Hebrew word · H7239

רִבּוֹ

ribo

ten thousand

A myriad, ten thousand. It belongs to later Biblical Hebrew (also Ezra 2:64; Neh 7:66, 71; 1 Chr 29:7; Dan 11:12). Earlier texts use revavah.

Appears 10 times in 9 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

ten thousand, myriad

Aramaic equivalent: rib.bo (רִבּוֹ "myriad" H7240)

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 Jonah 4:11

Range of meaning

A myriad, ten thousand. It belongs to later Biblical Hebrew (also Ezra 2:64; Neh 7:66, 71; 1 Chr 29:7; Dan 11:12). Earlier texts use revavah.

Against the English

KJV 'sixscore thousand' (6 × 20 × 1,000) and YLT 'twelve myriads' keep the old counting style. Modern versions give '120,000.'

Used elsewhere in the period

Assyrian royal inscriptions give large figures for royal cities. Ashurnasirpal II's banquet stele from Calah (Nimrud), 9th century BC, claims 69,574 guests at a city inauguration, 16,000 of them residents of Calah. Modern estimates for Nineveh after Sennacherib enlarged it (c. 700 BC; walls about 12 km round) commonly run from about 100,000 to over 150,000, though all such numbers are uncertain.

From the study of Daniel 11:12

Range of meaning

Ten thousand; in the plural, 'tens of thousands', a very great number. A later form of revavah.

Against the English

'Tens of thousands' (BSB, WEB, ESV, NASB) is literal. KJV's '[many] ten thousands' adds 'many' in italics. NIV/NLT 'many thousands' softens the scale a little.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezra 2:64; Neh 7:66; 1 Chr 29:7; Jonah 4:11 ('more than twelve ribbo'). Aramaic ribbo is used for the countless attendants around the Ancient of Days in Dan 7:10.

From the study of Ezra 2:64

Range of meaning

Ten thousand, a myriad. It can also mean an indefinitely huge number. This later form sits beside the earlier revavah.

Against the English

YLT keeps 'four myriad'. All other versions turn the expression into modern numbers, which is accurate.

Used elsewhere in the period

Found in Jonah 4:11 ('more than twelve ribbo people'), Dan 11:12, Neh 7:66, 71–72 and 1 Chr 29:7. Related to Aramaic ribbo/ribbon (Dan 7:10).

Where it appears

1 Chronicles · 2

  1. 1 Chronicles 29:7 רִבּוֹ֒ רִבּ֛וֹ ten thousand

    Toward the service of God’s house they gave 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze, and 100,000 talents of iron.

Ezra · 2

  1. Ezra 2:64 רִבּ֔וֹא ten thousand

    The whole assembly numbered 42,360,

    Here: This is the unit of ten thousand. The spelling *ribbo* is typical of later biblical Hebrew, found in books like Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles, Daniel and Jonah.

  2. Ezra 2:69 רִבֹּ֣אות ten thousands

    According to their ability, they gave to the treasury for this work 61,000 darics of gold, 5,000 minas of silver, and 100 priestly garments.

Nehemiah · 3

  1. Nehemiah 7:66 רִבּ֔וֹא ten thousand

    The whole assembly numbered 42,360,

  2. Nehemiah 7:71 רִבּ֑וֹת ten thousands

    And some of the heads of the families gave to the treasury for the project 20,000 darics of gold and 2,200 minas of silver.

  3. Nehemiah 7:72 רִבּ֔וֹא ten thousand

    The rest of the people gave a total of 20,000 darics of gold, 2,000 minas of silver, and 67 priestly garments.

    Here: 'Two myriads' means 20,000. The word ribbo shows up mostly in later biblical Hebrew (Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles, Daniel, Jonah).

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 68:17 רִבֹּתַ֣יִם [is] twice ten thousand

    The chariots of God are tens of thousands—thousands of thousands are they; the Lord is in His sanctuary as He was at Sinai.

    Here: A 'dual' form (the Hebrew ending for 'a pair of'), found only here: literally 'two myriads', i.e. twenty thousand. In poetry it works as 'myriads upon myriads', a number past any human army.

Daniel · 1

  1. Daniel 11:12 רִבֹּא֖וֹת tens of thousands

    When the army is carried off, the king of the South will be proud in heart and will cast down tens of thousands, but he will not triumph.

    Here: Plural of 'ten thousand', so 'myriads': a very large death toll. Late Hebrew word (also in Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles, Jonah). The plural states the size broadly; it does not have to be an exact count.

Jonah · 1

  1. Jonah 4:11 רִבּ֜וֹ ten thousand

    So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?”

    Here: A late Hebrew word for 'myriad' (10,000). 'Twelve myriads' gives 120,000, a large, round figure that was believable for a great royal city.

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