Rabbah

2 definitions found

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Rabbah
     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 (Deut. 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," 2 Sam. 12:27, i.e., the lower city on
     the river, as distinguished from the citadel), Joab sent for
     David to direct the final assault (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 (2 Sam.
     8:1-15; 1 Chr. 18:1-15). The capture of this city is referred to
     by Amos (1:14), Jeremiah (49:2, 3), and Ezekiel (21:20; 25:5).
     
       (2.) A city in the hill country of Judah (Josh. 15:60),
     possibly the ruin Rubba, six miles north-east of Beit-Jibrin.
     

From Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) [hitchcock]:

  Rabbah, great; powerful; contentious