Hebrew word · H7233

רְבָבָה

revavah

myriad

Revavah: ten thousand, a myriad, a countless host. Elef: a thousand, and in some texts a clan unit or military contingent (Judg 6:15; Num 1:16).

Appears 16 times in 16 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

multitude, myriad, ten thousand

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 Deuteronomy 33:17

Range of meaning

Revavah: ten thousand, a myriad, a countless host. Elef: a thousand, and in some texts a clan unit or military contingent (Judg 6:15; Num 1:16).

Against the English

Versions agree: 'ten thousands / myriads' and 'thousands'. KJV and YLT keep 'they are', which preserves the link back to the horns. BSB's 'Such are' slightly loosens it.

Used elsewhere in the period

'Thousands // ten thousands' is a standard poetic pair, already found in Ugaritic poetry (alp // rbt). 1 Sam 18:7: 'Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.' Ps 91:7; Mic 6:7.

From the study of Psalm 3:6

Range of meaning

'Ten thousand', 'myriad'. It was the highest common number word, and it is often used loosely for a vast, uncountable multitude. It comes from the root r-b-b, 'to be many, great'.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'ten thousands' is literal. BSB/YLT 'myriads' captures the sense of beyond counting. Neither is wrong, but 'ten thousands' can sound like a precise headcount when the point is overwhelming size.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used for vast numbers in Gen 24:60 ('thousands of ten thousands'), Deut 32:30 ('two put ten thousand to flight'), and Ps 91:7 ('ten thousand at your right hand'). It famously appears in the women's song, 'Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands' (1 Sam 18:7). Ugaritic, a neighbouring language, has the cognate word rbt for 'ten thousand'.

From the study of Ezekiel 16:7

Range of meaning

A very large number, specifically 'ten thousand' or more loosely 'myriads, countless multitude' (Genesis 24:60; Deuteronomy 33:17; 1 Samuel 18:7). It comes from the root רבב/רבה, 'to be many, be great.'

Against the English

KJV 'caused thee to multiply' and BSB 'made you thrive' both smooth the oddity into a verb. YLT keeps the noun: 'A myriad.' Modern versions mostly follow the Septuagint's verb ('grow'), sometimes without a footnote.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Greek Septuagint reads πληθύνου, 'multiply!' or 'grow!', a command that continues 'Live!' from verse 6. Jewish tradition kept the Hebrew text as it stands: the Passover Haggadah quotes this verse ('A myriad like the growth of the field I made you') to explain 'populous' (וָרָב) in Deuteronomy 26:5, applying it to Israel's population boom in Egypt.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 24:60 רְבָבָ֑ה ten thousand

    And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands upon thousands. May your offspring possess the gates of their enemies.”

    Here: The largest ordinary number word, 'ten thousand'. 'Thousands of ten-thousands' is deliberate overstatement meaning numbers beyond counting.

Leviticus · 1

  1. Leviticus 26:8 רְבָבָ֣ה ten thousand

    Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.

    Here: "Ten thousand," the largest number Hebrew had a single word for. Often it simply means "a vast host." A hundred against ten thousand is odds of one to a hundred.

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 10:36 רִֽבְב֖וֹת [the] ten thousands of

    And when it came to rest, he would say: “Return, O LORD, to the countless thousands of Israel.”

Deuteronomy · 3

  1. Deuteronomy 32:30 רְבָבָ֑ה ten thousand

    How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?

    Here: 'Myriad': ten thousand, or simply a countless mass. It is the poetic step up from 'thousand'.

  2. Deuteronomy 33:2 מֵרִבְבֹ֣ת from ten thousands of

    He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned upon us from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran and came with myriads of holy ones, with flaming fire at His right hand.

    Here: 'Ten thousand' is the largest ordinary number word, so it means a countless host. The Hebrew preposition is 'from', perhaps 'from among'. Many translations say 'with', following the Greek or a slight correction.

  3. Deuteronomy 33:17 רִבְב֣וֹת [are] [the] ten thousands of

    His majesty is like a firstborn bull, and his horns are like those of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even to the ends of the earth. Such are the myriads of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.”

    Here: 'Tens of thousands', a vast host. It is the larger number of the pair and is given to Ephraim.

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 20:10 לָרְבָבָ֔ה to the ten thousand

    We will take ten men out of every hundred from all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of every thousand, and a thousand out of every ten thousand, to supply provisions for the army when they go to Gibeah in Benjamin to punish them for the atrocity they have committed in Israel.”

1 Samuel · 4

  1. 1 Samuel 18:7 בְּרִבְבֹתָֽיו׃ <on> ten thousands his

    And as the women danced, they sang out: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”

  2. 1 Samuel 18:8 רְבָב֔וֹת ten thousands

    And Saul was furious and resented this song. “They have ascribed tens of thousands to David,” he said, “but only thousands to me. What more can he have but the kingdom?”

  3. 1 Samuel 21:11 בְּרִבְבֹתָֽיו׃ <on> ten thousands his

    But the servants of Achish said to him, “Is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing about him in their dances, saying: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

  4. 1 Samuel 29:5 בְּרִבְבֹתָֽיו׃ ס <on> ten thousands his

    Is this not the David about whom they sing in their dances: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

Psalms · 2

  1. Psalm 3:6 מֵרִבְב֥וֹת from ten thousands of

    I will not fear the myriads set against me on every side.

    Here: The prefix mi- ('from, of') marks what the fear would be fear of. The noun is the largest ordinary Hebrew number word ('ten thousand'), here in the plural: 'tens of thousands', a number too large to count. It picks up the 'many... many' of verses 1–2, which comes from the same root.

  2. Psalm 91:7 וּרְבָבָ֥ה and ten thousand

    Though a thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, no harm will come near you.

    Here: "And a myriad": ten thousand, the top of the ordinary counting scale. It pushes the first number higher: not just many, but countless.

Song of Songs · 1

  1. Song of Songs 5:10 מֵרְבָבָֽה׃ more than ten thousand

    My beloved is dazzling and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand.

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 16:7 רְבָבָ֗ה ten thousand

    I made you thrive like a plant of the field. You grew up and matured and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.

    Here: Literally 'a myriad': I made you as many, as abundant, as the wild growth of the field. It stresses teeming, unstoppable increase. Because it sits awkwardly with a single girl, many scholars think it began as the command 'grow!' (see textual notes).

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 6:7 בְּרִֽבְב֖וֹת in tens of thousands of

    Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

    Here: 'With tens of thousands of.' The count goes up again, from thousands to myriads, the largest round number in common use.

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