Rabbath

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An ancient city in the land of the Ammonites, east of the Jordan River, later known as Philadelphia and now the site of Amman
2. The old capital of the Ammonite kingdom mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, which was later renamed Philadelphia under Hellenistic rule
3. A biblical town that served as the chief city of the Ammonites and eventually became the Greco-Roman city of Philadelphia, the forerunner of Amman

Etymology: Rabbath is the name of an ancient city in the land of the Ammonites, east of the Jordan River, in the area of modern Amman. Its name is the Semitic word for "great" or "capital," and it survives in the Hebrew Bible, where the city is called Rabbah (also Rabbath-ammon, "Rabbah of the Ammonites"). The Ammonite capital is best known from the story of King David, who sent his general Joab to besiege it and, according to 2 Samuel 12, took its royal crown, which was said to weigh a talent of gold. The name's core element, "rabb," appears across Semitic languages with the sense of "many" or "great," and it is the same root behind Hebrew "rabbi," meaning "my master" or "my great one." The Ammonite city's name therefore simply describes it as a major center. Its later Greek and Roman name, Philadelphia, shows how the city was reshaped after Hellenistic rulers refounded it, though the older name persisted in Semitic usage.