רַ֫הַב

From the study of Isaiah 51:9

Range of meaning

(1) The root rhb means to storm, rage, press boisterously, act arrogantly (Isa 3:5; Prov 6:3). (2) The noun names a monster of the sea that God subdued (Job 9:13; 26:12; Ps 89:10 [Heb 89:11]). (3) It is a poetic code-name for Egypt (Isa 30:7, 'Rahab who sits still'; Ps 87:4, where it sits in a list of nations).

Against the English

English Bibles transliterate it as 'Rahab', and the reader then meets the same spelling as the Jericho woman of Joshua 2. Her name is a different Hebrew word, rāḥāv, 'broad', spelled with a different h-sound (ḥet). The two have nothing to do with each other.

How it drifted

English spelling merges two unrelated Hebrew names. Ancient translators also softened the monster: Jerome's Latin renders it superbum, 'the proud one', and the Greek elsewhere uses 'sea monster' (kētos, Job 26:12) or 'the proud' (Ps 89:10).

Used elsewhere in the period

No Rahab by this name has yet turned up in the Ugaritic texts, the Canaanite tablets from Ugarit in Syria (c. 1300 BCE), whose sea enemies are Yam ('Sea'), Lotan (= Leviathan) and Tunnan (= tannîn). Within the Bible, Job 26:12 reads 'by his power he stilled the sea; by his understanding he shattered Rahab'. Later rabbinic tradition calls Rahab 'the prince of the sea' (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Batra 74b).

From the study of Job 26:12

Range of meaning

(1) A proper name for a mythic sea-monster or chaos power that God defeated (Job 9:13; 26:12; Ps 89:10; Isa 51:9). (2) A nickname for Egypt as a blustering, useless power (Isa 30:7; Ps 87:4). (3) As an ordinary noun from the root רהב 'to storm, press, behave insolently' (Isa 3:5; Prov 6:3), it carries the idea of arrogance or boisterousness (Ps 40:4 has the related plural 'the proud').

Against the English

BSB, WEB, ESV, NASB and NIV keep the name 'Rahab'. KJV and YLT translate it as an ordinary noun: 'the proud'. NLT replaces it with 'the great sea monster'. Modern readers who see 'Rahab' usually think of the woman of Jericho (Josh 2), whose name is רָחָב (Raḥav, with a heavy ḥ). It is a different word.

How it drifted

The Latin Vulgate rendered it 'superbum' (the proud one), and that reading passed into the KJV, so the mythic name disappeared for English readers for centuries. Modern versions brought the name back, but because readers know only the Jericho Rahab, the name now invites a mix-up.

Used elsewhere in the period

Rahab as a monster name occurs only in Hebrew; it does not appear in the Ugaritic texts, which use Yam, Lotan/Litan and Tunnan for the same kind of beings. In the Bible it sits alongside those names: Isa 51:9 'cut Rahab in pieces, pierced the dragon (tannin)'; Ps 89:10–11 'you crushed Rahab like a carcass' beside the raging sea; Job 9:13 'the helpers of Rahab bowed beneath him'. The Septuagint renders it here with kētos, 'sea monster'.