahudi Ulangan 4:17: Guide for the Perplexed

IT might be thought that the Hebrew words temunah and tabnit have one and the same meaning, but this is not the case. Tabnit, derived from the verb banah (he built), signifies the build and construction of a thing—that is to say, its figure, whether square, round, triangular, or of any other shape. Comp. “the pattern (tabnit) of the Tabernacle and the pattern (tabnit) of all its vessels” (Exod. 25:9); “according to the pattern (tabnit) which thou wast shown upon the mount” (Exod. 25:40); “the form of any bird” (Deut. 4:17); “the form (tabnit) of a hand” (Ezek. 8:3); “the pattern (tabnit) of the porch” (1 Chron. 28:11). In all these quotations it is the shape which is referred to. Therefore the Hebrew language never employs the word tabnit in speaking of the qualities of God Almighty.

THE Hebrew kanaf is a homonym; most of its meanings are metaphorical. Its primary signification is “wing of a flying creature,” e.g., “Any winged (kanaf) fowl that flieth in the air” (Deut. 4:17).