רַב H7229
Great, large (in size, magnitude, or rank); as a title: chief, head official in Aramaic court contexts.
An Aramaic adjective meaning 'great' or 'large,' appearing exclusively in Daniel and Ezra. It describes the enormous statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Dan 2:31), the great sea (Dan 7:2), and impressive feasts and signs. When used in construct chains, it functions as a title meaning 'chief' or 'head official,' as in 'chief of the executioners' (Dan 2:14) and 'chief of the magicians' (Dan 4:6). Spanish 'grande' and German 'gross' consistently capture the adjectival sense, while the titular usage emerges clearly from phrases like 'jefe-de' in Spanish translations.
Senses
1. great, large (adjectival quality) — Describes magnitude, size, or importance as a qualitative adjective: the great image (Dan 2:31), great beasts (Dan 7:3, 7), a great feast (Dan 5:1), and great signs (Dan 3:33). The multilingual evidence uniformly renders this as 'great/grand/gross,' confirming a straightforward scalar adjective. Also used comparatively with min ('greater than,' Dan 7:20). Covers both physical scale and abstract impressiveness, as in 'the great God' (Ezra 5:8) and 'a great king' (Ezra 4:10). 11×
AR["أَعْظَمُ","العَظِيم","الْعَظِيمَةُ","الْعَظِيمُ","الْعَظِيمِ","عَظِيم","عَظِيمٌ","عَظِيمٍ","عَظِيمَةً","كَبِيرٌ"]·ben["বড়","মহান"]·DE["[רבא]","gross","viel"]·EN["great","greater","huge","the-great"]·FR["grand","le-grand","nombreux"]·heb["גדול","ה-גדול","ה-גדולה","רב","רבא"]·HI["बड़ा","महान","विशाल"]·ID["agung","besar","lebih-besar","yang-agung","yang-besar"]·IT["grande","molto","numeroso"]·jav["ageng","agung","ingkang-ageng","kang-ageng","lan-punika","langkung-ageng","mbangun"]·KO["컨","크고","큰","큰-것이라","큰에게"]·PT["a-grande","enorme","era-maior","grande","o-grande"]·RU["-великий","больший","великий","великого","великое","великой"]·ES["grande","inmensa","la-grande","mayor"]·SW["kubwa","mkubwa","mkuu"]·TR["buyuk","büyük","denizin","devasa"]·urd["بڑا","بڑی","بڑے","بڑے-نے","بڑے-کے","عظیم"]
2. chief, head official (titular) — Functions as a substantivized title in construct chains designating official rank: 'chief of the executioners' (rav tabbachayya, Dan 2:14), 'chief of the prefects' (rav signin, Dan 2:48), and 'chief of the magicians' (rav chartummayya, Dan 4:6; 5:11). The Spanish 'jefe-de' and French 'grand' capture this titular nuance distinctly from the purely adjectival sense, reflecting a well-attested Aramaic bureaucratic convention parallel to Akkadian rab-usage in Neo-Babylonian court titles. 4×
AR["رَئِيسَ","رَئِيسَ-","وَ-رَئِيسَ-"]·ben["এবং-প্রধান-","প্রধান","প্রধান-"]·DE["und-viel","viel"]·EN["and-chief-of-","chief-of","chief-of-"]·FR["et-grand","grand"]·heb["ו-רב","רב"]·HI["और-प्रधान","प्रधान"]·ID["dan-kepala","kepala"]·IT["e-molto","molto"]·jav["lan-pangageng-","pangageng-","pangarsa-","tetuwaning"]·KO["그리고-장-","우두머리-","장-"]·PT["chefe-de","chefe-dos","e-chefe-de"]·RU["глава","главой","и-начальником-","начальнику-"]·ES["jefe-de","y-jefe-de"]·SW["mkuu-wa","na-mkuu-wa"]·TR["başı","başı-","ve-baş-"]·urd["اور-سردار","سردار"]
Related Senses
H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H3605 1. all, every, whole (5352×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)H1697 1. word, speech, utterance (1235×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H0259 1. one (cardinal numeral) (940×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
רַב adj. great (𝔗 Syriac);—abs. Dn 2:31 +, cstr. v 14 +; emph. m. רַבָּא Ezr 4:10 +; f. רַבְּתָא Dn 4:27; mpl. redupl. רַבְרְבִין (K§ 59, 4) 3:33, fpl. -בָן 2:48 +, emph. תָא—ָ 7:11, 17;— 1. great, lit., of image Dn 2:31, rock v 35, city 4:27, sea 7:2, beast v 3, 17, teeth v 7, gifts 2:48; great, imposing, feast 5:1, signs 3:33, words 7:8, 11, 20; c. מִן comp. 7:20. 2. fig. of power, influence,…