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רָבָה râbâh — to increase (in whatever respect)

pronounced raw-baw' · Strong's H7235 · 235 occurrences in the Hebrew Bible · 3 stems: Hiph'il, Qal (Pa'al), Pi'el

Translated in the KJV as abundance, archer, be in authority, bring up, × continue, enlarge, excel, exceeding, be full of, (be, make) great(-er, -ly.

a primitive root; to increase (in whatever respect).

râbâh in each stem

Hiph'il 166×

Causative · active — causing someone or something to do the action; the subject does it

Infinitive absolute 53Imperfect (yiqtol) 30Perfect (qatal) 26Sequential perfect (weqatal) 18Participle (active) 10Wayyiqtol 10Infinitive construct 8Imperative 7Jussive 3Cohortative 1

הַרְבָּ֤ה Gen 3:16 Infinitive absolute

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. (KJV)

הַרְבֵּ֥ה Gen 15:1 Infinitive absolute

After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. (KJV)

הַרְבָּ֥ה Gen 16:10 Infinitive absolute

And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. (KJV)

Qal (Pa'al) 65×

Simple · active — the plain action; the subject does it

Imperfect (yiqtol) 23Wayyiqtol 12Perfect (qatal) 11Imperative 7Sequential perfect (weqatal) 5Infinitive construct 5Jussive 1Participle (active) 1

וּרְב֗וּ Gen 1:22 Imperative, 2nd person masculine plural

And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. (KJV)

וּרְב֛וּ Gen 1:28 Imperative, 2nd person masculine plural

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (KJV)

וַיִּרְבּ֣וּ Gen 7:17 Wayyiqtol, 3rd person masculine plural

And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. (KJV)

Pi'el

Intensive · active — the action intensified, repeated or brought about; the subject does it

Perfect (qatal) 3Imperative 1

רַבֶּ֥ה Judg 9:29 Imperative, 2nd person masculine singular

And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out. (KJV)

רִ֝בִּ֗יתָ Ps 44:13 Perfect (qatal), 2nd person masculine singular

Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us. (KJV)

וְרִבִּ֖יתִי Lam 2:22 Perfect (qatal), 1st person common singular

Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the Lord’s anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed. (KJV)

What the stems mean

A Hebrew verb is its root letters set into a pattern. The pattern — the binyan — is the grammar's way of saying three things at once: whether the action is simple, intensive or causative, and whether its subject is active, passive or reflexive. That is why one Hebrew word can need six English ones. All seven binyanim, explained ›

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In the app, tap any Hebrew verb while reading: its root, stem and form are named, the letters of the word itself are coloured to show which is which, and the stem's meaning is put in plain English. râbâh in the lexicon ›

Morphology from OpenScriptures MorphHB (CC BY 4.0); definitions from Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (public domain); text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex.

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