🔼The name Rabbith: Summary
- Meaning
- Multitude, Great
- Etymology
- From the verb רבב (rabab), to be great or many.
🔼The name Rabbith in the Bible
The name Rabbith occurs only once in the Bible. It's the name of a city that was situated in the territory assigned to the tribe of Issachar, in the north of Israel (Joshua 19:20).
🔼Etymology of the name Rabbith
The name Rabbith comes from the verb רבב (rabab), meaning to be or become many or great:
רבב
The verb רבב (rabab) means to be or become many. Adjective רב (rab) means much, many or great, and the identical noun רב (rab) means chief or captain; hence too the familiar noun ραββι (rabbi), meaning Rabbi. Noun רב (rob) means multitude or abundance. Nouns רבבה (rebaba), רבו (ribo) and רבוא (ribo') mean ten-thousand or myriad. Noun רביבים (rebibim) denotes copious showers.
Noun רבב (rabab), describes a smear of viscous fat, an obvious sign that someone was well off. That same noun was spelled רבד (rabad), which may have helped the formation of the word ραβδος (rabdos), staff, rod or scepter.
Possibly a second yet identical verb רבב (rabab) means to shoot, particularly of arrows. This may very well be a specified usage of our verb since arrows are customarily shot en masse by many archers. Noun רב (rab) means archer, and is identical to the adjective meaning many.
The slightly more common verb רבה (raba) is obviously a by-form of רבב (rabab) and means to be or become great, many, much or numerous. Noun מרבה (marbeh) means increase or abundance. Noun מרבה (mirbah) means much. Nouns מרבית (marbit) and תרבות (tarbut) mean increase, greatness, multitude. Noun תרבית (tarbit) means increment or usury. Fittingly, noun ארבה (arbeh) denotes a kind of locust.
Possibly a second yet identical verb רבה (raba) means to shoot.
🔼Rabbith meaning
For a meaning of the name Rabbith, NOBSE Study Bible Name List reads Multitude and Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names has Great or Multitude. BDB Theological Dictionary does not interpret the name Rabbith but does list it under the verb רבב (rabab), meaning to be or become many or great.