7372. ratob or rateb
Lexical Summary
ratob or rateb: Moist, fresh

Original Word: רָטַב
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: ratab
Pronunciation: rah-tobe or rah-teb
Phonetic Spelling: (raw-tab')
KJV: be wet
NASB: wet
Word Origin: [a primitive root]

1. to be moist

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
be wet

A primitive root; to be moist -- be wet.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. root
Definition
to be moist
NASB Translation
wet (1).

Brown-Driver-Briggs
[רָטֵב, רָטֹב LagBN 31]

verb be moist (Late Hebrew id.; Assyrian ra‰âbu, II. moisten; Arabic , Ethiopic Aramaic רְטַב, , all be moist); —

Qal Imperfect3masculine singular מִזֶּרֶם הָרִים יִרְטָ֑בוּ Job 24:8.

Topical Lexicon
Word and Context

רָטַב appears only in Job 24:8, where Job laments that the destitute are “Drenched by the mountain rains, they huddle against the rocks for want of shelter”. The verb pictures a passive saturation, highlighting the sufferers’ vulnerability under forces they cannot control.

Cultural and Climatic Background

Ancient Israel’s climate oscillated between arid heat and sudden cloudbursts. Mountain rains could come with little warning, turning dry wadis into torrents. For those without homes or thick cloaks, being soaked in such storms meant danger from exposure, hypothermia, and disease. Job’s reference assumes the hearer’s familiarity with this harsh reality, making the plight of the poor visceral.

Theological Themes

1. Social Justice: Job catalogues injustices the wicked commit, underscoring God’s concern for the defenseless. רָטַב becomes an emblem of systemic neglect.
2. Suffering and Divine Providence: The verse intensifies Job’s question of how God’s righteousness harmonizes with visible inequities. The drenched poor dramatize the “why do the wicked prosper?” tension that threads through the book.
3. Refuge Motif: Scripture often couples water imagery with divine shelter (Psalm 91:1-4; Isaiah 25:4-5). By contrast, those in Job 24:8 lack both roof and advocate, accentuating their need for the protection God alone ultimately supplies.

Intertextual Echoes

Though רָטַב itself is unique to Job, the Bible repeatedly portrays exposure to storm as a metaphor for trial:
Psalm 69:1-2 – David feels overwhelmed “in deep waters.”
Lamentations 3:47 – Jerusalem’s remnant faces “destruction and devastation.”
Matthew 7:25 – The rain beats against the house lacking a sure foundation.

These parallels reinforce the theme that genuine security rests in covenant relationship, not material assets.

Ministry and Practical Application

1. Advocacy: The Church is called to shelter the vulnerable, embodying the compassion absent in Job 24:8 (James 1:27; 1 John 3:17).
2. Hospitality: Opening homes, sponsoring shelters, and supporting relief agencies mirror God’s character (Isaiah 58:7).
3. Lament as Worship: Job’s protest legitimizes honest prayer on behalf of the oppressed, teaching believers to voice grief without forfeiting reverence.

Christological Reflections

Jesus identified with the homeless and exposed (“the Son of Man has no place to lay His head,” Matthew 8:20). On the cross He bore the storm of divine judgment without shelter (Psalm 22:15). His resurrection assures that those drenched by life’s tempests may find eternal refuge in Him (Hebrews 6:18-19).

Pastoral Observations

• Encourage sufferers: God sees every chilled, rain-soaked night; none of their tears are wasted (Psalm 56:8).
• Confront complacency: Comfortable believers must resist the drift toward indifference highlighted in Job’s critique.
• Sustain hope: The storyline of Scripture moves from exposed misery (Job) to final comfort where “They will hunger no more, neither thirst anymore… and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:16-17).

Homiletical Suggestions

A sermon might contrast the drenched poor of Job 24:8 with the protected sheep of Psalm 23, tracing how the Shepherd leads His flock through “valleys” into green pastures, charging listeners to become agents of that shepherding care today.

Thus רָטַב, though a single, rare verb, opens a rich doorway into biblical compassion, divine justice, and the believer’s mandate to shelter those left out in the storm.

Forms and Transliterations
יִרְטָ֑בוּ ירטבו yir·ṭā·ḇū yirṭāḇū yirTavu
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Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Job 24:8
HEB: מִזֶּ֣רֶם הָרִ֣ים יִרְטָ֑בוּ וּֽמִבְּלִ֥י מַ֝חְסֶ֗ה
NAS: They are wet with the mountain rains
KJV: They are wet with the showers
INT: rains the mountain are wet want of a shelter

1 Occurrence

Strong's Hebrew 7372
1 Occurrence


yir·ṭā·ḇū — 1 Occ.

7371
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