What Does Timshel Mean?
& why you should care
What does Timshel mean?
Before you can understand what ‘timshel’ means, it’s important to recognize one essential fact: words have power.
Words are the closest thing humans will ever experience to actual magic. Words have the power to transport us to Hogwarts, Narnia, and Westeros. Words can not only break a heart, but more importantly heal it. Words allow us to cultivate and spread both new and old ideas. In short, words allow us an endless opportunity to practice magic in our every day lives.
Because of this everyday type of magic, I find myself captivated by all things words and literature. Lately, I’ve found myself fascinated with literary tattoos (yes that’s a thing). It may seem like a bizarre fascination, but it’s really more popular than you may think. This new hobby of mine, searching the internet for literary tattoos, lends itself to my rarely spoken desire to get a tattoo someday.
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Those who know me may be surprised by that statement. A few years ago I would have been too. But things change, people change, and old ways of thinking give way to new (we hope). People know the arguments both for and against tattoos so I won’t bore you with those. It’s a choice that each person has to make for themselves and do what’s right for their body and beliefs.. Who am I to judge what someone else decides to put on their body and vice versa.
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The more I thought about it, the more I realized, getting a tattoo is a two-fold problem. Firstly, you have to decide where on your body you are going to put it. Secondly, you have to decide what you want on your body forever. This last point is where my fascination began. What could be so important to someone or have such significant to them they wanted a reminder for eternity?
I began to think then about myself and what would I want on my body forever. Part of the answer seemed obvious, I love reading- books, quotes, poems, anything and everything words related. Therefore, the next logical step would be a literary tattoo.
Yeah, it could be conceived as nerdy, but fuck it, I am nerdy.
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One thing led to another and thanks to the black-hole called the internet I ended up on Tattoo Lit. This site has pages upon pages on people sharing their literary tattoos with the world. A lot of those authors and famous quotes you’d expect can be found there (Rowling, Tolkien, Whitman, Cummings, etc) but there are also phrases, poems, books, and quotes that I had never heard of. I couldn’t help myself, I spent hours and hours researching the context for a lot of the tattoos I didn’t understand.
One of the ones I kept coming across was the word “timshel” usually on a wrist or forearm where it would be easily visible. When I read the word, for the first time, it meant nothing to me. Only after I saw it over and over again did my curiosity get the better of me.
Timshel. What does it mean? How do you pronounce it? Why did so many people have it tattooed on their bodies? In the end, I did exactly what you did, I googled “What does Timshel mean”. I’m thankful I did, because as it turns out, it may be the most important word in the world.
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The word Timshel was brought to most people’s attention by John Steinbeck in his novel East of Eden.
Timshel is a Hebrew word that translates to “Thou Mayest.” Which at first doesn’t seem all that important. I mean why does that matter? Why should you care about “thou mayest?” Why have I decided to dedicate the entire blog post to this concept and gone on record that it is the most powerful concept there is?
Let me first put timshel into its proper context. Below I have taken the relevant part from East of Eden applying to Timshel — to help explain the concept and give you content.
In his book, Steinbeck writes:
Do you remember when you read us the sixteen verses of the fourth chapter of Genesis and we argued about them?” “I do indeed. And that’s a long time ago.” “Ten years nearly,” said Lee. “Well, the story bit deeply into me and I went into it word for word.
The more I thought about the story, the more profound it became to me. Then I compared the translations we have-and they were fairly close. There was only one place that bothered me. The King James version says this- it is when Jehovah has asked Cain why he is angry. Jehovah says, ‘If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.’ It was the ‘thou shalt’ that struck me, because it was a promise that Cain would conquer sin.”
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Samuel nodded. “And his children didn’t do it entirely,” he said. Lee sipped his coffee. “Then I got a copy of the American Standard Bible. It was very new then. And it was different in this passage. It says, ‘Do thou rule over him.’ Now, this is very different. This is not a promise, it is an order. And I began to stew about it. I wondered what the original word of the original writer had been that these very different translations could be made.”
…..
“After two years we felt that we could approach your sixteen verses of the fourth chapter of Genesis. My old gentlemen felt that these words were very important too-’Thou shalt’ and ‘Do thou.’ And this was the gold from our mining: ‘Thou mayest.’ ‘Thou mayest rule over sin.’ The old gentlemen smiled and nodded and felt the years were well spent. It brought them out of their Chinese shells too, and right now they are studying Greek.” Samuel said, “It’s a fantastic story.
Related: East of Eden Book Review
And I’ve tried to follow and maybe I’ve missed somewhere. Why is this word so important?”
Lee’s hand shook as he filled the delicate cups. He drank his down in one gulp. “Don’t you see?” he cried. “The American Standard translation orders men to triumph over sin, and you can call sin ignorance. The King James translation makes a promise in ‘Thou shalt,’ meaning that men will surely triumph over sin.
But the Hebrew word, the word timshel-’Thou mayest’- that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man.
For if ‘Thou mayest’-it is also true that ‘Thou mayest not.’ Don’t you see?”
“Yes, I see. I do see. But you do not believe this is divine law. Why do you feel its importance?”
“Ah!” said Lee. “I’ve wanted to tell you this for a long time. I even anticipated your questions and I am well prepared. Any writing which has influenced the thinking and the lives of innumerable people is important. Now, there are many millions in their sects and churches who feel the order, ‘Do thou,’ and throw their weight into obedience. And there are millions more who feel predestination in ‘Thou shalt.’ Nothing they may do can interfere with what will be. But ‘Thou mayest’! Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and his filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win.” Lee’s voice was a chant of triumph.
Adam said, “Do you believe that, Lee?”
“Yes, I do. Yes, I do. It is easy out of laziness, out of weakness, to throw oneself into the lap of deity, saying, ‘I couldn’t help it; the way was set.’ But think of the glory of the choice! That makes a man a man. A cat has no choice, a bee must make honey. There’s no godliness there. And do you know, those old gentlemen who were sliding gently down to death are too interested to die now?”
Adam said, “Do you mean these Chinese men believe the Old Testament?”
Lee said, “These old men believe a true story, and they know a true story when they hear it. They are critics of truth. They know that these sixteen verses are a history of humankind in any age or culture or race. They do not believe a man writes fifteen and three-quarter verses of truth and tells a lie with one verb. Confucius tells men how they should live to have good and successful lives. But this-this is a ladder to climb to the stars.” Lee’s eyes shone. “You can never lose that. It cuts the feet from under weakness and cowardliness and laziness.”
Adam said, “I don’t see how you could cook and raise the boys and take care of me and still do all this.”
“Neither do I,” said Lee. “But I take my two pipes in the afternoon, no more and no less, like the elders. And I feel that I am a man. And I feel that a man is a very important thing-maybe more important than a star. This is not theology. I have no bent toward gods. But I have a new love for that glittering instrument, the human soul. It is a lovely and unique thing in the universe. It is always attacked and never destroyed- because “Thou mayest.’”
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So what does TImshel mean? In short, Timshel gives each of us a choice on how to live our lives and that choice is what gives each of our lives value. Those that believe in predetermination or destiny may find this concept disconcerting maybe even absurd. They relish in the fact that things are already decided, regardless of their actions. But for those who believe that our choices actually matter – this idea is imperative.
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If the way is open then you can both succeed or fail. That option is what makes life special.
The risk.
The choice.
The ability to triumph or fail on your own. Not because something has to be one way or the other, but because in the end, you made a choice for better (or worse) and saw it through.
I love the line “But I have a new love for the glittering instrument, the human soul. It is a lovely and unique thing in the universe. It is always attacked and never destroyed- because “thou mayest.” I love the idea that we are never truly broken or fully defeated. There is no such thing as a ‘life-ending mistake’ because as it turns out life is a pretty resilient thing – if we let it be.
Regardless of what we experience throughout our lifetime we are only as broke and damaged as we choose to be. Yes, we can be overwhelmed. Yes, we can give into the darkness for a time. But we always have another chance. We always have another choice. We, and we alone, get to decide whether to stay defeated by the problem or to overcome it.
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There is no master plan to our lives. Our successes and failures are on us.
Not some god. Not our parents. Not our spouse.
Us.
Honestly, I don’t know if that’s beautiful or terrifying. But even more important to understand is neither our success nor our failures are forever. Each day, each hour, each minute, we are blessed with new opportunities to chase our dreams and why could be more beautiful than that.
I can see why people choose to tattoo the word Timshel on their bodies. What better way to for a daily reminded about the power of choice? Learning what Timshel means is a powerful reminder, the way is open for each of us. Despite the choices made in the past, or our current circumstances, we always have the power of choice. Some people will shy away from fully taking charge of their own life. After all, it’s easier to blame others or believe in destiny than accept responsibility for what is happening to them. It’s a shame, but, in the end, that’s their choice to make. But if we embrace the power of choice and use it to enhance our lives, knowing it’s up to us, there’s no telling how far we can go, because thou mayest.
Stay Gold.
I think you wrote contrived instead of conceived.
Thanks for catching that!
[…] (https://ofwhiskeyandwords.com/what-does-timshel-mean-and-why-you-should-care/)I think having a few moments everyday to free your mind with words and art is crucial. It’s a big part of what is really missing in the human experience now. How often do people really sit down to read or draw? What about just sitting or lying down to enjoy some great music while they rest? It’s twofold in my book, the resting and the art of any kind – it must be something you enjoy and that gives reprieve from the world around us. I think this is especially critical to mental wellness right now. We aren’t able to travel to find and appreciate the things that energize and reset our minds. But being at home shouldn’t mean shutting ourselves off from pleasures. In fact, a lot of the world’s greatest artists and writers lived in solitude to concentrate full time on producing and appreciating with their gifts. They usually only took breaks for meals and walks. The world is a lot more complicated and also a lot more interruptive now.There’s a lot of research into the necessity for art as pleasure and well-being for those with critical mental health issues. I won’t delve into all of it, but here’s a quote: […]
My husband and I are at our marina for the weekend, and a sailboat from Vermont docked next to us. The boat was named Timshel. I’m a word-motivated person, and had to look it up. WOW. One of those things that make you shake your head. I’m in bible college, and have been studying election/predestination. Also dealing with a matter of personal weakness. At times I am victorious. But I always feel like it’s crouching at my door. This word, at this time, was … Rhema. God will never take away personal choice, but there are consequences with each decision. Powerful reminder. Thank you.
Isn’t it incredible how one word can have so much meaning?
I agree – “Timshel” is a good boat name. We’ve been in ‘maritime ministry’ since the late 80s. Wonderful experiences helping build a church in the SE Bahamas and doing counseling there. The people were inspiring. Later, in 2010, we sailed a small vessel to Israel and were privileged to produce a concert there. Because God says, among other Words of Life, “Thou mayest”
Life is an Adventure. Make the best of it. Continue on.
That’s a GREAT boat name!
It’s hard not to be cynical about posts like this—”timshel” (as Steinbeck spells it), or תִּמְשָׁל as it truly is in the HB (better transliterated “timshal”) does *not* mean “thou mayest.”
It is the Hebrew verb for 2ms “dominate,” in the yiqtol form/tense. Hebrew itself is a wonderfully flexible language, and the yiqtol form of verbs is no exception, but it simply does not mean what Steinbeck/Lee/Adam want it to mean. The mood of the verb does not come from any grammatical features inherent in the word itself, but are supplied by context. Because of this, the KJV and ASB are suitable translations—truly, while the verbal form itself allows for an expression of possibility, or of total free will, it is unlikely given the context, which strongly favors a hortatory sense (closer to the command). In any case, the yiqtol is simply the bare form of the future tense, *for all Hebrew verb roots.* For example, the word “tiQToL” means “you will slay” (or “you must slay,” or yes, even “you might slay”); yiqtol form of Q-T-L (קטל) just as “timshal” is the yiqtol form of M-SH-L (משׁל).
All that to say, “timshal” does not mean “thou mayest.” If anything, it could be rendered “thou mayest dominate” or “you may reign”—though even this interpretation of the story at this juncture of the text of Genesis is unlikely and probably anachronistic.
Unfortunately, Steinbeck is simply wrong here—there may be ways to rhapsodize about the beauty of free will, but East of Eden is probably a bad choice for getting there.
Buzz kill
Actually, “thou mayest dominate” sounds exactly what Steinbeck is getting at.
I love how you took all them educated words to destroy a great feeling if hope and inspiration .. or rather I don’t. But thou mayist.
As to tattoos the essential question (is not about what or where or the body) but rather with having such a paucity of skills/capacities as to believe that a tattoo might enhance one’s presentation.
Tattoos are not about enhancing one’s presentation. They are another way to communicate who you are or what you value. First and foremost a tattoo is for the person who gets it and no one else. I’ve had my tattoo over 3 years and still absolutely love it.
divyanshraj@gmail.com
I did just that, googled the word, and thank you for your elaboration on that 🙂 only one thing I missed – if it’s a hebrew word, then it would be cool to see how it’s written. Stay safe and sound, cheers.
I have Thou Mayest on my wrist, and I am pleased to learn there are a significant number of people who are similarly inspired. It is both terrifying and beautiful to believe in your own agency. Steinbeck’s “dreadful beauty” in truth. I enjoyed stumbling on your blog. Thank you.
Invictus
BY WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.