תַּרְבּוּת

From the study of Numbers 32:14

Range of meaning

A noun from the root rabah, "to become many, grow." Its likely sense is "increase, growth, offspring, brood" (BDB). Because it appears only once in the Hebrew Bible, its exact shade has to be worked out from the root, the context and the ancient translators.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT say "increase," which stays close to the root but sounds like a rise in numbers to modern ears. BSB, ESV, NIV, NASB and NLT say "brood," and NJPS says "breed." Those make the sense of offspring clear but add a more openly contemptuous tone than the root alone carries. The tone is real, but it comes from the context of Moses' tirade more than from the word.

How it drifted

The older English "increase" could mean offspring or produce, as in the "increase" of a flock or field. That sense has largely faded, so the KJV wording now suggests that sinful men are simply growing in number.

Used elsewhere in the period

Only here in the Hebrew Bible. A close relative, tarbit, means interest that grows on a loan (Lev 25:36). The ancient translators struggled with it: the Greek Septuagint has systremma (a band or gang), the Latin Vulgate has incrementa et alumni (growths and foster-pupils), and the Aramaic Targum Onkelos has "disciples." Later rabbinic Hebrew uses it for upbringing or conduct (tarbut ra'ah, "bad upbringing," b. Berakhot 7b), and in Modern Hebrew it means "culture." Those later senses should not be read back into Moses' speech.