Abarim Publications' online Biblical Hebrew Dictionary
תקע
The verb תקע (taqa') means to blow, clap or strike. The common, underlying idea of this verb is obvious, but since no such a word exists in English we must describe a true meaning (and in translations sadly lose it): The verb תקע (taqa) conveys a sudden burst; a force briefly applied. This burst evokes a union of some kind: a sword stabbed into a person (Judges 3:21); locusts driven to the sea (Exodus 10:19); people aroused and convened by a trumpet blast (Numbers 10:2); hands forcefully brought together (Nahum 3:19).
Hence the verb is also used in the sense of pitching a tent (hammering the pegs into the ground - Genesis 31:25) and making a pledge to become someone's endorser (which was done by striking hands together with someone - Job 17:3b literally reads "who is he that my hand will strike?").
In the latter usage the figurative is probably dominant: one who pledges another's safety is bound to him (compare Samson's hair "hammered" to the ground; Samson tied up - Judges 16:14) and maybe even so much inconvenienced that the pledger feels "stabbed" or thrust into (compare Proverbs 6:1, 11:15).
The derivatives of this verb are:
- The masculine noun תקע (teqa'), meaning a blast or sound (of a horn). This noun occurs in Psalm 150:3 only.
- The masculine noun תקוע (taqoa'), meaning trumpet. This noun occurs in Ezekiel 7:14 only, although some scholars take this word to be not a noun but an infinite absolute of the verb.