Hebrew word · H6163
עַרְבִי
'aravi
Arabian
A man of the steppe or desert; a member of the tent-dwelling, camel- and flock-herding peoples of the Syrian-Arabian desert and its edges. The word is related to 'aravah ('steppe, desert plain'). It names a way of life and a set of tribal groups, not a modern ethnic or national identity.
Appears 9 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).
In depth
From the study of Isaiah 13:20
- Range of meaning
A man of the steppe or desert; a member of the tent-dwelling, camel- and flock-herding peoples of the Syrian-Arabian desert and its edges. The word is related to 'aravah ('steppe, desert plain'). It names a way of life and a set of tribal groups, not a modern ethnic or national identity.
- Against the English
KJV 'the Arabian' and WEB 'the Arabian' (ESV and NASB also say 'Arab') keep the word but invite a modern ethnic reading. BSB and NIV 'nomad' give the function: someone who camps anywhere.
- How it drifted
In modern English, 'Arab' means a large ethnic and linguistic group, Arab nation-states, and in popular use often Islam. None of that existed in the 8th–6th centuries BC. For Isaiah's hearers the word called up a tent-dweller on the desert's edge.
- Used elsewhere in the period
The earliest datable mention is Assyrian: Shalmaneser III's Kurkh Monolith (853 BC) names 'Gindibu the Arbaya' with 1,000 camels at the battle of Qarqar. Tiglath-pileser III records tribute from the 'queens of the Arabs' (Zabibe, Samsi). Sennacherib lists Arabs among Merodach-baladan's supporters in Babylonia. In the Bible: Jeremiah 3:2 ('like an Arab in the desert,' a nomad waiting by the road); Isaiah 21:13 (oracle 'in the desert-steppe'); Nehemiah 2:19 (Geshem the Arab). See I. Eph'al, The Ancient Arabs.
From the study of Jeremiah 3:2
- Range of meaning
A man of the ʿaravah or steppe, a desert nomad. Later it becomes the ethnic name for Arabs (Neh 2:19; 2 Chr 17:11). In Isa 13:20 it is the tent-dweller who will not camp among ruins.
- Against the English
KJV 'Arabian', ESV/WEB 'Arab(ian)', BSB 'nomad'. BSB keeps the lifestyle sense, and the others keep the ethnic label.
- How it drifted
Modern 'Arab' names a nation or language group across the Middle East. In Jeremiah's day the word pointed to a way of life, the desert-fringe tribesman.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Medieval Jewish commentators (Rashi, Kimchi) explain it as the desert dweller who sits watching the road for travellers to rob. The Septuagint read the consonants differently ('crow').
From the study of Nehemiah 6:1
- Range of meaning
Arab: a member of the desert and steppe peoples of north Arabia and the Syro-Arabian fringe, pastoral and caravan-trading groups.
- Against the English
'Arab/Arabian' means here a Persian-period tribal people, specifically, it appears, the Qedar confederation. It does not mean the later Arabic-speaking or Islamic-era identity.
- How it drifted
After the 7th century AD 'Arab' became tied to Arabic language, Islam and modern nation-states. Reading those back turns a local regional rival into an ethnic or religious symbol.
- Used elsewhere in the period
A silver bowl from Tell el-Maskhuta in Egypt (5th c. BC) is dedicated by 'Qaynu son of Gashmu, king of Qedar'. An inscription from Dedan (al-'Ula) mentions 'Gashm son of Shahr'. Most scholars identify one of these Gashmus with Nehemiah's Geshem. Assyrian records already know Qedarite 'kings' and 'queens of the Arabs'.
Where it appears
2 Chronicles · 4
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2 Chronicles 17:11 הָֽעַרְבִיאִ֗ים the Arabs
Some Philistines also brought gifts and silver as tribute to Jehoshaphat, and the Arabs brought him 7,700 rams and 7,700 goats from their flocks.
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2 Chronicles 21:16 וְהָ֣עַרְבִ֔ים and the Arabs
Then the LORD stirred against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and Arabs who lived near the Cushites.
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2 Chronicles 22:1 בָֽעַרְבִ֖ים with the Arabs
Then the people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, the youngest son of Jehoram, king in his place, since the raiders who had come into the camp with the Arabs had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah.
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2 Chronicles 26:7 הָֽעַרְבִ֛ים the Arabs
God helped him against the Philistines, against the Arabs living in Gur-baal, and against the Meunites.
Nehemiah · 3
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Nehemiah 2:19 הָֽעַרְבִ֔י the Arab
But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
Here: Refers to the Arab tribal confederation, chiefly Qedar, that controlled the desert trade routes and the land south and east of Judah under the Persians. It says nothing about religion or modern nationality.
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Nehemiah 4:7 וְהָעַרְבִ֨ים and the Arabs
When Sanballat and Tobiah, together with the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they were furious,
Here: The north-Arabian tribal kingdom led by Geshem the Arab (2:19; 6:1). By this time it controlled the desert and the incense trade routes south of Judah.
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Nehemiah 6:1 הָֽעַרְבִ֜י the Arab
When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left—though to that time I had not yet installed the doors in the gates—
Here: Identifies Geshem by his people: the north-Arabian tribal peoples, in his case the Qedar confederation that ran the desert caravan and incense trade.
Isaiah · 1
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Isaiah 13:20 עֲרָבִ֔י an Arab
She will never be inhabited or settled from generation to generation; no nomad will pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flock there.
Here: A tent-living nomad of the Syrian-Arabian desert fringe, the kind of person who would camp anywhere. It refers to a way of life, not a modern nation or religion.
Jeremiah · 1
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Jeremiah 3:2 כַּעֲרָבִ֖י like an Arab
“Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see. Is there any place where you have not been violated? You sat beside the highways waiting for your lovers, like a nomad in the desert. You have defiled the land with your prostitution and wickedness.
Here: 'Like an Arab', meaning a nomad of the desert steppe (compare Isa 13:20). The comparison is about posture: the way a desert tribesman sits watching the track for passing travellers, often to rob them. She watches the roads for lovers just as keenly.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.