Tâqa‛ (תָּקַע, Strong's #8628), “to strike, give a blast, clap, blow, drive.” Found in both ancient and modern Hebrew, this word occurs in the Hebrew Old Testament nearly 70 times. In the verse where tâqa‛ first occurs, it is found twice: “Jacob had pitched [tâqa‛] his tent in the mount: and Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead” (Gen. 31:25). The meaning here is that of “striking” or “driving” a tent peg, thus “pitching” a tent. The same word is used of Jael’s “driving” the peg into Sisera’s temple (Judg. 4:21). The Bible also uses tâqa‛ to describe the strong west wind that “drove” the locusts into the Red Sea (Exod. 10:19).Tâqa‛ expresses the idea of “giving a blast” on a trumpet. It is found seven times with this meaning in the story of the conquest of Jericho (Josh. 6:4, 8-9, 13, 16, 20). To “strike” one’s hands in praise or triumph (Ps. 47:1) or “shake hands” on an agreement (Prov. 6:1; 17:18; 22:26) are described by this verb. To “strike” the hands in an agreement was a surety or guarantor of the agreement.