Reference: Rabbah
Easton
or Rab'bath, great. (1.) "Rabbath of the children of Ammon," the chief city of the Ammonites, among the eastern hills, some 20 miles east of the Jordan, on the southern of the two streams which united with the Jabbok. Here the bedstead of Og was preserved (De 3:11), perhaps as a trophy of some victory gained by the Ammonites over the king of Bashan. After David had subdued all their allies in a great war, he sent Joab with a strong force to take their city. For two years it held out against its assailants. It was while his army was engaged in this protracted siege that David was guilty of that deed of shame which left a blot on his character and cast a gloom over the rest of his life. At length, having taken the "royal city" (or the "city of waters," 2Sa 12:27, i.e., the lower city on the river, as distinguished from the citadel), Joab sent for David to direct the final assault (2Sa 11:1; 12:26-31). The city was given up to plunder, and the people were ruthlessly put to death, and "thus did he with all the cities of the children of Ammon." The destruction of Rabbath was the last of David's conquests. His kingdom now reached its farthest limits (2Sa 8:1-15; 1Ch 18:1-15). The capture of this city is referred to by Amos (Am 1:14), Jeremiah (Jer 49:2-3), and Ezekiel (Eze 21:20; 25:5).
(2.) A city in the hill country of Judah (Jos 15:60), possibly the ruin Rubba, six miles north-east of Beit-Jibrin.
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(For Og, king of Bashan, was the last of all the Rephaim; his bed was made of iron; is it not in Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon? It was nine cubits long and four cubits wide, measured by the common cubit.)
Kiriath-baal (which is Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah; two towns with their unwalled places.
And it came about after this that David made an attack on the Philistines and overcame them; and David took the authority of the mother-town from the hands of the Philistines. And he overcame the Moabites, and he had them measured with a line when they were stretched out on the earth; marking out two lines for death and one full line for life. So the Moabites became servants to David and gave him offerings. read more. And David overcame Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to make his power seen by the River. And David took from him one thousand, seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand footmen: and David had the leg-muscles of the horses cut, only keeping enough of them for a hundred war-carriages. And when the Aramaeans of Damascus came to the help of Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David put to the sword twenty-two thousand of the Aramaeans. And David put armed forces in Aram of Damascus: and the Aramaeans became servants to David and gave him offerings. And the Lord made David overcome wherever he went. And David took their gold body-covers from the servants of Hadadezer and took them to Jerusalem. And from Tebah and Berothai, towns of Hadadezer, King David took a great store of brass. And when Tou, king of Hamath, had news that David had overcome all the army of Hadadezer, He sent his son Hadoram to David, with words of peace and blessing, because he had overcome Hadadezer in the fight, for Hadadezer had wars with Tou; and Hadoram took with him vessels of silver and gold and brass: These King David made holy to the Lord, together with the silver and gold which he had taken from the nations he had overcome-- The nations of Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon and the Philistines and the Amalekites and the goods he had taken from Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah. And David got great honour for himself, when he came back, by the destruction of Edom in the valley of Salt, to the number of eighteen thousand men. And he put armed forces in Edom; all through Edom he had armed forces stationed, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord made David overcome wherever he went. And David was king over all Israel, judging and giving right decisions for all his people.
Now in the spring, at the time when kings go out to war, David sent Joab and his servants and all Israel with him; and they made waste the land of the children of Ammon, and took up their position before Rabbah, shutting it in. But David was still at Jerusalem.
Now Joab was fighting against Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon, and he took the water-town. And Joab sent men to David, saying, I have made war against Rabbah and have taken the water-town.
And Joab sent men to David, saying, I have made war against Rabbah and have taken the water-town. So now, get the rest of the people together, and put them in position against the town and take it, for if I take it, it will be named after my name. read more. Then David got all the people together and went to Rabbah and made war on it and took it. And he took the crown of Milcom from his head; the weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it were stones of great price; and it was put on David's head. And he took a great store of goods from the town. And he took the people out of the town and put them to work with wood-cutting instruments, and iron grain-crushers, and iron axes, and at brick-making: this he did to all the towns of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the people went back to Jerusalem.
Because of this, see, the days are coming when I will have a cry of war sounded against Rabbah, the town of the children of Ammon; it will become a waste of broken walls, and her daughter-towns will be burned with fire: then Israel will take the heritage of those who took his heritage, says the Lord. Make sounds of grief, O Heshbon, for Ai is wasted; give loud cries, O daughters of Rabbah, and put haircloth round you: give yourselves to weeping, running here and there and wounding yourselves; for Milcom will be taken prisoner together with his rulers and his priests.
Put a pillar at the top of the road for the sword to come to Rabbah in the land of the children of Ammon, and to Judah and to Jerusalem in the middle of her.
And I will make Rabbah a place for housing camels, and the children of Ammon a resting-place for flocks: and you will be certain that I am the Lord.
And I will make a fire in the wall of Rabbah, burning up its great houses, with loud cries in the days of war, with a storm in the day of the great wind:
Fausets
("greatness of size or numbers".)
1. Ammon's chief city, its only city named in Scripture, in contrast to the more civilized Moab's numerous cities (De 3:11; 2Sa 12:26; 17:27; Jer 49:2; Eze 21:20). (See AMMON.) Conjectured to be the Ham of the Zuzim (Ge 14:5). After Hanun's insult Abishai and Joab defeated the allies Ammon and the Syrians of Bethrehob, Zoba, Ishtob, and Maachah (2 Samuel 10). The following year David in person defeated the Syrians at Helam. Next, Joab with the whole army and the king's bodyguard (including Uriah: 2Sa 23:39) besieged Ammon (11/type/bbe'>2 Samuel 11; 1 Chronicles 19; 20). The ark apparently accompanied the camp (2Sa 11:11), a rare occurrence (1Sa 4:3-6); but perhaps what is meant is only that the ark at Jerusalem was "in a tent" (2Sa 7:2,6) as was the army at Rabbah under Jehovah the Lord of the ark, therefore Uriah would not go home to his house.
The siege lasted nearly two years, from David's first connection with Bathsheba to the birth of Solomon. The Ammonites made unsuccessful sallies (2Sa 11:17). Joab finally took the lower town, which, from the stream rising in it and flowing through it perennially, is called "the city of waters," and from the king's palace "the royal city." Then in a characteristic speech, half jest half earnest (2Sa 12:28, compare 2Sa 19:6-7), which shows the power he had gained over David through David's secret and wicked commission (2Sa 11:14-15), he invited David to crown the capture by taking the citadel lest if he (Joab) took it, it should be called after his name. Josephus (Ant. 7:7, section 5) says the fortress had but one well, inadequate to supply the wants of its crowded occupants. (On its capture by David, and his putting the people under saws and harrows to cut them in pieces in retaliation for their cruelties, see DAVID, also Jg 1:7; 1Sa 11:2.)
Amos (Am 1:14) speaks of its "wall" and "palaces" and "king" (perhaps Moloch) about to be judged by God. So also Jer 49:2-3. Nebuchadnezzar attacked Ammon because of Baalis their king having instigated Ishmael to slay Gedaliah the Chaldaean governor (Jer 40:14). See 1Ma 5:6 as to subsequent judgments on Ammon. Ezekiel (Eze 21:20) depicts Nebuchadnezzar's divination to decide whether he should attack Jerusalem or Rabbah the first. Jerusalem's fall should be followed by that of Rabbah (compare Josephus, Ant. 10:9, section 7). Under the Ptolemies Rabbah still continued of importance as supplying water for the journey across the desert, and was made a garrison for repelling the Bedouins of that quarter.
Ptolemy Philadelphus named it Philadelphia. Josephus (B. J. 3:3, section 3) includes Rabbah in Decapolis. Now Amman, on a tributary (Moiet Amman) of the Zerka river (Jabbok), 19 miles S.E. of Es Salt ("Ramoth Gilead"), 22 E. of Jordan. Its temple, theater, and forum are remarkable ruins. Eight Corinthian columns of the theater (the largest known in Syria) remain. It has become as foretold "a stable for camels, a couching place for flocks a desolate heap" (Eze 25:5). Its coins bear the image of Astarte, and the word Heracleion from Hercules the idol which succeeded Moloch. The large square stones of the citadel are put together without cement, the massive walls are evidently very ancient.
2. Rabbah of Moab, called in the Bible Ar, in the highlands S.E. of the Dead Sea.
3. Rabbah of Judah, near Kirjath Jearim (Jos 15:60).
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And in the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings who were on his side, overcame the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim,
(For Og, king of Bashan, was the last of all the Rephaim; his bed was made of iron; is it not in Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon? It was nine cubits long and four cubits wide, measured by the common cubit.)
Kiriath-baal (which is Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah; two towns with their unwalled places.
And Adoni-zedek said, Seventy kings, whose thumbs and great toes had been cut off, got broken meat under my table: as I have done, so has God done to me in full. And they took him to Jerusalem, and he came to his end there.
And when the people came back to their tents, the responsible men of Israel said, Why has the Lord let the Philistines overcome us today? Let us get the ark of the Lord's agreement here from Shiloh, so that it may be with us and give us salvation from the hands of those who are against us. So the people sent to Shiloh and got the ark of the agreement of the Lord of armies whose resting-place is between the winged ones; and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were there with the ark of God's agreement. read more. And when the ark of the Lord's agreement came into the tent-circle, all Israel gave a great cry, so that the earth was sounding with it. And the Philistines, hearing the noise of their cry, said, What is this great cry among the tents of the Hebrews? Then it became clear to them that the ark of the Lord had come to the tent-circle.
The king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God is housed inside the curtains of a tent.
For from the day when I took the children of Israel up out of Egypt till this day, I have had no house, but have gone from place to place in a tent.
And Uriah said to David, Israel and Judah with the ark are living in tents, and my lord Joab and the other servants of my lord are sleeping in the open field; and am I to go to my house and take food and drink, and go to bed with my wife? By the living Lord, and by the life of your soul, I will not do such a thing.
Now in the morning, David gave Uriah a letter to take to Joab. And in the letter he said, Take care to put Uriah in the very front of the line, where the fighting is most violent, and go back from him, so that he may be overcome and put to death.
And the men of the town went out and had a fight with Joab: and a number of David's men came to their death in the fight, and with them Uriah the Hittite.
So now, get the rest of the people together, and put them in position against the town and take it, for if I take it, it will be named after my name.
For your haters, it seems, are dear to you, and your friends are hated. For you have made it clear that captains and servants are nothing to you: and now I see that if Absalom was living and we had all been dead today, it would have been right in your eyes. So get up now, and go out and say some kind words to your servants; for, by the Lord, I give you my oath, that if you do not go out, not one of them will keep with you tonight; and that will be worse for you than all the evil which has overtaken you from your earliest years.
And said to him, Has it come to your knowledge that Baalis, the king of the children of Ammon, has sent Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, to take your life? But Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, put no faith in what they said.
Because of this, see, the days are coming when I will have a cry of war sounded against Rabbah, the town of the children of Ammon; it will become a waste of broken walls, and her daughter-towns will be burned with fire: then Israel will take the heritage of those who took his heritage, says the Lord.
Because of this, see, the days are coming when I will have a cry of war sounded against Rabbah, the town of the children of Ammon; it will become a waste of broken walls, and her daughter-towns will be burned with fire: then Israel will take the heritage of those who took his heritage, says the Lord. Make sounds of grief, O Heshbon, for Ai is wasted; give loud cries, O daughters of Rabbah, and put haircloth round you: give yourselves to weeping, running here and there and wounding yourselves; for Milcom will be taken prisoner together with his rulers and his priests.
Put a pillar at the top of the road for the sword to come to Rabbah in the land of the children of Ammon, and to Judah and to Jerusalem in the middle of her.
Put a pillar at the top of the road for the sword to come to Rabbah in the land of the children of Ammon, and to Judah and to Jerusalem in the middle of her.
And I will make Rabbah a place for housing camels, and the children of Ammon a resting-place for flocks: and you will be certain that I am the Lord.
And I will make a fire in the wall of Rabbah, burning up its great houses, with loud cries in the days of war, with a storm in the day of the great wind:
Hastings
1. The capital city of the Ammonites (wh. see). Rabbah was situated on the upper Jabbok on the site of the modern 'Amm
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(For Og, king of Bashan, was the last of all the Rephaim; his bed was made of iron; is it not in Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon? It was nine cubits long and four cubits wide, measured by the common cubit.)
And their limit was Jazer, and all the towns of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, to Aroer before Rabbah;
Kiriath-baal (which is Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah; two towns with their unwalled places.
Now in the spring, at the time when kings go out to war, David sent Joab and his servants and all Israel with him; and they made waste the land of the children of Ammon, and took up their position before Rabbah, shutting it in. But David was still at Jerusalem.
And in the letter he said, Take care to put Uriah in the very front of the line, where the fighting is most violent, and go back from him, so that he may be overcome and put to death.
Now Joab was fighting against Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon, and he took the water-town.
Now Joab was fighting against Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon, and he took the water-town. And Joab sent men to David, saying, I have made war against Rabbah and have taken the water-town.
And Joab sent men to David, saying, I have made war against Rabbah and have taken the water-town. So now, get the rest of the people together, and put them in position against the town and take it, for if I take it, it will be named after my name. read more. Then David got all the people together and went to Rabbah and made war on it and took it.
Then David got all the people together and went to Rabbah and made war on it and took it.
Now when David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi, the son of Nahash of Rabbah, the Ammonite, and Machir, the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,
Now in the spring, at the time when kings go out to war, Joab went out at the head of the armed forces and made waste all the land of the Ammonites and put his men in position before Rabbah, shutting it in. But David was still at Jerusalem. And Joab took Rabbah and made it waste.
Because of this, see, the days are coming when I will have a cry of war sounded against Rabbah, the town of the children of Ammon; it will become a waste of broken walls, and her daughter-towns will be burned with fire: then Israel will take the heritage of those who took his heritage, says the Lord.
Put a pillar at the top of the road for the sword to come to Rabbah in the land of the children of Ammon, and to Judah and to Jerusalem in the middle of her.
And I will make Rabbah a place for housing camels, and the children of Ammon a resting-place for flocks: and you will be certain that I am the Lord.
And I will make a fire in the wall of Rabbah, burning up its great houses, with loud cries in the days of war, with a storm in the day of the great wind:
Morish
Rab'bah Rabbath. Rab'bath
1. The fortified capital of the Ammonites. It was not included in the cities taken by the tribes on the east of the Jordan. De 3:11; Jos 13:25. Joab, however, attacked it, and, during its siege, Uriah, by the instigation of David, lost his life. The city was eventually taken and destroyed. 2Sa 11:1; 12:26-29; 17:27; 1Ch 20:1. Subsequently, when the strength of Israel was broken, it appears to have recovered itself, for we find its doom announced in the prophets. Jer 49:2-3; Eze 21:20; 25:5; Am 1:14. Identified with Amman 31 57' N, 35 57' E. There are many ruins on the site, but they are judged to belong to the Roman period, when a city, called Philadelphia, was built there. A stream rises in the midst of the city, and this fact, together with its being the last place to obtain water for crossing the desert, doubtless was the cause of its being called 'the city of waters.' 2Sa 12:27.
2. City of Judah, near Kirjath-jearim. Jos 15:60. Identified by some with ruins at Rubba, 31 40' N, 34 58' E.
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(For Og, king of Bashan, was the last of all the Rephaim; his bed was made of iron; is it not in Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon? It was nine cubits long and four cubits wide, measured by the common cubit.)
And their limit was Jazer, and all the towns of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, to Aroer before Rabbah;
Kiriath-baal (which is Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah; two towns with their unwalled places.
Now in the spring, at the time when kings go out to war, David sent Joab and his servants and all Israel with him; and they made waste the land of the children of Ammon, and took up their position before Rabbah, shutting it in. But David was still at Jerusalem.
Now Joab was fighting against Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon, and he took the water-town. And Joab sent men to David, saying, I have made war against Rabbah and have taken the water-town.
And Joab sent men to David, saying, I have made war against Rabbah and have taken the water-town. So now, get the rest of the people together, and put them in position against the town and take it, for if I take it, it will be named after my name. read more. Then David got all the people together and went to Rabbah and made war on it and took it.
Now when David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi, the son of Nahash of Rabbah, the Ammonite, and Machir, the son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim,
Because of this, see, the days are coming when I will have a cry of war sounded against Rabbah, the town of the children of Ammon; it will become a waste of broken walls, and her daughter-towns will be burned with fire: then Israel will take the heritage of those who took his heritage, says the Lord. Make sounds of grief, O Heshbon, for Ai is wasted; give loud cries, O daughters of Rabbah, and put haircloth round you: give yourselves to weeping, running here and there and wounding yourselves; for Milcom will be taken prisoner together with his rulers and his priests.
Put a pillar at the top of the road for the sword to come to Rabbah in the land of the children of Ammon, and to Judah and to Jerusalem in the middle of her.
And I will make Rabbah a place for housing camels, and the children of Ammon a resting-place for flocks: and you will be certain that I am the Lord.
And I will make a fire in the wall of Rabbah, burning up its great houses, with loud cries in the days of war, with a storm in the day of the great wind:
Smith
Rab'bah
(great).
1. A very strong place on the east of the Jordan, and the chief city of the Ammonites. In five passages --
De 3:11; 2Sa 12:26; 17:27; Jer 49:2; Eze 21:20
--it is styled at length Rabbath of the Ammonites, or the children of Ammon; but elsewhere,
Jos 13:25; 2Sa 11:1; 12:27,29; 1Ch 20:1; Jer 49:3
simply Rabbah. When first named it is mentioned as containing the bed or sarcophagus of the giant Og.
De 3:11
David sent Joab to besiege Rabbah.
etc. Joab succeeded in capturing a portion of the place --the "city of waters," that is, the lower town so called from its containing the perennial stream which rises in and still flows through it. The citadel still remained to be taken, but this was secured shortly after David's arrival.
Long after, at the date of the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar,
it had walls and palaces. It is named in such terms as to imply that it was of equal importance with Jerusalem.
From Ptolemy Philadelphus (B.C. 285-247) it received the name of Philadelphia. It was one of the cities of the Decapolis, and became the seat of a Christian bishop. Its ruins, which are considerable are found at Ammon about 22 miles from the Jordan. It lies in a valley which is a branch, or perhaps the main course, of the Wady Zerka usually identified with the Jabbok. The public buildings are said to be Roman, except the citadel, which is described as of large square stones put together without cement, and which is probably more ancient than the rest.
2. A city of Judah named with Kirjath-jearim in
only. No trace of its existence has yet been discovered.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
(For Og, king of Bashan, was the last of all the Rephaim; his bed was made of iron; is it not in Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon? It was nine cubits long and four cubits wide, measured by the common cubit.)
(For Og, king of Bashan, was the last of all the Rephaim; his bed was made of iron; is it not in Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon? It was nine cubits long and four cubits wide, measured by the common cubit.)
And their limit was Jazer, and all the towns of Gilead, and half the land of the children of Ammon, to Aroer before Rabbah;
Kiriath-baal (which is Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah; two towns with their unwalled places.
Now in the spring, at the time when kings go out to war, David sent Joab and his servants and all Israel with him; and they made waste the land of the children of Ammon, and took up their position before Rabbah, shutting it in. But David was still at Jerusalem.
And the men of the town went out and had a fight with Joab: and a number of David's men came to their death in the fight, and with them Uriah the Hittite.
Now Joab was fighting against Rabbah, in the land of the children of Ammon, and he took the water-town. And Joab sent men to David, saying, I have made war against Rabbah and have taken the water-town. read more. So now, get the rest of the people together, and put them in position against the town and take it, for if I take it, it will be named after my name. Then David got all the people together and went to Rabbah and made war on it and took it. And he took the crown of Milcom from his head; the weight of it was a talent of gold, and in it were stones of great price; and it was put on David's head. And he took a great store of goods from the town. And he took the people out of the town and put them to work with wood-cutting instruments, and iron grain-crushers, and iron axes, and at brick-making: this he did to all the towns of the children of Ammon. Then David and all the people went back to Jerusalem.
Because of this, see, the days are coming when I will have a cry of war sounded against Rabbah, the town of the children of Ammon; it will become a waste of broken walls, and her daughter-towns will be burned with fire: then Israel will take the heritage of those who took his heritage, says the Lord.
Because of this, see, the days are coming when I will have a cry of war sounded against Rabbah, the town of the children of Ammon; it will become a waste of broken walls, and her daughter-towns will be burned with fire: then Israel will take the heritage of those who took his heritage, says the Lord. Make sounds of grief, O Heshbon, for Ai is wasted; give loud cries, O daughters of Rabbah, and put haircloth round you: give yourselves to weeping, running here and there and wounding yourselves; for Milcom will be taken prisoner together with his rulers and his priests.
Make sounds of grief, O Heshbon, for Ai is wasted; give loud cries, O daughters of Rabbah, and put haircloth round you: give yourselves to weeping, running here and there and wounding yourselves; for Milcom will be taken prisoner together with his rulers and his priests.
Put a pillar at the top of the road for the sword to come to Rabbah in the land of the children of Ammon, and to Judah and to Jerusalem in the middle of her.
Put a pillar at the top of the road for the sword to come to Rabbah in the land of the children of Ammon, and to Judah and to Jerusalem in the middle of her.