Hebrew word · H7250

רָבַע

leriv'ah

to mate

To lie down, especially for mating. In the causative form used here: to make animals lie down together, to breed them.

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

What it means

1) to lie stretched out, lie down

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to lie down

1a1a) for repose

1a1b) for copulation (of woman with beast)

1b) (Hiphil) to cause to lay down (of cattle breeding)

Also means: re.va (רֶבַע "to lie down" H7252)

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 Leviticus 19:19

Range of meaning

To lie down, especially for mating. In the causative form used here: to make animals lie down together, to breed them.

Against the English

"Crossbreed" (BSB, WEB) and "mate" catch the sense. KJV's "let thy cattle gender" uses an old verb meaning "engender, breed."

How it drifted

The KJV verb "gender" now means something else entirely, and modern "crossbreed" usually describes mixing breeds within one species.

Used elsewhere in the period

Lev 18:23 and 20:16 use the same root for sex between a human and an animal. Philo (Special Laws 3.46–48) condemns crossbreeding as going against nature. Later Jewish law forbade breeding mules but allowed people to use mules bred by others, and the Bible shows Israel's kings riding and receiving mules (2 Sam 13:29; 1 Kgs 1:33; 10:25).

Where it appears

Leviticus · 3

  1. Leviticus 18:23 לְרִבְעָ֖הּ to stretch out with it

    You must not lie carnally with any animal, thus defiling yourself with it; a woman must not stand before an animal to mate with it; that is a perversion.

  2. Leviticus 19:19 תַרְבִּ֣יעַ you will make lie

    You are to keep My statutes. You shall not crossbreed two different kinds of livestock; you shall not sow your fields with two kinds of seed; and you shall not wear clothing made of two kinds of material.

    Here: "You shall not make [them] lie down / mate". The causative form makes the owner the one responsible: the ban is on deliberately pairing animals for breeding. The same root is used for bestiality in 18:23 and 20:16.

  3. Leviticus 20:16 לְרִבְעָ֣ה to stretch out with

    If a woman approaches any animal to mate with it, you must kill both the woman and the animal. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

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