תַּרְבּוּת
tar.but
increase
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Analysis of Hebrew תַּרְבּוּת (tar.but) The Hebrew word תַּרְבּוּת carries the basic meaning of "increase" according to the lexical data provided. This noun form appears to derive from a root concept related to growth or multiplication, making it a term for quantitative expansion or enlargement of something. The significance of this word is notably constrained by its extremely limited attestation in the biblical text—it occurs only once. This single occurrence means we cannot establish a robust pattern of usage, semantic range, or contextual flexibility based on biblical evidence alone. The word appears in the text as a complete hapax legomenon, a term that appears nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible. This rarity limits what can be definitively concluded about how ancient Hebrew speakers employed the term or what nuances it may have carried beyond its basic definition. For interpreters, the single-occurrence status of תַּרְבּוּת means its precise meaning and significance must be inferred primarily from that one textual instance and from understanding the morphology and root structure of the word itself, rather than from comparative usage patterns within scripture.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
1 total occurrence across the text