Rephaite

In the Hebrew Bible, as well as non-Jewish ancient texts from the region, the Northwest Semitic term Rephaite or Repha'im (cf.

The first syllable, /ra/, is mostly based on Semitic names from Ugarit, Canaan, Mari and other places written in syllabic text that carry the element Rpʾ.

The first group proposes that this is a native Hebrew language term, which could be derived either from the root רפא or רפה.

Because all things that give the living power are moot in the land of the dead, its inhabitants are thus powerless and weak and must be submissive to Elohim.

Far more support has been gained by the hypothesis which derives the Hebrew refaim from the Ugaritic rpum which denotes the semi-deified deceased ancestors who are mentioned in such sources as the so-called Rephaim Text (KTU 1:20–22).

Several passages in the Book of Joshua, and also Deuteronomy 3:11, suggest that Og, the King of Bashan, was one of the last survivors of the Rephaim, and that his bed was 9 cubits long.

See: Isa 14:9, 26:14, 26:19; Ps 88:10; Prov 2:18, 9:18, 21:16; Job 26:5, and possibly 2 Chron 16:12, where Repha'im may be read as "dead ancestors" or "weakeners", as opposed to Rophe'im, "doctors".

[14] Lewis (1989)[15] undertakes a detailed study of several enigmatic funerary ritual texts from the ancient coastal city of Ugarit.