the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Breadth
Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words
or Rôchab (רֹחַב, Strong's #7341), “breadth; width; expanse.” The noun rôchab appears 101 times and in all periods of biblical Hebrew.First, the word refers to how broad a flat expanse is. In Gen. 13:17, we read: “Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” Rôchab itself sometimes represents the concept length, breadth, or the total territory: “… And the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel” (Isa. 8:8). The same usage appears in Job 37:10, where the NASB renders the word “expanse.” This idea is used figuratively in 1 Kings 4:29, describing the dimensions of Solomon’s discernment: “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness [rôchab] of heart, even as the sand that is on the seashore.”
Second, rôchab is used to indicate the “thickness” or “width” of an object. In its first biblical occurrence the word is used of Noah’s ark: “The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits” (Gen. 6:15). In Ezek. 42:10, the word represents the “thickness” of a building’s wall in which there were chambers (cf. Ezek. 41:9).
Rôchab is derived from the verb rachab as is the noun rochob or rehob.
Rechôb (רְחוֹב, 7339), “town square.” Rechôb (or rehôb) occurs 43 times in the Bible. Cognates of this noun appear in Ugaritic, Akkadian, and Aramaic. Rechôb represents the “town square” immediately near the gate(s), as in Gen. 19:2 (the first occurrence). This “town square” often served for social functions such as assemblies, courts, and official proclamations.
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Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Breadth'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/vot/b/breadth.html. 1940.
