Diverse Auteurs, NetBible, [2007], tn The general scholarly consensus on the word תְּחָשִׁ֖ים (tehasim) is that it is Egyptian in origin. The Arabic tuhas or duhas is a dolphin, and so some think the porpoise is meant-something like a dolphin or porpoise (cf. NASB).
They are common in the Red Sea; their skins are used for clothing by
the bedouin. The word has also been connected to an Egyptian word for
"leather" (ths); see Driver, 265. Some variation of this is followed by NRSV ("fine leather") and NLT ("fine goatskin leather").
A.S. Onderwijzer, Rashie's Pentateuch commentaar II, שמות, [1897], 348 תְּחָשִׁ֖ים een soort wild, dat er niet [anders] was, dan op dat tijdstip [van den bouw der "Woning"]; en het had verscheidene kleuren; daarom wordt het [door Onkolos] vertaald: סַסְגּוֹנָא, dat zich verheugt [סס van שוש] en praalt met zijne kleuren [גונא, van גון, kleur] (Shabb. 28a en b, vgl. Tanch.)
, [], blue processed skins (Rabbi Yehudah, Yerushalmi, Shabbath 2:3; Arukh s.v. Teynun; Koheleth Rabbah 1:9; Josephus 3:6:1, 3:6:4; Septuagint; Aquilla). Tachash
in Hebrew. Others have 'black leather' (Saadia; Ibn Janach), that is,
leather worked in such a manner as to come out dark and waterproof
(Avraham ben HaRambam). In ancient Egyptian, tachash also denotes a kind of specially worked leather. See Ezekiel 16:10. Other sources identify tachash as a species of animal. Some say that it is the ermine (Rabbi Nechemia, Yerushalmi, loc. cit.; Arukh, s.v. glaksinon. The word galy axeinon
denotes the ermine, a member of the weasel family imported by the
Axenoi (see Jastrow). Others state that it is a member of the badger
family (Rashi on Ezekiel 16:10).
Others say that it is a colorful one-horned animal known as a keresh (Yerushalmi, loc. cit., Shabbath 28b; Tanchuma 6; Rashi; cf. Chullin
59b). Some say that this is a species of wild ram (Ralbag), possibly an
antelope, okape or giraffe. Some see the one-horned creature as the
narwhal (Mondon monoceros) which has its left tooth developed
into a single long horn-like appendage. This animal, which can grow to
be over 16 feet long, is occasionally found on the southern Sinai
shores.
In Arabic, tukhush denotes the sea cow or dugong (Dugong hempirchi) an aquatic mammal which is found on the shores of the Sinai. Some thus say that the tachash
is a type of seal, since its skins were used for the tabernacle's roof,
and sealskins were often used for this purpose (cf. Pliny 2:56).
Vertaling Bijbel, Kanttekeningen SV, [], En roodgeverfde ramsvellen, en [8]dassenvellen, en [9]sittimhout; 8. Van deze vellen was het bovenste deksel des tabernakels gemaakt; hfdst.26 vs.14. 9. Men houdt het er voor dat dit een soort van cederbomenhout is, niet onderworpen aan verrotting. Zie Jes.41:19, en Joel 3:18.