RABBANAH: Difference between revisions

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|'''[[:Category:Lehite title|Lehite title]]'''
|'''[[:Category:Lehite PN|Lehite PN]]'''
|1.
|1.
|Occurs with the gloss “powerful or great king,” ca. 90 BC ([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/alma/18/13#13 Alma 18:13])
|Title of king [[LAMONI|L<small>AMONI</small>]], “which is, being interpreted, ‘powerful’ or ‘great king’” ([http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/18.13?lang=eng#12 Alma 18:13]).
|}
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'''Etymology'''
'''Etymology'''


This word does not occur in biblical Hebrew, even though it likely is composed of the Hebrew root . . .  
This word does not occur in biblical Hebrew, even though it likely is composed of the Hebrew root...


This honorific title, which the Book of Mormon itself glosses with “powerful or great king,” obviously is derived from the common Semitic root ''rbb'', “large, great, many.” The [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/john/20/16#16 Book of John 20:16] preserves an Aramaic honorific title from the same root, Rabboni, “my master,” applied by Mary Madgalene to [[JESUS|J<small>ESUS</small>]] just after His resurrection. Book of
From Hebrew ''rāb'' “great, magnate,”<ref> Koehler & Baumgartner, ''HALOT'', III:1170-1172.</ref> and ''rabbâ'' “much” ([http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/prov/28.12?lang=eng#11 Proverbs 28:12]), “heavy” ([http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/num/11.33?lang=eng#32 Numbers 11:33]; [http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/isa/30.25?lang=eng#24 Isaiah 30:25]),<ref>''HALOT'', III:1171-1172.</ref> from which are derived Hebrew GN ''rabbâ'' “great city” ([http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/josh/13.25?lang=eng#24 Joshua 13:25]; [http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/jer/49.3?lang=eng#2 Jeremiah 49:3]),<ref>''HALOT'', III:1178.</ref> and verb “be numerous, increase, become powerful.”<ref>''HALOT'', III:1175.</ref>
Mormon '''RABBANAH''' could be an Aramaic form for “our master” (JAT). More widely known is the honorific Hebrew title from the same root, ''rabbi'' (as recognized by Ludlow, A
Companion to the Book of Mormon, p. 207).


The title may most immediately be compared to ''rabba-n''(''âʾ'') in Talmudic literature as a special title of supreme distinction accorded heads of academies ''yešîbôt'', and of the
The same Semitic root also appears in cuneiform Akkadian ''rab'', ''rabû'' , ''rabbû'' “great, chief, senior, majestic, noble,”<ref>W. von Soden, ''AHw'', 483.63; Tawil, ''Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebew'', 354; ''CAD'' “R” 16-17 (verb forms 37-50).</ref> ''rabânu'' “mayor, headman,”<ref>''CAD'' “R” 17-19.</ref> ''rab'', ''rabi'' “chief overseer of,”<ref>Black, et al., ''Concise Dictionary of Akkadian'', 293.</ref> Mari ''rabbu'' “influential people,”<ref>H. ben Yosef Tawil, ''Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew'', 355.</ref> and Emarite ''rabba'' “great.”<ref>Tawil, ''Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew'', 355.</ref> Especially interesting is the neo-Assyrian and neo-Babylonian term ''rabbani'', ''rabbānû'' “high functionary, foreign official, chieftan; administrator of temple property,” which is written syllabically (in Sumerian) as LÚ.GAL “king,” or LÚ.GAL.DÙ “King who acts,”<ref> ''CAD'' “R” 9, 19 (5-6 ''rab-banûtu'' = LÚ.GAL.DÙ-ú-tú/tu); Black, et al., ''Concise Dictionary of Akkadian'', 4-5 (participle).</ref> which John Gee points out is equivalent to [[EGYPTIAN(S)|E<small>GYPTIAN</small>]] ''Nb-ir-ḫt'' “Lord who performs ritual” (a royal epithet).<ref>Caroline Rutledge, doctoral dissertation.</ref>
Sanhedrin after Hillel, e.g., Yohanan ben Zakkai, Gamaliel I & II, Simeon ben Gamaliel III, et al. The title was also used of Jewish exilarchs (of the royal line) and their scholarly
relatives, e.g., Rabbana Nehemiah Rab ʼAshi, head of the Sura Yeshivah, was termed simply Rabbana (335–427/8 AD). The title, as the Book of Mormon correctly suggests,  
comes directly from the Hebrew and Aramaic words for “great” and is even used in slightly different form for Yahweh in the Talmud (Aboth 1:6) and of [[JESUS|J<small>ESUS</small>]] in the NT
([http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/23/7-8#7 Matthew 23:7–8]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/john/20/16#16 John 20:16]; cf. [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/ps/35/9#9 Psalms 35:9]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/isa/63/1#1 Isaiah 63:1]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/isa/53/12#12 53:12]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/job/32/9#9 Job 32:9]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/gen/25/23#23 Genesis 25:23]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dan/1/3#3 Daniel 1:3]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dan/3/33#33 3:33]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dan/2/48#48 2:48]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dan/7/3,17#3  7:3, 17]; [http://scriptures.lds.org/en/prov/26/10#10  Proverbs 26:10]; etc.) (RFS).


The title cannot be derived from the Aramaic ''ʾabbaʾ'', “father” (as in Reynolds, Story of the Book of Mormon, p. 294).
In very late Jewish antiquity, Aramaic ''Rabbana'' was an honorific title for the heads of the central Jewish academy or of the Sanhedrin after Hillel, including Simeon ben Gamliel III.<ref>''Encyclopedia Judaica'', IV:1163.</ref>  It was the title of Rab Ashi, the most celebrated amora of his day and head of the Sura Academy, living ca. 335 - 427/428 C.E.<ref>''EJ'', III:709.</ref> The exilarchs and scholars of their families were called “Mar” or “Rabbana.”<ref>''EJ'', II:873.</ref> John Tvedtnes suggests that '''RABBANAH''' here corresponds to ''Ribbono'' “Master/Great-One,” in late Hebrew in ''Bet ha-Midrasch'', ¶ 29,<ref>A. Jellinek, ed., “The Story of Abraham Our Father from What Happened to Him with Nimrod,” and “A Study (Midrash) of Abraham Our Father,” in ''Bet ha-Midrasch'', I:34, V:40-41, English translation in Tvedtnes, Hauglid & Gee, eds., ''Traditions about the Early Life of Abraham'', 173 (n. 15), and 179 (n. 9).</ref> and to Aramaic ''Rabbouni'', ''Rabonni'' “teacher,” in [http://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/20.16?lang=eng#15 John 20:16] (Greek transliteration ) (JAT).
 
'''Bibliography'''
----
 
Black, Jeremy, Andrew George, and Nicholas Postgate, eds. ''A Concise Dictionary of
Akkadian'', SANTAG 5.  Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1999/2000.
 
''CAD'' = ''Chicago Assyrian Dictionary'' = ''Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the
Univ. of Chicago'' (Chicago: Oriental Institute/Glückstadt: J. J. Augustin, 1956-2010).
 
''Encyclopedia Judaica'', ed., Cecil Roth.  Jerusalem: Keter/N.Y.: Macmillan, 1970-1971.  ''EJ''
 
Jellinek, Adolph.  ''Bet ha-Midrasch'', 5 vols.??  1853/reprint Jerusalem: Wahrmann, 1967. Hebrew.
 
Koehler, Ludwig, and Walter Baumgartner, ''The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old
Testament'', 5 vols., revised by W. Baumgartner & Johann J. Stamm.  Leiden: Brill, 1994. 
''HALOT''
 
Tawil, Hayim ben Yosef. ''An Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew: Etymological-
Semantic and Idiomatic Equivalents with Supplement on Biblical Aramaic''.  Jersey City:
Ktav, 2009.
 
Tvedtnes, John A., Brian M. Hauglid, and John Gee, eds.  ''Traditions about the Early Life of
Abraham'', Studies in the Book of Abraham 1.  Provo: BYU/FARMS, 2001.
 
RFS


'''Variants'''
'''Variants'''
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'''Notes'''
'''Notes'''
----
----
 
<references/>
'''Bibliography'''
----
*[[Daniel H. Ludlow]] A Companion to your Study of the Book of Mormon. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1969.


[[Category:Names]][[Category:Lehite title]]
[[Category:Names]][[Category:Lehite title]]

Revision as of 11:30, 19 July 2012

Lehite PN 1. Title of king LAMONI, “which is, being interpreted, ‘powerful’ or ‘great king’” (Alma 18:13).

This entry is not finished

Etymology

This word does not occur in biblical Hebrew, even though it likely is composed of the Hebrew root...

From Hebrew rāb “great, magnate,”[1] and rabbâ “much” (Proverbs 28:12), “heavy” (Numbers 11:33; Isaiah 30:25),[2] from which are derived Hebrew GN rabbâ “great city” (Joshua 13:25; Jeremiah 49:3),[3] and verb “be numerous, increase, become powerful.”[4]

The same Semitic root also appears in cuneiform Akkadian rab, rabû , rabbû “great, chief, senior, majestic, noble,”[5] rabânu “mayor, headman,”[6] rab, rabi “chief overseer of,”[7] Mari rabbu “influential people,”[8] and Emarite rabba “great.”[9] Especially interesting is the neo-Assyrian and neo-Babylonian term rabbani, rabbānû “high functionary, foreign official, chieftan; administrator of temple property,” which is written syllabically (in Sumerian) as LÚ.GAL “king,” or LÚ.GAL.DÙ “King who acts,”[10] which John Gee points out is equivalent to EGYPTIAN Nb-ir-ḫt “Lord who performs ritual” (a royal epithet).[11]

In very late Jewish antiquity, Aramaic Rabbana was an honorific title for the heads of the central Jewish academy or of the Sanhedrin after Hillel, including Simeon ben Gamliel III.[12] It was the title of Rab Ashi, the most celebrated amora of his day and head of the Sura Academy, living ca. 335 - 427/428 C.E.[13] The exilarchs and scholars of their families were called “Mar” or “Rabbana.”[14] John Tvedtnes suggests that RABBANAH here corresponds to Ribbono “Master/Great-One,” in late Hebrew in Bet ha-Midrasch, ¶ 29,[15] and to Aramaic Rabbouni, Rabonni “teacher,” in John 20:16 (Greek transliteration ) (JAT).

Bibliography

Black, Jeremy, Andrew George, and Nicholas Postgate, eds. A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, SANTAG 5. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1999/2000.

CAD = Chicago Assyrian Dictionary = Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the Univ. of Chicago (Chicago: Oriental Institute/Glückstadt: J. J. Augustin, 1956-2010).

Encyclopedia Judaica, ed., Cecil Roth. Jerusalem: Keter/N.Y.: Macmillan, 1970-1971. EJ

Jellinek, Adolph. Bet ha-Midrasch, 5 vols.?? 1853/reprint Jerusalem: Wahrmann, 1967. Hebrew.

Koehler, Ludwig, and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, 5 vols., revised by W. Baumgartner & Johann J. Stamm. Leiden: Brill, 1994. HALOT

Tawil, Hayim ben Yosef. An Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew: Etymological- Semantic and Idiomatic Equivalents with Supplement on Biblical Aramaic. Jersey City: Ktav, 2009.

Tvedtnes, John A., Brian M. Hauglid, and John Gee, eds. Traditions about the Early Life of Abraham, Studies in the Book of Abraham 1. Provo: BYU/FARMS, 2001.

RFS

Variants

Deseret Alphabet:

Notes

  1. ↑ Koehler & Baumgartner, HALOT, III:1170-1172.
  2. ↑ HALOT, III:1171-1172.
  3. ↑ HALOT, III:1178.
  4. ↑ HALOT, III:1175.
  5. ↑ W. von Soden, AHw, 483.63; Tawil, Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebew, 354; CAD “R” 16-17 (verb forms 37-50).
  6. ↑ CAD “R” 17-19.
  7. ↑ Black, et al., Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, 293.
  8. ↑ H. ben Yosef Tawil, Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew, 355.
  9. ↑ Tawil, Akkadian Lexical Companion for Biblical Hebrew, 355.
  10. ↑ CAD “R” 9, 19 (5-6 rab-banûtu = LÚ.GAL.DÙ-ú-tú/tu); Black, et al., Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, 4-5 (participle).
  11. ↑ Caroline Rutledge, doctoral dissertation.
  12. ↑ Encyclopedia Judaica, IV:1163.
  13. ↑ EJ, III:709.
  14. ↑ EJ, II:873.
  15. ↑ A. Jellinek, ed., “The Story of Abraham Our Father from What Happened to Him with Nimrod,” and “A Study (Midrash) of Abraham Our Father,” in Bet ha-Midrasch, I:34, V:40-41, English translation in Tvedtnes, Hauglid & Gee, eds., Traditions about the Early Life of Abraham, 173 (n. 15), and 179 (n. 9).
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