Rabshakeh
רַבְשָׁקֵהStrong’s H7262ravshaqeh (rav-sha-qeh)
Appears in 16 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Ravshaqeh is the Hebrew word usually translated “chief” and “commander”. It appears in 16 verses of the Old Testament.
“And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field.”
Meaning
- Chief cupbearer, chief of the officers?
- Rabshakeh
How it's translated
- chief 16
- commander 16
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- 2 Kings 8
- Isaiah 8
2 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- 2 Kings 18:19And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
- 2 Kings 18:26Then said Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebna, and Joah, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, to thy servants in the Syrian language; for we understand it: and talk not with us in the Jews’ language in the ears of the people that are on the wall.
- 2 Kings 18:27But Rabshakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their own piss with you?
- 2 Kings 18:28Then Rabshakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and spake, saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria:
- 2 Kings 18:37Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.
- 2 Kings 19:4It may be the LORD thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God; and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left.
Hebrew dictionary
רַבְשָׁקֵה ravshaqeh · Rabshakeh
A man living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 2Ki.18.17 1) chief cupbearer, chief of the officers? 2) Rabshakeh
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “chief” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
CHIEF, adjective
- Highest in office or rank; principal; as a chief priest; the chief butler. Genesis 40:9“Among the chief rulers, many believed on him” John 12:42
- Principal or most eminent, in any quality or action; most distinguished; having most influence; commanding most respect; taking the lead; most valuable; most important; a word of extensive use; as a country chief in arms.“The hand of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass” Ezra 9:2
- First in affection; most dear and familiar.“A whisperer separateth chief friends” Proverbs 16:28
All definitions and other forms of “chief”
CHIEF, noun
- A commander; particularly a military commander; the person who heads an army; equivalent to the modern terms, commander or general in chief captain general, or generalissimo. 1 Chronicles 11:6
- The principal person of a tribe, family, or congregation, etc.
- In chief in English law, in capite.
- In heraldry, chief signifies the head or upper part of the escutcheon, from side to side, representing a mans head.
- In Spenser, it seems to signify something like achievement, a mark of distinction; as, chaplets wrought with a chief
- This word is often used, in the singular number, to express a plurality.“I took the chief of your tribes, wise men and known, and made them heads over you” Deuteronomy 1:15“These were the chief of the officers, that were over Solomons work” 1 Kings 9:23
- The principal part; the most or largest part, of one thing or of many.“The people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed” 1 Samuel 15:21“He smote the chief of their strength” Psalms 78:51
CHIEF, adverb
Chiefly.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.