H7227 — רַב (rab)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H7227
Original: רַב
Transliteration: rab
Pronunciation: rab
Part of Speech: Adjective, adverb, masculine noun
Root: רָבָה (rabah, H7235) — to increase, multiply
Occurrences: 443 unique verses (473 tokens) across 35 books
First Occurrence: Gen 6:5 — "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

By contraction from H7231; abundant (in quantity, size, age, number, rank, quality): (in) abound(-undance, -ant, -antly), captain, elder, enough, exceedingly, full, great(-ly, man, one), increase, long (enough, time), (do, have) many(-ifold, things, a time), (ship-)master, mighty, more, (too, very) much, multiply(-tude), officer, often(-times), plenteous, populous, prince, process (of time), suffice(-lent).

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Count	%
many	160	36.1%
great	107	24.2%
much	28	6.3%
captain	24	5.4%
more	11	2.5%
long	10	2.3%
enough / suffice	9	2.0%
mighty	3	0.7%
manifold	3	0.7%
plenteous	3	0.7%
multitude	4	0.9%
abundantly	2	0.5%
exceedingly	2	0.5%
Other	77	17.4%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Daniel	23	6.4
Jonah	3	6.2
Micah	6	5.7
Joel	4	5.5
Habakkuk	3	5.4
Esther	7	4.2
Amos	6	4.1
Ecclesiastes	8	3.6
Malachi	2	3.6
Ezekiel	44	3.5
2 Chronicles	28	3.4
Jeremiah	38	2.8
Nehemiah	11	2.7
Psalms	57	2.3
Proverbs	20	2.2
Deuteronomy	21	2.2
Nahum	1	2.1
Joshua	13	2.0
Isaiah	25	1.9
Lamentations	3	1.9
Zechariah	4	1.9
Job	17	1.6
1 Kings	12	1.5
Hosea	3	1.5
2 Kings	10	1.4
Numbers	17	1.3
2 Samuel	8	1.2
1 Chronicles	10	1.1
Ezra	3	1.1
Genesis	14	0.9
Judges	5	0.8
Exodus	9	0.7
1 Samuel	5	0.6
Leviticus	2	0.2
Song of Solomon	1	—

Evenly distributed across OT genres. Highest density in Daniel (6.4/100v) and Minor Prophets (Jonah, Micah, Joel, Habakkuk). Prophetic literature carries the heaviest concentration overall; Ezekiel leads by raw count (44). Notable presence in wisdom literature (Proverbs 20, Job 17, Ecclesiastes 8). Present in 35 of 39 OT books — absent only from Ruth, Obadiah, Haggai, and Zephaniah.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Numerical Abundance — "Many" (People, Nations, Things)¶

The dominant usage. Describes large quantity of people, nations, objects, events. - Isa 2:3 — "And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD" - Isa 52:15 — "So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him" - Dan 12:2 — "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake" - Mic 4:2 — "And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD"

2. Greatness — Magnitude, Intensity, Degree¶

Describes the scale or intensity of abstract qualities: wickedness, mercy, power, beauty. - Gen 6:5 — "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth" - Exo 34:6 — "The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" - Neh 9:31 — "Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them" - Lam 3:23 — "They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness"

3. Sufficiency — "Enough"¶

Expresses sufficiency, often as an exclamation or with temporal duration. - Gen 33:9 — "And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself" - Gen 45:28 — "And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive" - Deut 1:6 — "Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount" - 1Ki 19:4 — "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life"

4. Title / Rank — "Captain, Chief, Master"¶

As a masculine noun, denotes a person of high rank or authority. The title rab appears especially in military and court contexts. - 2Ki 25:8 — "Nebuzaradan, captain (rab) of the guard" - Jon 1:6 — "So the shipmaster (rab) came to him" - Jer 39:9 — "Then Nebuzaradan the captain (rab) of the guard carried away captive" - Dan 1:3 — "And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master (rab) of his eunuchs"

5. Temporal Extension — "Long, Many Days"¶

Describes extended duration, often in the phrase yamim rabbim "many days." - Gen 21:34 — "And Abraham sojourned in the Philistines' land many days" - Josh 23:1 — "A long time after that the LORD had given rest unto Israel" - Hos 3:3 — "Thou shalt abide for me many days" - Eze 12:27 — "The vision that he seeth is for many days to come"

6. "Much" — Great Volume or Quantity of Materials¶

Describes physical abundance of water, cattle, wealth, produce. - Num 20:11 — "the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank" - Eze 1:24 — "the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters" - 2Ch 32:29 — "possessions of flocks and herds in abundance: for God had given him substance very much" - Prov 15:6 — "In the house of the righteous is much treasure"

7. Prophetic-Eschatological Scope¶

In prophetic literature, rab often signals the universal scope of divine action — judgment or redemption reaching "many." - Isa 53:11 — "by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many" - Isa 53:12 — "he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" - Dan 9:27 — "And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week" - Dan 12:3 — "they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
עַם (ʻam)	H5971	77x	"many people" or "a great people"
יוֹם (yowm)	H3117	60x	"many days" (yamim rabbim) — temporal duration
מֶלֶךְ (melek)	H4428	52x	"great king" or context of royal authority
אֶרֶץ (ʼerets)	H776	51x	"great land" or "many lands"
בֵּן (ben)	H1121	51x	"many sons/children"
גּוֹי (gowy)	H1471	32x	"many nations" (goyim rabbim) — international scope
מַיִם (mayim)	H4325	36x	"many/great waters" — cosmic or chaotic waters
אֱלֹהִים (ʼelohiym)	H430	39x	divine attribute contexts ("great God")

Word Family / Cognates¶

H7235 רָבָה (rabah) — root verb: to increase, multiply, become many
H7230 רֹב (rob) — noun: abundance, multitude, greatness
H7229 רַב (rab, Aramaic) — Aramaic equivalent: captain, chief, great
H7231 רָבַב (rabab) — verb: to be or become many
H7233 רְבָבָה (rebabah) — noun: myriad, ten thousand
H7228 רַב (rab) — noun: archer (different root)

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
גָּדוֹל (gadol)	H1419	"great" (330v)	gadol = great in size, status, importance; rab = great in quantity, abundance, degree
מְאֹד (meʼod)	H3966	"great" (11v), "much" (5v)	meʼod = intensifier adverb "very, exceedingly"; rab = adjective describing inherent abundance
הָמוֹן (hamon)	H1995	"multitude" (10v)	hamon = tumultuous crowd, roaring mass; rab = large number without the noise/chaos connotation
רֹב (rob)	H7230	"multitude" (7v)	rob = abstract noun "abundance/majority"; rab = adjective "many/great" modifying nouns
כָּבֵד (kabed)	H3515	"great" (7v)	kabed = "heavy" — gravity, weight, glory; rab = numerical or quantitative abundance

Semantic Domains¶

Large [002001001034] — with H410 ʼel, H430 ʼelohiym
Quantity [002001001042] — with H259 ʼechad, H504 ʼeleph
Great [002001002012] — with H117 ʼaddiyr, H1419 gadol
Leaders [001002007005] — with H113 ʼadon, H8269 sar
Intense [002001003012] — with H533 ʼammiyts, H1396 gabar

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Strong's	Co-occurrences	PMI Score	Notes
πολύς (polys)	G4183	317	28.98	Primary equivalent — covers "many/much/great"
πλῆθος (plethos)	G4128	32	11.59	When rab = "multitude"
μέγας (megas)	G3173	50	8.84	When rab = "great" in magnitude
ἱκανόω (hikanoo)	G2427	9	12.22	"Sufficiency" sense
ἔθνος (ethnos)	G1484	50	8.20	In "many nations" collocations
οἰκτίρμων (oiktirmon)	G3629	7	9.82	In "of great mercy" formulas