Hebrew word · H7228

רַב

rav

archer

Two possible words lie behind these letters. (1) The very common plural of rav, 'many, great'. (2) A rare noun rav, 'archer', from a root meaning 'to shoot'.

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

archer

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 Jeremiah 50:29

Range of meaning

Two possible words lie behind these letters. (1) The very common plural of rav, 'many, great'. (2) A rare noun rav, 'archer', from a root meaning 'to shoot'. That noun probably occurs in Job 16:13 ('his archers surround me') and Proverbs 26:10, and the same root gives 'an archer' (roveh qashshat) in Genesis 21:20.

Against the English

KJV, BSB, WEB and most modern versions give 'archers'. YLT also has 'archers'. The ancient translations understood 'many'.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint (Jer 27:29 in its numbering) reads 'to many', and the Vulgate also reads 'many'. HALOT and BDB list a separate entry rav II, 'archer'. Many commentators (e.g. Holladay, Lundbom) accept 'archers', some by revocalising the word as rovim, 'shooters'.

From the study of Proverbs 26:10

Range of meaning

Two separate words share this spelling. (1) The very common rav I: 'much, many, great', and as a noun 'chief, master, captain' (e.g. rav-tabbaḥim, 'captain of the guard'). (2) The rare rav II: 'archer', linked to a root meaning 'to shoot' (Gen 49:23 uses a verb from it for archers shooting).

Against the English

BSB, NIV, ESV, NASB and WEB choose 'archer'. The KJV and YLT choose 'great' and take it as God, the 'Great One'. Some Jewish and modern renderings choose 'master (craftsman)'.

How it drifted

This is not drift over time. The word itself is ambiguous. The KJV's '[God]' is printed in italics (here in brackets) because the translators supplied it; it is not in the Hebrew.

Used elsewhere in the period

BDB and HALOT list rav II 'archer' for Job 16:13 ('his archers surround me') and Jer 50:29 ('summon archers against Babylon'). Rav I as 'chief' is common in later Hebrew and Aramaic, which is where the title 'Rabbi' comes from.

Where it appears

Job · 1

  1. Job 16:13 רַבָּ֗יו archers his

    His archers surround me. He pierces my kidneys without mercy and spills my gall on the ground.

Proverbs · 1

  1. Proverbs 26:10 רַ֥ב an archer

    Like an archer who wounds at random is he who hires a fool or passerby.

    Here: The supplied data takes this as the rare word rav II, 'archer', from a root meaning 'to shoot' (compare Jer 50:29 and Job 16:13). Elsewhere the far more common rav means 'great, much, many' or 'chief, master'. That ambiguity is the main reason the verse is disputed. With 'archer', the line opens with a picture of a bowman.

Jeremiah · 1

  1. Jeremiah 50:29 רַ֠בִּים archers

    Summon the archers against Babylon, all who string the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.

    Here: As vocalised, the word most naturally means 'many'. Because the next phrase is about bows, most interpreters take it as a rarer word meaning 'archers' (compare Job 16:13). Either way it is a massed force of bowmen.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.