Bible Dictionary
RAPHA, RAPHAH
Rapha, or Raphah, appears in passages concerning Philistine champions and may preserve the name of an ancestral giant or a group associated with Gath. Raphah is also the name of a descendant of Saul.
Definition
Rapha, or Raphah, is a name connected with Philistine champions and possibly with an ancestral figure or group associated with Gath. Raphah is also the name of a descendant of Saul.
Biblical Usage
The Revised Version margin substitutes “Rapha” or “Raphah” for “the giant” in passages describing Philistine champions slain by David’s warriors. Another Raphah appears in a genealogy as a descendant of Saul.
Historical Background
The text concerning the Philistine champions is considered corrupt, and Raphah is probably an eponym. The name may originally have referred to one Philistine belonging to the Rephaim.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>ra'-fa (rapha'):</p><p>(1) In the Revised Version margin these names are substituted for "the giant" in 1Ch 20:4,6,8 and in 2Sa 21:16,18,20,22. The latter passage states that certain champions of the Philistines who were slain by David's warriors had been born to the raphah in Gath. The text is corrupt; Raphah is probably an eponym. Originally the name of one of the Philistines who was of the body "Rephaites" stood in the text. The plural of this word, or at least a plural of this stem, is REPHAIM (which see).</p><p>(2) Raphah (the King James Version "Rapha"), a descendant of Saul (1Ch 8:37).</p><p>See REPHAIAH.</p><p>Horace J. Wolf</p>